Question 358806
expectation is the same as the long term average value.

values are the net return
2000-5=1995
1000-5=995
500-5=495
-5=-5
you subtract 5 because the is the cost of playing and you dont get that back
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each of these occur with prob
1/2000
2/2000
10/2000
1987/2000
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so the expected value or long term average is sum (value*prob)
=1995*(1/2000)+995*(2/2000)+495*(10/2000)+(-5)*(1987/2000)=-0.50 so on average you loose 0.50 for each ticket.  If you buy 2 tickets your long term average is a loss of -1.00 dollar.