To think this is not how raffles work?

I think she meant usually first ticket out wins the best prize. That's usually how it's done. But if they want to do it differently I think that's fine too.

You are totally right OP - If I buy 5 tickets to win a prize car I don't expect one of my tickets to be pulled out of the draw because I get a keyring from that because my odds of winning the main prize become reduced. Unless they throw the booby prize ticket back into the bucket for the next draw so you could potentially win everything on offer.

True, it's not normally either a new telly or one of 100 Mars Bars; but most tombolas that I've seen will have one or two prizes that are very clearly a cut above the others.

I suppose it might also make a difference whether people were there earlier and saw the better prizes on the table before they were won; otherwise, if they have no way of knowing what they missed out on, they may well still happily have a go!

Our school raffles have the prize drawn electronically which saves all this anxiety because the numbers are effectively all drawn at once.

Well, now I have read this I think your way is the way they should work!

But I had never thought about this before and don’t know if it actually is the norm.

@SprayWhiteDung tombolas aren't usually big prizes though.
Popular ones are Bottle Tombola so the prizes are drinks (like a cheap bottle of wine for adults, fruit shoots for kids) or things like bubble bath or shower gel.
There isn't a "main" prize.

Obviously, you can't do anything (legal) to change it, but when it comes to actual tombolas - ones where they have a single 'headline' prize that everybody will want - the organisers are always desperately hoping that the big prize isn't won early, as it then massively reduces the number of people who have a go and thus the amount of money that they make.

I have heard of organisers who keep the ticket for the big prize out of the tombola until nearly the end, in order to make the maximum money - I can see the thinking, especially if the money is going to charity; but it's extremely dishonest and thoroughly illegal.

Our raffles have lots of prizes. They are numbered one to twenty or whatever. Tickets are drawn and the prizes handed out in order. Sometimes highest value last. Saves loads of time!

Assuming that (a) no tickets are sold once the draw starts, and (b) winning tickets are removed from subsequent draws, the order in which the prizes are won has no impact on your odds of winning any specific prize from the outset. It’s just simple maths 😁

My maths was good enough to realise there were complicated maths involved, but not good enough to realise that would come to the same answer.

At least, I'm assuming it works for all other numbers of tickets, prizes etc... haven't checked!

And I was quite prepared to admit I was wrong and find the complex math’s interesting.

turns out I was right. Maybe another first there!

@PopcornAndPizza It's not us is it, that's not how raffles work? Surely the top prize should be drawn first so everyone has an equal chance at winning?

It doesn't matter if the top prize is drawn first or last. All tickets still have an equal chance of winning it. The probability of your ticket being drawn 1st, 27th or 52nd is exactly the same.

Most raffles I've taken part in are usually something like 50p for one ticket or £2 for 5 (ie a strip) so you get one ticket free. It's to encourage you to pay more than 50p obviously.
But that means you have FIVE tickets and could potentially win FIVE prizes.
A strip is not one ticket !

If they say that is "one ticket" that is fine.
If they allow you to buy individual tickets its different.

I never get with raffles why five tickets are kept connected and count as one.

Agree its obviously not fair to do it reverse order of value! People saying that there’s lots of ways of doing it are missing the point that there shouldn’t be! I doubt your colleague had her eye on the coffee voucher and so didn’t mind no longer being in the running for the tablet!

Raffles are highly regulated and if you’ve bought one ticket and you win a prize then that’s that but if you’ve bought more than one then the remainder of the tickets should still be in with a chance unless it’s stated that the whole strip counts as one ticket.
I hate raffles that decide to draw tickets “backwards” and if I know this is going to happen then I refuse to buy!

This would be the same. As the people winning the smaller prizes would then have zero chance of being the winning ticket in the envelope or box or whatever.

I think the 8th to 1st way is absolutely fine. It makes absolutely no difference what order they do this in

Let's imagine you are one of the final two tickets that may win a car.

Your odds of winning the car during the raffle are not one in two, they are one in 500. You bought one of 500 tickets to the raffle, all of which had an equal chance to win the car.

I think the error is in seeing this as one of a series of 500 raffles, rather than one raffle.

But I will bow to any proper statisticians who know better.

Ok I've looked it up and I think I'm totally wrong!
https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/592260/does-the-order-in-which-prizes-are-allocated-to-raffle-tickets-matter

The link is genuine, it's just checking you're not a bot.

So, there are complicated maths involved, but it shakes out the same. I have learnt something today by arguing on the internet - a first for humanity?!

Yes, years ago I took part in an organisation that had a yearly raffle. They used to call the prizes out in last prize to first prize order. One year they informed us that they would now be calling first prize to last prize because that was the law.

It's not about probability, if you buy a ticket for a chance to win the big prize the only question on the day is "are you in the main prize draw?"

If your ticket has been drawn and won a minor prize then no you are not in the main prize draw - to misquote Monty Python "What you 'ave 'ere is a deceased ticket, sir".

Sorry my posts just then might not be right as assumed no-one would actually draw 499/500 tickets as losing ones! So I think I've confused myself there

If you had 500 tickets and took 20 out to win small prizes, then the big prize was picked from the remaining 480, that would be a different calculation of odds for the big prize than 1/500... or would it? I need someone to explain to me now - any statisticians?!

I'm pretty sure no-one ever announces which order prizes will be drawn in!

On the first draw its a 1 in 500 (you have 1 ticket)

@Shnuzzbucket that's not quite right if the car is drawn at the end - see my previous post.