[chipperyman573]

If being married would double your chances of being picked then that would just lead to a bunch of people getting married to get a H-1B. Similar to a green card marriage but neither of the people are citizens already. I agree that this is absolutely a problem but there would have to be a different solution.

[syrrim]

Could be corrected for by having couples enter the lottery as a unit, or halving the odds for each person entering as part of a couple.

[candiodari]

Check what happens when you multiply odds. That will mean the odds for any married person to get an H1B take a nosedive or essentially never happens if there is real competition.

[chipperyman573]

If each person has half the chance of a normal person and since if either one are chosen then the other is chosen, wouldn't their odds be (1/2 + 1/2) = 1 unweighted chance of being selected?

Multiplying the odds by 2 (making your chance 2/4) lets you use this analogy: If you had a bag with 2 marbles labeled 1, along with and one 2 and one 3 marble, your chance of drawing either a 2 or a 3 is the same as drawing the 1 marble. This still works if you add more marbles to the mix, as long as they're weighted to be pulled twice as often as the 2 or 3 marble.