Well Katherine$, take heart because we are are all struggling with the same issue!
When someone posts a lot of pairs, when it comes to betting, they may be following a strategy of using one or two key digits with each pair or they may be spending a heck of a lot of money on all of their pairs - or they are just guessing.
Let's take zennjohn's post today as an example. First of all kudos to him because he has posted multiple winning pairs today and I hope for his sake he has multiple winning tickets to show for it!
Let's suppose you liked his first line of pairs... what would it take for you to hit using just these 4 pairs today thus far.
The pairs were 43-42-40-41
In order to be sure of a hit, you would have had to wheel all digits with each pair. Let's take the first one as an example. 43X as a straight pair is clear enough and these would be your numbers: 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439. But the same 43X boxed can be played 6 different straight ways according to the straight pair you are using, i.e., 43X, X43 34X X34 4X3 3X4. So you have 6 pairs each wheeled with 10 digits. So if you are playing at the store, you would be spending a minimum of 50c x each number. So that's 50c x 10 x 6 or $30 for a $250 prize - per pair. So if you felt that zennjohn's 4 pairs were bankers you could have risked $120 for a $250 prize at the store. If you had a deep seated conviction that the pairs would come, then some of us here would agree that - if you had the money to risk - it would be a good bet because you would have excellent coverage (60 numbers x 4 = 240 numbers or almost 1/4 of the entire field of 1000 numbers) to double your money.
zennjohn (or anyone else) - please feel free to add to what I am stating here because perhaps there is something I haven't covered for our newbies.
That however is if you had done some of your own homework and liked his 4 pairs. When zennjohn or wheeler or or anyone else posts a lot of pairs, there is some reason why they like those pairs but don't think that you can possibly and regularly play all of them without quickly gong broke! I'm sure many of us here can attest to having that horrible feeling of "winning" but actually losing money because we spent too much. The problem that most of us have from a financial view is that we are not taking into consideration our losses. If we did, we probably wouldn't be in this game at all! In order to go for the big picture, many of us have put on psychological blinders that shield us from our losses so that we can continue in our pursuit of the game. But I digress!
Let's suppose you had no idea and didn't do your homework but saw that zennjohn's posts look hot and certainly today he seems to have his fingers on TLC's pulse.
So you took all of his 12 posted pairs into consideration: in order to cover them all as straight bets you would have had to spend $30 x12 or $360 at the store to get a $250 prize, so clearly that would not not be a viable option. Therefore you would have to reduce your number selections in some manner. Lottery Post has a lot of excellent tools to help you accomplish this. Most of our conversations on this thread have to do with delving into different reduction strategies. For example, I like Danny's charts because they are based on historical fact just as LP's extensive database is but that's my particular bias. Some predictors have other reasons for selecting a number and those might be just as valid on a given night. Now whether they can stand the test of time might be another question.
So when you see Wheeler or Teresa or anyone else post what may seem to be a lot of pairs, these are based on some strategy to come up with pairs that you can use for your own homework. Many of us like to look at Wheeler's pairs because his strategy of using +22 for a number like 409 this often generates a set of 15 pairs that frequently and reliably over time include the winning combo. For example, today alone Wheeler's group of 15 pairs had the winning pair for all 3 of our numbers today. But taken into consideration what I have described above do you think that Wheeler himself caught all 3 numbers? Somehow I doubt it. But do we appreciate him posting everyday? Absolutely! When I do my "homework" I often consult his pair and this will serve as one confirmation that my number selection is on track. If I have time I'll check my chosen numbers with LadyC, Danny, Wheeler, Teresa and a few others on this thread to see if I they similar ideas. Sometimes it works out but most of the time I am in the right ballpark but am constrained by my budget. Therein lies our dilemma.
Can you use pairs as a viable selection strategy to help you reduce your chosen numbers to a more viable set of numbers to bet? Absolutely!
Can you regularly wheel all digits with a given pair to regularly come up with a straight hit? Absolutely - if you have selected the right pairs!
So on that note, best wishes with the pairs!