This is the third article in the Lotto Lies series. This article should dispel the myth that the lottery is a fair game. There are many Winning Lottery Strategies that will take the wind out of the sails of any fair game proponent. So, read on to see a simple example of a strategy to improve your odds of winning the lotto in the next drawing.
Lotto Lie #3 – The Lottery is a fair game. The odds of winning the lotto are the same for everybody.
It’s Just Not Fair
Any state lottery or lottery official has no choice but to proclaim that their lottery is a fair game. Can you just imagine the up roar that would occur if they didn’t take this position?
The Tribune reported today that the Director of the State Lottery, Unfair D. Rawing was quoted as saying that the State Lottery was not a fair game.
Politicians would be coming out of the woodwork condemning such an irresponsible statement and promising that they would call for an immediate legislative investigation into the operation of the State Lottery Board. There wouldn’t be a safe microphone or camera left within the state.
Heads would role. The Governor would ask for the resignation of the Director of the State Lottery. He would call a Press Conference to restore calm and assure the people of his fine state that the State Lottery was fiscally sound, that all winners would be paid in full and that, above all, their State Lottery was fair.
Of course, I’m having a lot of fun with this. I’m sure that most of you could picture the hilarity of such a three ring circus. After all, taking politicians seriously is only possible by those that lack a sense of humor.
But, Mr. Rawing was right! It’s not fair. It never was, is not now nor will it ever be fair. To prove my point, let me recall one of my favorite anecdotes.
A Tall Glass of Water
A few years back, I was engaged in a discussion about this very subject with this tall glass of water from Texas; complete with cowboy boots, cowboy hat and a belt buckle that would only look small from a hundred yards away. Now, Percival was a nice enough guy but skeptical about my claim that he could improve his odds of winning the Texas 6-54 lottery.
So, I asked him a simple question. “Perc, can you pick one of the 54 numbers that will not be picked in tonight’s drawing?” I will never forget his response. “Hell, that’s easy. I’ve been pickin 6 wrong numbers every drawin for years.”
Some of you probably already figured out what just happened. You see, while everyone else in the State of Texas was playing a 6 out of 54 drawing that night, Perc was playing a 6 out of 53 drawing. Now, Perc didn’t do anything wrong or break any laws and yet, that drawing wasn’t fair to everybody in Texas. Perc had a decided advantage.
A Big Deal In Texas
Now, for those of you who are thinking that this is no big deal and not worth your time, you need to pay close attention. You see, what Perc did that night was a big deal. Here’s how big.
The odds of winning the Texas 6-54 lottery are 1 in 25,827,165. But, the odds of winning the Perc 6-53 lottery are 1 in 22,957,480. Wow! The simple act of removing just one number from play removed 2,869,685 losing wagers from play. That’s nearly 3 million wagers! That’s 3 million losing wagers that Perc didn’t spend any money on. Perc only spent money on wagers that had a chance of winning the Lottery Jackpot.
You Got Me
I can already hear many of you skeptics out there, sputtering and stammering, trying to get the words out. “But, but, but… That’s not tr-tr-true if the number he removes is one of the winning numbers!”
You got me. You caught me. But, before I completely surrender, let’s take a closer look at this objection. In this lottery, there are 48 numbers that won’t be drawn. All you have to do is correctly pick 1 number out of this group of 48 numbers. Of course, you will pick one of the 6 winning numbers once in a while but, over the next year, you will be successful well over 90% of the time! So, you have to decide whether improving your odds of winning the lottery 48 weeks out of the year is good enough for you. When you look at it this way, I wonder which decision you will make.
If everyone followed this simple approach to the game, the state lottery officials will wake up Sunday morning scratching their heads. They won’t be able to explain the sudden spike in the payout for that drawing.
Fair Game
So, is the lottery a fair game? It would be if every player did nothing to improve their chances of winning the lottery. Perhaps that will happen one day, but I’m not holding my breath.
There are many more strategies that can help you improve your chances of winning the lotto. However, to take advantage of them you will need a computer and a quality lottery software program that provides what you need when you ask for it; like a genie. Well, the best genie isn’t in a bottle; she’s on your computer. Her name is LONA; Your LOttery Number Advisor.