People have all sorts of ways to pick their lotto numbers from using their friend’s and relative’s birthdays to numbering pennies in a jar and then randomly drawing them out. I prefer to use a more logical and scientific method when I pick lottery numbers.
To really do a good job you need to compile data from past games. Some people will tell you that you need to go back 100 games. I am not so sure you have to go back that far but it wouldn’t hurt. I think though that you could do a little less, say 75 to 80 games. At the end of this post I will tell you the easy way to compile lottery data.
Overdue numbers
First for every number in your game, you will want to compile the number of days since it last hit. This will give you an idea as to whether or not it is due to hit again. Many people classify lottery number into “hot” and “cold” groups. It really varies depending on your game but for a relatively low number game that is played every day like California’s Fantasy Five, if a number goes much over 10 or 12 games without being drawn, you could classify it as a cold number. All others that usually hit more often than that would be hot numbers.
Number Frequency
The next data to compile would be number frequency. How often has a number hit within a given time period? This is really important because it is also going to give you clues as to whether a number is hot or cold or transitioning from hot to cold or cold to hot. You will want to know a numbers frequency for 80 games, the past 20 games and the past 5 to 10 games. For example, let’s say a number has hit 18 times in the past 80 games. You then want to check how many times it has hit in the past 20 games. If it has hit say 13 times in the past 20 games, that tells you it is going hot as most of the hits have been in recent games. Then check the past 10 and 5 games. If it has hit 3 times in the past 5 games, that number is on fire and it will hit again soon, maybe not the next game but very soon.
You can see how important number frequency is in following a number’s trend. A lotto number may have hit 20 in the past 80 games but if it has only hit 4 times in the past 20 games, I would not get too excited about it as it seems to be trending toward cold. Cold numbers do hit but they take their time. Once you collect the data, and analyze past games, you will develop a feel for your game and when numbers are due to hit.
Odd/even and high/low
Odd and even numbers hit equally about 50% of the time. Many people will tell you to not pick mostly odd or most even numbers but to have an equal amount if possible. In a 5 number game, pick 2 even 3 odd or 2 odd and 3 even, but to avoid a combination like 4 odd 1 even as that is not the norm. This is true but unusual combinations do occur. The general rule is only based on averages. I don’t know how many times I have had a number combination I felt good about but it was made up of too many odds or evens and so I said “no that will never hit” and it did or something close. That is why I don’t always follow the odd/even rule that strictly.
The same goes for high/low numbers. Take your game and divide the numbers in half. The first half are the low numbers and the second half are the high numbers. On average a game draw has an equal amount of high and low numbers. Again those are just averages. Go to your game’s website and check past draw results. You will see weird draws sometimes like with a 40 number game and all of the numbers drawn go no higher than 19. It does not happen a lot, but it does happen. Again, if you are serious about this, you will develop a feel for your game and when to play the strange looking combinations.
Line sums
This is where you take the sum of all of the numbers in a draw. On average the sums will fall into a range such as say between 100 and 165. I just made that range up, but it is close to the average sums of many games. I do not usually pay attention to line sums myself but you may find it useful.
Cold numbers
When I discussed overdue numbers above, I talked about hot and cold numbers. Hot numbers will hit quite often but a draw is usually not always made up of just hot numbers. As a strategy to select combinations, you should pick 1 or 2 cold numbers. To do do this, pick the ones that have gone the longest without being hit. On some games I have seen a number go as long as 60 games without being drawn. With Mega, bonus or Power ball numbers it can be even longer.
There are other techniques people use such as paired numbers but I mostly rely on the overdue numbers and hot and cold analysis using the number frequency analysis. I also have a couple of other computations I am working on that I may reveal in the future, but for now I am still trying to nail down their accuracy.
Even after having done the above analysis, you may find that there seem to be numbers that are drawn that simply defy logic. For those, pick a few numbers randomly that do not seem to fit into any of the above analysis and include them as part of your combinations. Of course this will take several lines. You will not be able to fit every number you have chosen into one line. This is another reason to play less games but when you do, play more lines.
You will find that with my above analysis along with some other techniques taught in Winning The Lottey In Three Steps, you will be well on your way to winning smaller prizes in your games and with persistence, maybe even the firsts prize.
OK, now for the easy way to get all of this number data together as it would take a person a considerable amount of time even for a small number game. The simple answer is lottery software.
Good software does all of the drudge work for you in an instant so that you can get down to the fun stuff of picking your lotto numbers. I have been using Lottery Audit software lately. It is decent. The thing I like about it is that it uses graphs so it is very visual. The other thing that is awesome is that you can choose just about any date you wish so that you can go back to past games by picking a past date and then look at the numbers that were drawn to get an idea of why they were drawn. Then you simply carry the concept forward to the up coming game.
It does not cover all games but it covers the main American games and some minor ones as well as covering many other countries games. I have only checked California and it covers Mega Millions, California Super lotto Plus and Fantasy Five. It does not cover any pick 3 or pick 4 games at least in California.
You can check what games are covered for free by opting in with your name and email address and you will be taken to a page where you can check all of the games covered. It is a membership site with 3, 6 and 12 month plans. Check it out and see if it appeals to you.
One last thing, when you first start analyzing past games to pick your numbers for the upcoming game, you will be tempted to run out and buy lottery tickets for the numbers you just picked. Don’t do it. I strongly recommend first analyzing at least the past 10 games to get a feel for your game. You can and should pick numbers, just do not put any money down right away. If you do, don’t go crazy no matter how good you think your numbers are, because unless you really know your game, they may not be as good as you thought.
Don’t worry though, you will have days when you check your game’s results and smile when you see some or all of the numbers you played (: