On a warm summer's evenin', on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with a gambler --   we were both too tired to sleep.
So he told me how he planned winnin’ lottery prizes
‘Til, as a math teacher, I just had to speak:

“Son, I’ve made a life out of readin’ students’ faces,
Checkin’ comprehension by the way they held their eyes.
And I can see your blackboard is erased in some places--
Give me some peanuts and I’ll give ya some advice.

First, your instant scratch-off tickets give 1 in 5 chances,    (note: to match the original song's length, the third verse could be omitted)
But that don’t mean that 1 in 5 will win.
‘Cause ev’ry ticket’s sep’rate,  like a new flip of a coin:
It has no mem’ry how your wallet’s gotten thin!

And you track those weekly draws, you say ya got a system--
You call some numbers “hot”, you deem others “due”;
But I insist, they each have the same chance--
If you’re gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta know what’s true!

CHORUS:  You gotta know when you pick ‘em, what’s superstition,
And where strategy is there to be had,
Or you’ll learn why  lotteries seem like
Tax on folks who don’t know much math!

Now all sets of numbers are equally unlikely,
More rare than death by lightning, still there’s somethin’ you should know;
If you should happen  to win that big jackpot,
You’ll win more money if you picked it all alone!

So avoid those numbers that more folks are playin’:
Like sevens and birthdays  and sequences, too.
‘Til this song gets famous, you’ll have the advantage--
Maybe you’ll thank me with a share of your loot!”     (Repeat Chorus)
 

return to Larry's www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/llesser/Mathemusician.html  page