WHY THERE ARE NO "LOTTERY SYSTEMS" THAT WORK
It is very tempting to play the
lottery. Just last week, there was a lottery in my area that had a grand
prize of $110 Million! What you could do with all that money. Unfortunately,
the odds of winning that prize were 1 in 54.9 Million. In other words, you'd
be more likely to get hit by lightning or die in a plane crash than win. So,
it's really a sucker bet. But, still, it's fun to play.
Lots of people use "systems" to try to win. They use birthdays, or they keep
track of which numbers have already been picked, or any of the other systems
out there. Well, the bad news is, NONE OF THEM WORK. I hate to break it to
everyone, but there is NO way you can accurately predict which numbers will
come up in a random drawing.
Let's look at the most common way to "predict" lottery numbers. This would be
tracking. People have kept track of lottery numbers for years, trying to
establish a "pattern." Either they are looking for which numbers come up more
often, or which have been neglected. They use this information as a basis for
the numbers they pick. This just doesn't work, though.
With the number of balls in a state lottery (usually 40 - 45), there are just
too many different combinations of numbers to be able to predict which will
come up, based on past performance. Sure, the "law of averages" would say
that the number 6 should come up soon, since it hasn't been picked for 6
months. However, you can't say WHEN the 6 will come up. You will probably
find that 10 to 12 of the numbers haven't been picked in some time. This is
NOT a pattern, this is randomness. The other numbers will eventually be
picked, but not all at once.
Playing by birthdays, addresses, or lucky numbers is the same. The idea is
that if you always play the same numbers, they will eventually come up. In
theory, this is true. You may have to wait a few hundred, or even thousand,
years, though, because of the shear number of combinations possible.
If you play the lottery consistantly, you are bound to win SOMETHING, even if
it's a little prize. This gives some people the misguided notion that their
system works. Actually, they were just lucky. If you look at the statistics
for those who win the lottery, you will find that most of them let the
computer pick their numbers. They played randomly.
I'm not writing this to try to make anyone feel stupid, or to tell them not to
play the lottery. I just get kind of disgusted when I see people selling the
"secret systems" to win lotteries. There is no system which works, so you are
throwing your money away if you buy into any of this garbage. I also hate to
see people who take out a mortgage on their house to buy lottery tickets. If
you can't afford to buy the tickets, you can't afford to lose the money. If
you play the lottery, play it for fun. That way you'll never be disappointed.
