Originally Posted by
duped_samaritan
If a $1 miss pays out $2 + original $1 back ($3), then you just put 1 millionth of your net worth on every number and double your net worth 100% of the time.
If it just pays out $2, then it's actually -ev since you would end up losing $2
You aren't paying $1 for each entry. You're paying nothing. You guess a number. If it matches, you pay the large amount. If it doesn't, you get $2.
Looking at the 1 to 1,000,000 example:
Let's say you took a million entries at once, and chose each number, guaranteeing you would win 999,999 times and lose once.
999,999 x $2 = Win $1,999,998
1 x $1,000,000 = Lose $1,000,000
Total = Win $999,998