Question 128710
A player selects any three digits number from 000 to 999. (any number that seems lucky to the player).In New York a player may select a number for $1 dollar. If the player wins, the playoff is $500.
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How many three digits numbers exist in this lottery? 
Ans: 1000
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What is a players chance of winning?
Ans: 1/1000
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What is a fair price to pay for a ticket? 
Calculate expected value:
Let x be the random variable for "gain":
X-values are -1 and 500
Related probabilites are (999/1000) and (1/1000)
Expected value is (-1)(999/1000) + 500(1/1000) = -499/1000 = 0.499 dollars
or -49.9 cents.
A fair price to play is 50 cents
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What can you conclude about the cost of playing this lottery?
If you play, consider that 50 cents of your dollare is for charity.
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Cheers,
Stan H.