So this guy found a pattern in scratch tickets, and rather than making millions off the problem, he reported it.
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"Naturally, Srivastava spent some time at this point determining how he could profit from his newfound insight. A quick calculation showed this would be more hassle than it was worth."
Hahaha, ...could not handle the mental gymnastics
I wouldn't have reported it, but he's not as "stupid" as Initially thought.
I'm confused.. Is he half man bear half pig or half pig bear half man?
foot in mouth. serves me right for not reading the whole thing.
GOB, it's actually half man, half bear, half pig.
excelsior!
Ha, a geostatistician. Now THAT's a hard field.
I'm guessing the codes are easier for the games with the lower pots.
.
No, read the wired article. You could see some of the numbers. It describes how he cracked the code, it's really simple. He also says that he originally wanted to plunder the lottery system, but that he figured he could only make $600 a day, and that he makes more as a consultant (which doesn't surprise me, a good geostatistician can save you hundreds of thousands, if not millions, a year by better telling you where to mine/drill).
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_lottery/all/1
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