Tips: Understanding the Sweepstakes Odds

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Understanding Odds

One of the biggest factors in winning a sweepstake is the rules on who is eligible to enter. There are many states that do to restrictions, may not allow the sweep to be run in their state. Or the sponsoring company may not want to pursue it for legal reasons.

Below are the National Census population figures for the United States. If you see a sweep that is not offered in New York, and Florida, then the odds of winning in the other states would be approximately 12 percent greater. This is of course that the percentage of computers in the used is roughly the same in terms of percentage.

I show you this because there are many sweeps, based on the rules, can change the odds of winning. New York, Florida, Rhode Island, Alaska, and Hawaii are the states most often that you will see sweeps are void in. Utah will have restrictions on alcoholic beverage sponsors along with California and Tennessee in some cases. Puerto Rico which is included in this chart is nearly always excluded.

Cumulative Estimates of Population Change for the United States and States, and for Puerto Rico and National Rankings of States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2003
Geographic Area	July 1, 2003 Population	April 1, 2000 Population Estimates Base	Numerical Population Change	Percent Population Change	July 1, 2003 Population National Rank	April 1, 2000 Population National Rank	Numerical Population Change National Rank	Percent Population Change National Rank
United States	290,809,777	281,423,231	9,386,546	3.3	(X)	(X)	(X)	(X)
Alabama	4,500,75	4,447,100	53,652	1.2	23	23	32	43
Alaska	648,818	626,931	21,887	3.5	47	48	43	18
Arizona	5,580,811	5,130,632	450,179	8.8	18	20	5	2
Arkansas	2,725,714	2,673,398	52,316	2.0	32	33	33	28
California	35,484,453	33,871,653	1,612,800	4.8	1	1	1	9
Colorado	4,550,688	4,301,997	248,691	5.8	22	24	8	6
Connecticut	3,483,372	3,405,584	77,788	2.3	29	29	27	26
Delaware	817,491	783,600	33,891	4.3	45	45	38	12
District of Columbia	563,384	572,059	-8,675	-1.5	50	50	51	51
Florida	17,019,068	15,982,820	1,036,248	6.5	4	4	3	3
Georgia	8,684,715	8,186,517	498,198	6.1	9	10	4	4
Hawaii	1,257,608	1,211,537	46,071	3.8	42	42	35	17
Idaho	1,366,332	1,293,956	72,376	5.6	39	39	29	7
Illinois	12,653,544	12,419,570	233,974	1.9	5	5	11	31
Indiana	6,195,643	6,080,506	115,137	1.9	14	14	21	30
Iowa	2,944,062	2,926,382	17,680	0.6	30	30	44	48
Kansas	2,723,507	2,688,814	34,693	1.3	33	32	37	40
Kentucky	4,117,827	4,042,209	75,618	1.9	26	25	28	32
Louisiana	4,496,334	4,468,958	27,376	0.6	24	22	42	47
Maine	1,305,728	1,274,923	30,805	2.4	40	40	39	25
Maryland	5,508,909	5,296,485	212,424	4.0	19	19	14	16
Massachusetts	6,433,422	6,349,097	84,325	1.3	13	13	25	39
Michigan	10,079,985	9,938,480	141,505	1.4	8	8	16	38
Minnesota	5,059,375	4,919,485	139,890	2.8	21	21	17	21
Mississippi	2,881,281	2,844,656	36,625	1.3	31	31	36	41
Missouri	5,704,484	5,596,683	107,801	1.9	17	17	23	29
Montana	917,621	902,195	15,426	1.7	44	44	45	34
Nebraska	1,739,291	1,711,265	28,026	1.6	38	38	40	36
Nevada	2,241,154	1,998,257	242,897	12.2	35	35	9	1
New Hampshire	1,287,687	1,235,786	51,901	4.2	41	41	34	13
New Jersey	8,638,396	8,414,347	224,049	2.7	10	9	12	23
New Mexico	1,874,614	1,819,046	55,568	3.1	36	36	31	20
New York	19,190,115	18,976,821	213,294	1.1	3	3	13	44
North Carolina	8,407,248	8,046,451	360,797	4.5	11	11	6	10
North Dakota	633,837	642,200	-8,363	-1.3	48	47	50	50
Ohio	11,435,798	11,353,143	82,655	0.7	7	7	26	45
Oklahoma	3,511,532	3,450,654	60,878	1.8	28	27	30	33
Oregon	3,559,596	3,421,432	138,164	4.0	27	28	18	14
Pennsylvania	12,365,455	12,281,054	84,401	0.7	6	6	24	46
Rhode Island	1,076,164	1,048,319	27,845	2.7	43	43	41	24
South Carolina	4,147,152	4,011,848	135,304	3.4	25	26	19	19
South Dakota	764,309	754,844	9,465	1.3	46	46	47	42
Tennessee	5,841,748	5,689,262	152,486	2.7	16	16	15	22
Texas	22,118,509	20,851,790	1,266,719	6.1	2	2	2	5
Utah	2,351,467	2,233,198	118,269	5.3	34	34	20	8
Vermont	619,107	608,827	10,280	1.7	49	49	46	35
Virginia	7,386,330	7,078,483	307,847	4.3	12	12	7	11
Washington	6,131,445	5,894,141	237,304	4.0	15	15	10	15
West Virginia	1,810,354	1,808,350	2,004	0.1	37	37	49	49
Wisconsin	5,472,299	5,363,704	108,595	2.0	20	18	22	27
Wyoming	501,242	493,782	7,460	1.5	51	51	48	37
Puerto Rico	3,878,532	3,808,603	69,929	1.8	(X)	(X)	(X)	(X)
Note: The April 1, 2000 Population Estimates base reflects modifications to the Census 2000 population as documented in the Count Question Resolution program, updates from the Boundary and Annexation Survey, and geographic program revisions. Dash (-) represents zero or rounds to zero. (X) Not applicable.

There are other rules that can influence your odds. Age will come into play many times.
If the prize includes a trip to Las Vegas Nevada, most sweepstakes that include this trip to casinos will have a minimum age of 21. If you see a sweep that allows 13 to 18 year olds to enter, then this would hurt your odds if you are an adult.

The way I consider the odds of winning a big grand prize is not on the individual sweepstake but over a course of a full year. Why? If I enter a 1000 sweeps in a year with an average of 25,000 entries, then my odds of winning would be 1 in 25.

Now if you consider the rules averaged in, my odds might be closer to 1 in 23 or 24 of winning the grand prize. This is the key to why I have won so much.

Read the rules, understand which sweeps give you're the best odds of winning, and you can improve your chances of winning the big prize also. There are more factors that I will discuss in my tips that will help your improve your odds of winning. Look for more ideas in future tips.

Craig McDaniel.
Sweepstakes Today