Scott Publishes Research on Teaching Probability Through Lottery Tickets

Robert H. Scott III, Ph.D., Arthur and Dorothy Greenbaum/Robert Ferguson/NJAR Endowed Chair in Real Estate Policy and professor of Economics, Finance, and Real Estate, recently published research in The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics (Vol. 19, No. 21, 2026).

The article, "Using Scratch-Off Lottery Tickets to Teach Binomial Probabilities and Expected Value," establishes teaching strategies involving state scratch-offs that help students comprehend how theoretical probability distributions relate to empirical outcomes. Through his research, Scott suggests student engagement and understanding in these areas can be improved by using relatable interactive classroom exercises.

The exercise detailed in the paper involves every student receiving a lottery ticket, then calculating binomial probabilities and using this information to estimate expected value, average payout, standard deviation, and the number of winners. The students would then compare the empirical results with their observations after all the tickets were scratched.

The aim of the Journal of Gambling Business and Economics is to be relevant to a wide range of parties, from academics to policymakers to those involved in the business and commercial side of betting and gaming.