I have been told buying two lottery tickets doesnt double your odd of winning? can someone explain the math?

Question

I have been told buying two lottery tickets doesnt double your odd of winning? can someone explain the math?

Answer 1

maybe it would if your same number was in there twice

Answer 2

lets say the odds of winning the lottery are 1 in a million, if you buy two tickets with different numbers, you now have 2 chances in a million, which even though double are not any better odds

Answer 3

If the tickets have different numbers, buying two DOES double your chance of winning.

Answer 4

its kind of true, since probability is an odd thing.

your odds of winning are say 1 in 150 million for ticket one

odds for ticket 2 are also 1 in 150 million.  So the odds are the same to some.  

Essentially though you are doubling your odds

to break it down to a 1 in 6 to make it easier

odds of getting the 6 you want are 1:6.  If you know you will not duplicate since you can choose to play different numbers you know have another 1:6 ticket.  

Since you know you will not repeat you have 2 of the 6 possible numbers which makes your chance to win 2:6 which reduces to 1:3.  Doubling your chance to win.

this may not be 100% clear but in short in reality it does double your chance.

Answer 5

If you buy two tickets with the same number then your chances of winning are not doubled. This is because if you are the only one to win win with one ticket then you split the prize one way.

If you win with two you split it two ways but both chunks of money would go to you so you'd win the same amount.

If you buy two tickets with different numbers then you would have double the chance of winning as you have two different sets of numbers.