The Examiner reports today that D.C. Lottery’s DC-4 game has been a pretty rich bet this fiscal year, paying out well over the average take for most of the fiscal year. The game normally pays out an average of 50 cents for each dollar bet on the game, but in six of the past nine months, the average payout has reached 70 cents per buck, and in May an astonishing 87 cents was paid out per dollar bet. Lottery officials have played down the results as part of the statistical variation in the game (we think that’s what this quote means):

“Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you,” said D.C. Lottery spokesman Bob Hainey.

But there could be something else afoot.

The Examiner quotes a lottery expert (?) as saying that an 87 cent payout is “impossible,” and she goes on to suggest that the D.C. lottery officials should check their equipment. If that’s the case, we suggest getting while the getting’s good (relatively speaking — the average player still comes out behind). Even if this is a case of statistical variation, however, there’s no reason to suspect that payouts will be drastically lower for the rest of the fiscal year. In a random drawing, future results do not depend on past outcomes. Right? Weigh in, statisticians; these arguments are always fun (cf Let’s Make a Deal).