The Courier-Mail
May 05, 2012 12:00AM
PUNTERS - from professionals to mugs - are set to line up for a chance to win a share of next week's $70 million lotto jackpot.
With the second-largest first division Oz Lotto prize ever offered in Australia set to go up for grabs on Tuesday, experts tip a procession of seasoned gamblers and syndicates will also line up in an effort to claim a share of the huge bounty.
With odds of more than 45 million to one for a first division win on a single game, a flutter on the lotto has traditionally been the domain of the casual punter.
However, the lure of a monster payday is expected to result in more than 7.5 million tickets being sold in the lead-up to the mammoth draw.
Spokesman for online sports betting website Sportingbet Australia Bill Richmond said regardless of the long odds the $70 million jackpot, would undoubtedly prove tempting, even to punters who preferred the relatively safer bets of horses or sports.
"Obviously that figure is tempting to a lot of people in Australia who don't normally play lotto and that would include a lot of punters who would be attracted by the odds available there," he said.
"The payout is probably actually better than what the odds suggest it should be probably for the first time in a long while."
South Australian-based mathematician Dr Tristan Barnett, who specialises in gaming, sporting statistics and probabilities, said offering a significant jackpot in most games brought professionals in to play. He added the most common method of attempting to gain advantage in lottery games was through the bulk buying of tickets.
However, University of Queensland mathematician Professor Peter Adams said the only guaranteed way of ensuring a first division win on Tuesday would be to purchase games featuring all 45,379,620 possible seven-number combinations.
"The problem is, if anyone else wins, you share it with them and you're running at a loss," he said.
An Oz Lotto spokeswoman said Tuesday's jackpot could potentially grow depending on how many tickets were ultimately sold.
Should nobody claim the first division prize, the following week's jackpot is tipped to equal the Australian record $106.5 million offered in 2009.
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