Lottery Software Filters and Prediction

The following provides an explanation of some of the main lottery filters in use and lottery draw prediction methods.

Random Factor

If a lottery is truly random, then no lottery prediction is possible for the drawn. However, lottery systems are not true random number generators, they have flaws which make them only partially random.

Mechanical Systems

For mechanical system, some of these flaws may be:

• length of time the balls are allowed to mix
• the way the balls are stacked prior to being dropped into the rotating drum.
• the position of the "paddles" used to mix the balls when the lottery balls are dropped into the machine.

Computerized Systems

For computerized drawings, some flaws may be:

• poor random number generator (many random number generators are available and depending on which one is used there could be patterns of repetition)

Sum Totals

Several lottery software prediction packages provide a facility to filter lottery numbers based on the total value of the balls that are likely to be drawn.

For example, in a 6/49 draw, you would expect the total value of the lottery balls to lie near to 150 (that is, 1+2+3+47+48+49) for an even spread of numbers. If all the possible lottery draw results were added together and their values plotted on a chart it would look something like this, with the 150 x-axis at the center.

Using this information, you can see that the most likely sum of the lottery balls drawn for any drawing is contained in about half the curve. That is, the totals for about 75% of all draws lie within 50% of the x-axis. An uninformed conclusion may be that this information will give one a edge for lottery draw predicting, after all if we can exclude certain totals without seriously affecting our chances of winning then this is something we can use. However, this is simply explained by the fact that most of the draw totals for any combination lie within this region. It does not mean for example, that 1,2,3,4,5,6 is less likely than 1,2,3,47,48,49. It just means that most combinations (i.e. 75%) fall within that area so it follows that most draws will too. After all, do lottery balls know what number they have printed on them and act in some manner that reflects this number when the draw is taking place? Of course not. This method of lottery filtering is flawed when used for prediction.

However, there are many valid reasons for not choosing the numbers like 1,2,3,4,5,6 least of all because so many people have these numbers as their standing entries and if that combination was ever drawn then the jackpot payout for each winner would be very small.

Other things to look out for when you pick numbers is to avoid birthday combinations for the same reason as above.

Due Numbers

Several lottery software prediction packages also provide a facility to filter numbers based on how long it has been since that number was drawn. Giving the reason that over a long period of time all numbers will be drawn about the same number of times. So if it a ball has not been drawn for some time it makes it more likely that it will appear in the next drawing. The problem with this reasoning, is that, as above a lottery ball does not know what number it has printed on it and will certainly not act in any way differently when the draw is taking place because of that number.

It is true that over a long period of time, for a true random system, the number of times each ball is drawn will even out. But the problem with this is that this period of time may be hundreds of years with hundreds of thousands of drawings. Most lottery games have only been running a fraction of this time and fluctuations in the number of times balls are drawn is quite normal. This method of filtering is flawed when used for prediction.

Is Prediction Possible?

Yes to a very small extent, but only because the lottery drawing systems are not true random generators.

Look at these numbers for the Illinois Little Lotto:

 02/03/1997 Mon 01 03 12 16 17
11/12/1998 Thu 01 03 12 16 17

01/23/1998 Fri 02 12 13 16 23
03/29/1999 Mon 02 12 13 16 23

02/28/1996 Wed 03 11 13 14 30
03/22/1996 Fri 03 11 13 14 30

03/23/1994 Wed 04 17 18 19 26
10/08/1998 Thu 04 17 18 19 26

02/10/1992 Mon 04 17 18 20 24
09/30/1999 Thu 04 17 18 20 24

02/19/1996 Mon 12 14 22 23 29
03/18/1998 Wed 12 14 22 23 29

09/18/1995 Mon 07 08 09 28 29
05/20/1998 Wed 07 08 09 28 29

11/30/1994 Wed 03 07 11 15 26
09/17/1998 Thu 03 07 11 15 26

08/04/1997 Mon 04 05 10 12 22
01/07/2000 Fri 04 05 10 12 22

08/05/1996 Mon 05 06 08 17 23
06/07/2000 Wed 05 06 08 17 23

06/06/1988 Mon 06 10 13 28 30
07/26/1999 Mon 06 10 13 28 30

12/21/1999 Tue 06 12 19 20 29
04/10/2000 Mon 06 12 19 20 29

04/15/1991 Mon 07 10 14 18 25
05/07/1997 Wed 07 10 14 18 25

03/04/1994 Fri 07 08 10 21 27
02/12/2001 Mon 07 08 10 21 27

01/03/1992 Fri 02 04 15 19 27
02/17/1992 Mon 02 04 15 19 27

07/05/2000 Wed 02 13 22 25 29
03/28/2001 Wed 02 13 22 25 29

01/26/1999 Tue 11 12 19 23 28
06/08/2001 Fri 11 12 19 23 28

02/04/1999 Thu 01 16 17 22 30
10/22/2001 Mon 01 16 17 22 30

07/24/2000 Mon 09 17 20 22 26
11/12/2001 Mon 09 17 20 22 26

09/27/2000 Wed 02 05 18 19 23
02/07/2002 Thu 02 05 18 19 23

12/19/1990 Wed 03 10 11 21 22
02/14/2003 Fri 03 10 11 21 22

05/17/1991 Wed 06 13 19 21 26
03/19/2003 Wed 06 13 19 21 26

04/01/1999 Thu 06 08 09 14 25
08/28/2003 Thu 06 08 09 14 25

12/03/1999 Fri 01 03 07 24 29
10/01/2003 Wed 01 03 07 24 29

10/30/2003 Thu 3 10 16 20 25
12/01/2003 Mon 3 10 16 20 25

07/24/1995 Mon 04 06 09 16 25
01/08/2004 Thu 04 06 09 16 25

05/30/2002 Thu 07 08 21 26 28
01/14/2004 Wed 07 08 21 26 28

These repeats are unusual to say the least. So how could they have happened and can we use this in any way to predict? They could happen because of the none true random nature of the selection device. Yes it could be used but how?

What UltraLott does when selecting numbers is first:

1. It opens up the draw history file for the game

2. It picks a random number for the draw number and then selects what ball was drawn in position 1 for that draw

3. It then repeats this process for all the other balls to make up the line. What this does is first, it selects balls that tend to be drawn more often than others and tends to pick up any pattern like those above.

4. The software then does a partial wheel check so that entries which have duplicate coverage on previous selections are removed. This gives more chance of getting some kind of win from the selections.

5. Any selections made will not be the same as others using the same software (it would not be good to have 1000 jackpot winners!)

6. Other filters are also employed to make the entry viable.

Any problems or queries please: EMAIL