numbers game

1. A lottery in which bettors attempt to guess which numbers will later be drawn randomly; especially, an illicit one.

   Back in that day, mafias ran the numbers games and there was no such thing as a state lottery.

2. The incorrect use of statistics (numbers) to reflect a desired result (usually misleading).

   They're playing a numbers game to make it look like seat belts and vaccines are dangerous.

3. An activity that benefits from having many things to work with or on; a focus on quantity.

   In this business, breakeven is a numbers game: if you can achieve enough volume, you'll be all right.

4. (uncommon)A game or sport that is dominated by analytics.

   Somehow, to me, it's not quite as fun now that they've turned it into a numbers game.

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