Mega Millions Bonus Number Wrap Up

In the last two post, Lottery Strategies for Mega Millions Bonus Number and Lottery Strategies - Mega Millions and the Bonus Number, I presented some ideas on how to handle that troublesome Bonus Number. Hopefully, the information will help you improve our chances of winning the lottery jackpot. If you are just tuning in, you should go back an read these posts to bring you up to speed.

Bless their hearts, I received some feedback from some people who simply don’t understand gambling and playing the odds. They apparently want a 100% money back guarantee. They want to be able to push a button and win the lottery every time. There is no such thing as a 100% guarantee; that’s why it’s called gambling. All a gambler can do is play the odds. And, if you’re good at it, over the long haul, it works.

So, when I showed them the odds were 5:1 (80%) that the next Bonus Number would not be one of the last 10 bonus numbers, that wasn’t good enough for them. They are not going to waste their time on such nonsense. So, let me ask them this. If smart money says the odds are 5:1 that the Yankees will win the World Series (sorry Philly - just an example) are they going to ignore that? If smart money says that the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby has odds of 5:1, are they going to ignore that? Some people are just not gamblers and should stay away; far, far away.

But, for those of you with your feet planted firmly on the ground and with a good head on your shoulders, I’m sure you will understand what I am about to show you. You can actually improve your chances while covering all of the bases! Here’s how it’s done.

For example, if you are playing 20 wagers in the next drawing, then take 80% of those (16 wagers) and select your Bonus Numbers from the 36 number list we discussed in the last post. For the remaining 4 wagers, select your Bonus Numbers from the list of the last 10 Bonus Numbers. Now, you are playing the odds and covering all of the bases. This is often times referred to as hedging your bets.

Please, please, please. Don’t email me complaining that this is nonsense. This is exactly what is done by professional traders in the futures market every single day. They protect themselves from a sudden and unforeseen event by playing both sides. Farmers (typically very conservative) do this to financially protect themselves from a crop failure. This is just basic common sense business practice used around the world everyday.

The lottery is the hardest game in the world to win with outrageous odds. The only thing you can do is improve your chances of winning the lottery jackpot. That’s it. There are no guarantees; no absolutes. So, if your spring is wound a little to tight, try to relax and enjoy playing the game. It’s fun playing the lottery. Just don’t take it too seriously. Have fun with it.

Tags: Lottery Strategies by Professor Dolph
No Comments »

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
No Comments »

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
No Comments »

Lottery Number Advisor - Mega Millions

The Mega Millions lottery is a very popular lottery played in 12 states. Today, it’s next on the Lottery Number Advisor search for the best Play Lists.  Creating a good Play List is the most important thing you can do to Improve Your Chances of Winning the Lottery. You’ll see just how important it is when we show you the worst and the best 30 number Play Lists for the Mega Millions lottery. Without further ado, here’s what we found.

If you are just picking up this thread for the first time, you may need some background. Here is a list of the posts that lay the foundation for our discussion of good Play Lists. After reading them, come back and see what’s happening in the Mega Millions lottery; MM556.

• Lottery Number Advisor - Best Play List Series
• Lottery Number Advisor - Best Play List 1
• Lottery Number Advisor - Best Play List 2

To start, we need to know what performance we can expect from an average Play List for the Mega Millions lottery. Over a period of 358 drawings, an average 30 number Play List should provide around 14 lottery jackpot winners. A Play List providing anything less than that is considered a bad Play List. Here is a table showing the worst Play Lists we could find.

MM556 - Play Lists with Fewest Jackpot Hits Over the Last 358 Drawings

You can’t get any worse than zero lottery jackpot winners. This table simply reinforces our philosophy that good Play List decisions are crucial to your success.

Now let’s find out how much better a good Play List is than an average Play List.  Once you know what is possible, you’ll know what to shoot for in the future. Here is a table showing the best Play Lists we could find.

MM556 - Play Lists with Most Jackpot Hits Over the Last 358 Drawings

While an average Play List produces only 14 lottery jackpot winners, the top two Play Lists produce 46 winners! Wow! That’s amazing! It’s easy to see why a good Play List is so important to the Serious Lottery Player. So, now you have a target to shoot for. Remember, your Play List Rules. Improve your Play List; Improve Your Chances of Winning the Lottery.

So, which lottery will we cover next? Hmmm? The Lottery Number Advisor knows. So, don’t miss the next post. Your lottery may be next.

Tags: Lottery Number Advisor by Professor Dolph
No Comments »