Quick Picks Just Plain Suck Sometimes

Reply #17

BlueDuck — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:29:56 GMT

The Weekly Puzzler

from Car Talk 4-28-2012

Car Talk an NPR Saturday morning talk show has a weekly puzzler. This weeks puzzler goes something like this:

Mr. Geovonie loves to play the Italian Lottery a 5/60 game. He's listening to the radio, the evening the winning numbers are announced live and after hearing the first number, he knows he is the winner! What are the winning numbers??

You can visit Tom and Ray at http://www.cartalk.com and answer the question.

........a... [ More ]

Reply #16

lottolaughs — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:59:01 GMT

What's interesting is that this has happened twice in Pick 5 games(and fairly close together too).

I know sooner or later it will happen with the big games too...just might take a bit longer.

Sat, Dec 4, 2010 Pennsylvania Treasure Hunt 01-02-03-04-05

Thu, Nov 12, 2009 New Mexico Road Runner Cash 01-02-03-04-05

Reply #15

KY Floyd — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:37:20 GMT

Opinion: Lottery Ball Drop Machines may be at their physical limits when producing five number lottery combinations such as 1-2-3-4-5 or 52-53-54-55-56.

Have a look at the statistics for the 714 MM drawings since the last matrix change. Drawing 5 balls from 56 means that 8.93% of the balls are drawn, so each ball has an 8.93% chance of being drawn. Any ball that was actually drawn 8.93% of the time would have been drawn 63.75 times.

Balls numbered 1 through 5 have been drawn 56, 72, 61, 6... [ More ]

Reply #14

BlueDuck — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:34:52 GMT

correction: an extra 5-8 listed under 13 .

KY Floyd,

Thanks for reply and analysis to post.

I counted 24 instances of 7 and 19 of 8. Did I miss any?

Coin Count after corrections.

1. 18

2. 19

3. 27

4. 27

5. 27

6. 24

7. 24

8. 18

9. 16

Unless you think there's a reason to draw multiple coins I'd simply draw a single coin, or at least record them as individual selections instead of sums. There are more combinations that add up to 9 than 2 and 17, but su... [ More ]

Reply #13

KY Floyd — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:05:37 GMT

I counted 24 instances of 7 and 19 of 8. Did I miss any? With 9 coins all having an equal probability of being drawn you would expect that any given coin would be drawn 1 out of every 9 times. Out of 200 total draws that would be 22.22 times (which obviously can't happen). 24 and 19 are both fairly close to what we would expect. I get 28 instances of 5, which is substantialy higher than the average, but you didn't mention that, so I'm not sure exactly what you're seeing (or looking for) that mad... [ More ]

Reply #12

BlueDuck — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:20:48 GMT

KY Floyd,

The hardware doesn't care how the individual selections are identified.

Beginning to think it is very, very, very hard (impossible) to produce random numbers with machines.

Here are the results from A Very Small Lottery Game . 2/9, odds 1:36. Marked nine pennies 1 to 9. Used a plastic Tupperware container with cover and made 100 random drawings, picking out two marked pennies and writing down the results.

Numbers 3 to 17 is the Range of Sums Number .

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10... [ More ]

Reply #11

KY Floyd — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:30:17 GMT

I wonder if anyone actually wastes the money playing that set of consecutive numbers every drawing insisting that one day it'll hit.

I once worked with a guy who played 1,2,3,4,5,6 (in a state game) on the theory that nobody else would play them. He was wrong about that. It's a very popular combination because for every person who thinks a special combination like that won't be drawn there's somebody who thinks it will be drawn because it's a special combination. The real reason to avoid it... [ More ]

Reply #10

Editgap — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:24:54 GMT

I think QP have a 6th sense of picking cold and unexpected numbers drawn from my experience if you don't give them your own numbers first, then they will drawn numbers similar to your losing picks. But if the winning numbers include 40, two numbers below 40 and two numbers above 40, you can see the advantage in that kind of pick. You are guaranteed to miss two numbers and you have 4 in 18 chances of matching the other two numbers. It's all about how the numbers are spread. Good luck.

Reply #9

LottoNick56 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:05:24 GMT

I thought about this last night while lying in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about the powerball jackpot for tonight. Maybe those bad numbers will yield a decent prize none-the-less. Thanks for the optimism RedStang

Reply #8

RedStang — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:11:11 GMT

You should also look at the small picture. Maybe you could hit 3+1 for a decent prize.

Reply #7

scratchNtix — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:18:18 GMT

The split is the real reason to avoid these numbers. More people play patterns, sequences, etc... so you would most likely be staring at an ugly win with this set. This is also why you want to avoid using just calendar numbers, as they have much heavier play than the rest. For MM, the non calendar numbers make up about 45% of the matrix, so it doesn't hurt to grab a couple numbers from that end of the pool. This advice goes for the numbers that appear in pop culture, like The Numbers from Lost.... [ More ]

Reply #6

LottoNick56 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:30:05 GMT

You couldn't be more right. But I will personally stick to playing the more random sets until this lottery completely shocks me with a 1 2 3 4 5 6..I wonder if anyone actually wastes the money playing that set of consecutive numbers every drawing insisting that one day it'll hit. Probably would have to share that one with a lot of people. A random set of numbers is more like to be drawn, only simply because there are more combinations of random numbers vs. consecutive numbers. I finally played n... [ More ]

Reply #5

Longarm — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:25:36 GMT

I think what happens is that people are discouraged by identifiable patterns. If your quick pick had 1 2 3 4 5 PB 6, you'd probably hate it. They've never drawn all consecutive numbers, but the fact that it's an identifiable pattern makes no difference at all. There's no difference between that and 17 20 24 30 48 PB 18 (which I'm just assuming has never been drawn). The second set seems more random, while the first is all consecutive. But you don't win for having the most random numbers, you win... [ More ]

Reply #4

LottoNick56 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:16:30 GMT

HAHA thanks for the reply Longarm. You are very correct. I am sure there are some laws and theories and stuff dealing with statistics and the drawing of numerical data over time. Since every ball has a 1 in 59 chance of coming up and every combination should have a 1 in 170 whatever million chance of coming up, in theory, every combination will eventually come up. However, for a pool of possible combinations that big, it would take centuries. And yes, any ticket is likely a waste of $2 regardles... [ More ]

Reply #3

Longarm — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:11:09 GMT

I'd point out that they don't actually draw numbers, they draw balls. The number that happens to be attached to the ball is what needs to match the ticket. The only reason they've never drawn all high numbers is because of how few combinations of such numbers there are, compared with the entire set, and because of how few drawings have taken place. If they go long enough, they will some day pick a set with all numbers above 39.

What's bothering you is that there your numbers have a discernibl... [ More ]

Reply #2

LottoNick56 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:51:18 GMT

well of course I am keeping them! lol I would certainly not throw my $2 away AGAIN, I already did that once when I first purchased the ticket. Yes as THRIFTY would be sure to inform everyone, the Powerball website says that 70% of jackpot winners win the jackpots 70% of the time. That's exactly why I throw a few quick picks on my tickets in addition to my statistically chosen numbers. Sometimes you need the quirky, out-of-the-box insane combinations of numbers to hit the jackpot and be the only... [ More ]

Reply #1

Nikkicute — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:47:56 GMT

Quick Picks have helped many win millions, you never know what numbers might come up!

I'd keep those numbers and play them if I were you, they just might come in and you'll be the only

winner! Lot's of people don't like sharing the jackpot lol Good luck

Quick Picks Just Plain Suck Sometimes

LottoNick56 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:40:29 GMT

Although any numbers are possible to come up because the balls of the Powerball lottery are drawn completely randomly, I was very disappointed in one of the rows I was given on a QP for tomorrow's drawing. It was a waste of $2. The odds coming from the history of all previous Powerball draws since 1997 go against this collection of numbers. My first # is 40... There has never been a drawing where the lowest drawn ball is above 39. What luck! Ugh! Who knows, maybe this drawing will be the first t... [ More ]