Lottery Tips

In the last post, Lottery Tips - Powerball - What Are the Odds , we alerted all you Powerball players that the game had changed. Previously, it was a 5 out of 55 drawing and now it’s a 5 out of 59 drawing. I refer to this as a Format change. Whenever a Format change occurs, our LONA™ customers begin emailing us wanting to know what to do.

There are two types of Format changes. In one, the lottery itself remains the same. The only thing that changes is how many drawings are held each week. This type of change is seamless because the existing database of winning lottery numbers is still valid and can still be used.

The second type of Format change is disruptive. The Powerball change falls into this category. In this case, the structure of the lottery drawing itself is changed; like changing from a 5/55 to a 5/59 drawing. When this happens, all bets are off. The 5/59 is an entirely new game and the numbers drawn have no relationship to the old database. Therefore, we have to start over and create a new lottery database with the first drawing occurring on 1/7/2009. The old 5/55 database is useless to us. Now, we have to build up the new database with winning numbers over the next several months until we had a record large enough to analyze. Why? Because one lottery drawing does not a lottery trend make.

That’s your Lottery Tip for today.  Enjoy.

Tags: General, Lottery Tips by Professor Dolph
No Comments »

Winning the Lottery

Again, I don’t want those of you who play the smaller lotteries to feel left out, so, today I’ll discuss the Deleware 6/35 lottery.  When everybody from ‘The First State’ gather around their TV’s to watch the lottery drawing and check their tickets, here’s how their odds of Winning the Lottery jackpot are changing as they watch.

If someone buys 1 ticket, their odds of winning the lottery jackpot before the drawing starts are 1:1,623,160. At that point, 0 numbers have been drawn. The first number will be drawn from a pool of 35 numbers. After that, there will only be 34 numbers left in the machine. So, the second number will be drawn from a pool of 34 numbers, and so on.

Now, if the first number drawn is a number on your ticket, your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just improved dramatically. You now have 1 correct number and you need to get 5 correct numbers out of 34. The odds of this happening are 1:278,256.

If the second number drawn is also on your ticket, your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just improved to 1:40,920. Here’s a table that shows how your odds of winning the lottery jackpot change as the drawing proceeds.

Correct Numbers Drawn      Odds of Winning the Lottery Jackpot

• 0                                                1:1,623,160
• 1                                                   1:278,256
• 2                                                     1:40,920
• 3                                                       1:4,960
• 4                                                          1:465
• 5                                                            1:30
• 6                                    Remember me in your will

After seeing five of the winning numbers on your ticket, you’ll be waiting with bated breath for the last and final number to be drawn. At that point, no one in the room will be breathing. One chance in 30 of Winning the Lottery! OMG!!!

Tags: General, Winning the Lottery by Professor Dolph
No Comments »

Winning the Lottery

I received many emails about the last post Winning the Lottery - Before Your Very Eyes. It appears that many of you want to see what happens to your odds of winning the lottery jackpot after each number is drawn. So, I’ll start the last post over, but this time I’ll carry it through to the last number drawn.

As I pointed out in the last post, as each number is drawn, the fortunes of millions of lottery ticket holders are changing before your very eyes. Let’s look at what is happening as the drawing proceeds. I’ll continue using the Lotto Texas 6/54 lottery in this example.

The first number is drawn from a pool of 54 numbers. Now, there are only 53 numbers left in the machine. So, the second number is drawn from a pool of 53 numbers, and so on. As I already pointed out, if someone buys 1 ticket, their odds of winning the jackpot are 1:25,827,165.

Now, if the first number drawn is a number on your ticket, you’re in a whole new ballgame. Your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just improved dramatically. In order to win the jackpot, you now need to get 5 correct numbers out of 53. The odds of this happening are 1:2,869,685. That’s 9 times better than your odds were just seconds before the first number was drawn.

This is where I left off in the last post. So, what happens next? If the second number drawn is also on your ticket, your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just got better again. Now you need to get 4 correct numbers out of 52. The odds of that happening is 1:270,725. That’s 10.6 times better than your odds were before that number was drawn.  Here’s a table that shows how your odds of winning the lottery jackpot change as the drawing proceeds.

Correct Numbers Drawn      Odds of Winning the Lottery Jackpot

• 0                                       1:25,827,165
• 1                                         1:2,869,685
• 2                                            1:270,725
• 3                                              1:20,825
• 4                                                1:1,225
• 5                                                     1:49
• 6                             Remember me in your will

Can you even imagine the excitement and tension in the room when your ticket has 5 winning numbers and you’re waiting for the last ball to pop up? One chance in 49, baby!!!

Tags: General, Lottery Software, Winning the Lottery by Professor Dolph
No Comments »

Winning the Lottery

Thanks for the emails I received from the last post. Feedback is the grist for my Lotto Blog mill, as is the case today. The emails got me thinking about how the odds of winning the lottery jackpot change during the drawing itself. If you can imagine for a moment, millions of people, tickets in hand, watching a lotto drawing on TV. As each number is drawn, the fortunes of millions of lottery ticket holders are changing before your very eyes.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s use the Lotto Texas 6/54 lottery in this example. Of course, if someone doesn’t buy a ticket their odds of winning the jackpot are zero. If someone buys 1 ticket, their odds of winning the jackpot are 1:25,827,165. Now, as the drawing begins things get very interesting.

Suppose you’re sitting in Austin, in front of your TV, watching the drawing. The first number is drawn. You check your ticket and your ticket has that number. What just happened? You’re now in a different league. There are 53 balls left in the machine and you need 5 of those 53 to win the lottery jackpot. Suddenly, your playing a 5/53 game and your odds of winning the lottery jackpot improved to 1:2,869,685. That’s 9 times better than before the drawing started just moments earlier.

So, right there, in that instant, you’re pumped and awaiting that next number to pop out of the machine, while most players in Texas watched their odds of Winning the Lottery jackpot drop to zero.

Tags: General, Lottery, Winning the Lottery by Professor Dolph
No Comments »

Lottery Number Patterns

Over the last couple of weeks, the discussion has revolved around Lottery Number Patterns and in particular the concept of HOT numbers. Critics and skeptics would claim that playing a HOT number strategy is nonsense because you can’t predict what numbers will be drawn in the next drawing. But, the same critics would see no problem with weather forecasting or stock market analysis. However, they would probably harbor critical opinions about handicapping horse races. This is the critics Achilles heal. The litmus test they apply to legitimize computer forecasting is inconsistent.

There is nothing inconsistent about HOT lottery numbers. In fact, HOT numbers exhibit what I call Persistence. A HOT number became so because, over time, it HIT more often than the other lottery numbers. It will only remain a HOT number if it continues to HIT more often; if it’s Persistent. This should be easy to test.

Let’s use the Illinois IL652 lottery in this example. We are going to look at the performance of the top 14 HOT numbers. Why 14? Because there were 14 numbers that HIT more than twice as often as the Coldest number in the Illinois lottery. That represents a serious bias in favor of HOT numbers. Each one of these numbers would be a finalist for the crown of HOTTEST lottery number of the year.

To check for Persistence, we are going to use the Lottery Number Advisor to look at the top 14 lottery numbers as of 11/17/08, 50 drawings ago and 100 drawings ago. If HOT numbers are Persistent, the same numbers will continue to appear in the top 14 list over time.  Here’s the result.

Over a period of 100 drawings, 7 numbers remained in the top 14 HOTTEST numbers list; 1, 8, 16, 21, 39, 43 and 50. They weren’t flukes; they were Persistent. What does this mean to the Serious Lottery Player? If the player had included these numbers in his play list every drawing, then he would have averaged more winning numbers in his play list than he would have if he simply randomly selected numbers.

With so many Lottery Number Patterns to choose from, it will be a tough call. But, who do you choose as your HOTTEST lottery number of the year?

Tags: General, Lottery, Lottery Number Advisor, Lottery Number Patterns by Professor Dolph
4 Comments »