Lottery Predictions - Steady as She Goes

In lottery parlance, a Longshot is any lottery number that hasn’t hit in the last ten drawings. Most professional gamblers wouldn’t normally bet on a Longshot, but that is not so in the lottery. In the lottery, 25% to 40% of the winning numbers are Longshots. Therefore, you ignore them at your own peril.
On September 30, 2008, I wrote a post called, Lottery Statistics - The Amazing Race that rather emphatically made this point. I thought it would be nice to go back, almost a year, and see if the Longshot trends I identified then are still performing today. This post should go a long way in silencing the critics who claim these are just fleeting trends that you can’t count on.
The key to understanding the importance of including Longshots in your play list, is that most of the time you have absolutely no chance of winning the lottery jackpot if they are not included! A sobering thought. To prove to you that this is just a true today as it was a year ago, I’ll show you some THEN and NOW comparisons. Lottery statistics labeled THEN are from 9/30/08. Those labeled NOW are from 8/27/09
THEN - TX654 - Lotto Texas - On the average, it takes at least 1.82 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 30.3% of the winning numbers. In 92 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
NOW - TX654 - Lotto Texas - On the average, it takes at least 1.79 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 29.8% of the winning numbers. In 91 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
THEN - MM556 - MegaMillions - On the average, it takes at least 2.07 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 41.4% of the winning numbers. In 94 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
NOW - MM556 - MegaMillions - On the average, it takes at least 2.03 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 40.6% of the winning numbers. In 92 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
THEN - FL653 - Florida Lotto - On the average, it takes at least 1.80 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 30% of the winning numbers. In 90 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
NOW - FL653 - Florida Lotto - On the average, it takes at least 1.77 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 29.5% of the winning numbers. In 89 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
THEN - NY659 - New York Lotto - On the average, it takes at least 2.07 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 34.5% of the winning numbers. In 94 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
NOW - NY659 - New York Lotto - On the average, it takes at least 2.03 Longshots to win the Lottery Jackpot. This is 33.8% of the winning numbers. In 93 drawings out of 100, it takes at least 1 Longshot to win the Lottery Jackpot.
The obvious consistency of these trends over the last year with several lotteries substantiates what I’ve been saying. Lottery number patterns and trends are persistent; you can count on them. These, THEN and NOW comparisons should make believers out of all of you. If they don’t, then there is probably no hope for you. But, facts are facts and it is difficult to ignore them forever.


