Mega Millions Bonus Number

In the last post, Lottery Strategies - Mega Millions and the Bonus Number, we discussed the problem facing many lottery players; What to do about that Bonus number. We all want to improve our chances of winning the lottery jackpot and that annoying little Bonus number is there tormenting us.

So, I analyzed the last 146 Bonus numbers from the Mega Millions lottery using an Excel spreadsheet to see if I could discover something that could help us out. Analyzing the Bonus number is always problematic because, with only one number per drawing, there is very little data to work with. But, I persevered, not really expecting to find very much. But, as lotteries always do to me, I was surprised. In fact, I looking at including a similar bonus number analysis in my next product release. Here’s what I found.

Mega Millions Bonus Number Analysis

My goal was to find how often Bonus numbers repeated themselves. For instance, column 1 shows how often Bonus numbers repeated from the last drawing. The answer, 6 times in 146 drawings. Column 2 shows that Bonus numbers repeated from the last 2 drawings 8 times. Etc. About now, some of you are asking, ‘OK. But, how does this help me?’ Fair question. Here’s how.

Look at column 5. About 10% of the time the Bonus number is a repeat of one of the last 5 Bonus numbers. That means that 90% of the time the Bonus number is not from that list of 5 numbers but from a 41 number list of the remaining pool. Therefore, if we select our Bonus number from this 41 number pool, we will be right 90% of the time. On the average, we will be right in 9 of the next 10 drawings. So, while the odds for correctly picking the Bonus number for everyone else playing the Mega Millions lottery are 1 in 46, our odds are 1 in 41.

Let’s do the same thing for column 10. The odds are around 20%. Therefore, if we play a 1 out of 36 game instead of a 1 out of 46 game, our strategy will be a good one 80% of the time. That’s 4 out of every 5 drawings. Now, some curmudgeon out there is going to say, ‘That’s no big deal’. He is obviously not a professional gambler. Because, what we are doing here is the same thing all professional gamblers are doing,  ‘playing the odds’. Over time, over the long haul, this pays dividends.

Still not convinced? Then, listen to this. In the last Mega Millions drawing a total of 482,143 wagers had the Bonus number correct. We’ll assume they all selected the Bonus number from the 46 number pool. If everyone had played the 1 out of 36 lottery strategy, there was an 80% chance that the total number of wagers with the Bonus number would skyrocket to 616,017! That’s 133,874 more wagers with the winning Bonus number. Even if the players got no other numbers correct, at $2.00 a pop, that’s a payout of $267,748 more than the lottery officials had planned on.

Finally, a Bonus number lottery strategy that works. So, should you play the usual 1 out of 46 game or are you going to switch to the 1/36 game?

Tags: Lottery Strategies by Professor Dolph
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Mega Millions Bonus Number

Lottery players use a variety of lottery strategies to improve their chances of winning the lottery jackpot. But, what are they supposed to do about that pesky Bonus number. There isn’t nearly as much data to work with as there is with the lottery history of the main drawing. Finding lottery number patterns and trends in a list of single numbers drawn is problematic. So, what is a player supposed to do; guess? Well, yes. That’s right. But, just because you’re guessing, doesn’t mean you can’t improve your chances by playing the odds. Let me show you a basic lottery strategy for handling those Bonus numbers.

There are two types of Bonus number lotteries. In one, the Bonus number is drawn from the remaining ball left after the regular drawing. So, in a 6/42 lottery, there are 36 balls remaining after the main drawing and the Bonus is drawn from those 36. In the second type, the Bonus number is drawn from a separate machine which contains a different number or balls. For example, in the MM556, the Mega Millions lottery, 5 numbers are drawn from a pool of 56 numbers. Then, the Bonus number is drawn from a separate machine containing 46 numbers. I’ll use the MM556 Mega Millions lottery in this example.

First, you’ll have to do what I did; create a large chronological database of the Bonus numbers drawn for the Mega Millions lottery. You’ll want to make the database large enough so that one drawing cannot have a significant impact on the results. Typically, the past 100 drawings would meet this requirement, but, the larger the database the more comfortable you can be in the analysis. I got tired of this after assembling the last 146 Bonus numbers so, this became my Bonus number list.

Next, I put those Bonus numbers in an Excel spreadsheet and started playing around with the list to see what I could find out. After some head scratching and a few false starts, a plan began to emerge. I started gathering various statistics about that list; how frequently each number hit; how long before a number repeated; that sort of thing. After a while, I began looking at the results and found some very interesting things.

So, if you are a lottery strategist and play the Mega Millions lottery, don’t miss the next post where I’ll share with you the results of my lottery number analysis.

Tags: Lottery Number Patterns, Lottery Strategies by Professor Dolph
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