Software Fixes To Strategy Checking For Pick 3, 4 Lottery

Written by Ion Saliu on June 21, 22 & July 5, 2005 (5 WE).

Forever glorious be your names, o understanding guests, for they prove that errare humanum est!

Mea culpa, o magistrates of symmetrical judgment!

• I just discovered a few bugs in the strategy checking utilities for the pick-3, pick-4, and horse racing. Program names: STRAT332.EXE, STRAT432.EXE, StrategyH.EXE. The updated version is 12.2 June 2005.I strongly recommend that you download the new versions and replace all previous versions in all the packages on your PC. Notably, please replace the old strategy checking software in Pick332.EXE. As of LotWonH.EXE, check first to see if there is a strategy checking program StrategyH.EXE. Save it to a different directory first. The new program may work with different formats of the strategy files.

The real bug was in the MAXimum value of all the Any filters. The MAX_Any was confused with MAX_Bun! Other problems were in the presentation, although not errors in checking. The heading printed some filter values twice; other filter values were not printed at all. For example, Syn_2 was printed correctly in its proper place of the heading; then it was printed again in the place labeled Syn_3!

Honestly, I don't know when those bugs infiltrated my software! I know for sure everything was error-free at one point in time. I remember because I checked it thoroughly in the new millennium.

•• Hoping that you will accept my apologies without bitterness, I would like to show you a pick-3 strategy. It is best to use a filter that shows a very good frequency. Add to the pivot condition (filter) a couple more filters with very safe settings, so that the frequency remains relatively high. I look at my Pennsylvania lottery pick-3 WS and MD reports. I go with the first one I see in the reports. It is the well-known Tot in layer 1. That filter is actually the straight combination (I named it Tot as in Total digits). The Fundamental Formula of Gambling (FFG) calculates the median for Tot to be around 693 (close to 700 it is). I pick Tot as the pivot filter with settings like: minimum = 1000 and MAXimum = 2000. The frequency is very high, so I can afford to skip or even lose some winning situations.

It is more efficient to use additional safe filters instead of just one with very tight values. First, the frequency of the strategy goes down. Next, the filter is not nearly as efficient beyond certain thresholds. That is so because of the pattern overlapping. But adding different filters eliminates combinations far more efficiently, even at very safe values. So, I added the following two filters: All_1 minimum = 1 (very frequent, therefore very safe) and Vr_1 MAXimum = 1 (very frequent, therefore very safe). The frequency is excellent; the elimination power is also very good. I am referring here to my in-house software. Some filters may differ. Tot however is the same; Vr is different; All possibly different from the freeware you are using. The principle nevertheless is the same. Furthermore, you can dramatically reduce the amount of combinations by setting other filters at run time. Look for those streaks of +/- in the filter columns. Look also for very large values that most likely will not increase; vice versa, look for very low values that

most likely will not fall further. You don't need that many extra filters at runtime. Just a few filters will reduce the number of combinations to play to just a few.

••• The philosophy of playing strategiesPhilosophy is born from errare humanum est. You can read an early analysis on the “Lotto, Lottery Software, Excel Spreadsheets: Programming, Strategies” page, chapter two:

I received an insightful message from a Brazilian user. He found my strategy to be FLAWED. After further review, he was right! I rechecked the entire process. I miscalculated. Indeed, I should have counted also the times when the skip went 6 or higher. Actually, I looked at front skips which were already higher than 6. The right strategy is still based on the MEDIAN. Briefly now, if there are more than 5 skips below the median do not play. Also, after 1 or 2 skips above the median, there will follow skips lower than the median -- play the strategy!

On this page of strategy checking, I show a pick 3 strategy that hits 100 times in 1000 drawings. Total combinations for HIT situations: 61 46 44 44 45 44 45 53 52 45 ... Avg = 48 combos.Just playing the raw number of combinations in all 1000 drawings, the cost would amount to 48,000. The winnings would total 100 x 500 = 50,000. Too costly. The mission of a strategy is to minimize the cost, while maintaining a large winning potential. In the Brazilian perspective, my plan was to play only the skips below the median. Something like this:

Under median+1 (skip <= 7): cost = 250 x 48 = 12,000;Under median+1 winnings: 60 x 500 = 30,000; net profit = 18,000.

How about the other 40 situations when the strategy skip goes above the median? In truth, in 40% of the situations when we generate a strategy (by running STRAT332.EXE), the skip would be already over the median. It will be 8 or larger in 16 of the 40 situations. In 24 of the cases with skips over 8, we would have played — in vain — 24 x 8 x 48 = 9216. That's 9,216 in additional cost. Therefore, the profit listed above is diminished to 18,000 – 9216 = 8,784.

The strategy presented here has the following structure: * HITS: 100 in 1000 draws* Sorted Skips: 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 45 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 = 60 times; 249 draws8 8 8 9 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 24 24 33 34 39 72* Median Skip: 6

The new philosophy is to play as many hit situations as possible. The only way to achieve that is to reduce the number of the combinations to play. Adding quite safe filters at runtime is not that difficult. The amount of combos can be reduced down to 10. Let's say we reduce the amount to 20 combinations. In this case, we can play all 1000 drawings for a cost of some 20,000. Of course, the profit is much higher now: 30,000.

But does it make sense to play the skips of 30 or longer? If we play the 33-drawing skip, the cost goes up to some 600 for a win of 500. Even when we win those 4 long streaks — we still lose dinero, argent, soldi! Of course, we lose money, too! Should we play only the streaks shorter than 25 drawings? Those 4 skips longer than 25 still require a cost of 4 x 25 = 100 draws; 100 x 20 = 2000. But we save 8 + 9 + 14 + 47 = 78; 78 x 20 = 1560. The new cost is 20,000 – 1560 = 18,440. The total winnings are lower, too: 48,000. Overall, the profit is also lower. The only advantage is a lower cost. In this case, it is much more rare to have the starting skip of a strategy higher than 25. There are only 4 situations in

100. The lower the probability, the streakier the event. Conversely, the higher the probability, the more homogenous the distribution.

Read also the • Strategy-in-reverse page. It is easier to miss, especially when wacky filter settings are selected. The intentionally-losing combinations can be used to further purge a straight-up strategy, such as the one presented on this page.

Better Approaches: My Theory & Software — Or Other Methods?In all honesty, I don't see anything out there that offers better ways to winning at gambling or lottery. I wish there was something easier and more efficient than my approach. Ain't nothing, honestly. IF my methodology doesn't win the lottery and gambling — there is absolutely nothing to accomplish such daunting tasks. Never will be, if my research has been futile. Never mind that they will continue to put huge efforts in playing the stock market or predicting the weather. The latter two phenomena are equally random to gambling or lottery. They have some advantages, but lottery/gambling have their advantages as well. In the end, it's all about streaks and skips, no matter what the phenomenon is. The skips (misses) are shorter and the streaks are longer if the probability is higher; and vice versa.

So, right now, I cannot see any better approach than mine. That's the only way, like my theory and software do: Track the winning and the losing streaks and their corresponding skips (misses). There are some no playing moments; other situations demand a higher bet. It is hard work, but nothing else works better.

In fact, the science of gambling is the science of the streaks. Theory of probability in general is the science of the streaks and skips. A statement such as "This event will always have the probability equal to zero point zero zero three four etc." is virtually meaningless. The probability represents the ratio of the favorable cases over total possible cases. So, it works with integers. In real-life we deal with integers (discrete values) such as numbers of elements and numbers of trials. The events will hit or miss in streaks pretty clearly predicted by rules and formulas of probability theory. If you play longer sessions at the blackjack table, for example, you will face a higher probability of some very long losing streaks. But play shorter sessions, and there is a far better chance that you'll escape with shorter losing streaks. The LotWon reports will show you filters with high probabilities to reverse trend. If the degree of certainty is 90% or higher, its hitting (winning) streak will be longer. Equivalently, the inverse outcome — no reverse in trend — is some 10% or lower. The lower the probability, the streakier the event. It's harder to see a low-probability event, even if some rule tells you that the event will occur once every ten cases.

For we must remember that there is NO such a thing as ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY in the entire Universe. That's way humans invented the gods; humans badly need the comfort of absolute certainty.

Read also a recent follow-up. It shows a comprehensive strategy analysis for the pick-3 lottery.• "A Must-Win Situation: New Lottery, Lotto Utility Software".

Here is a fragment of my report. It shows also the new MD reports that I use in-house. They are a modification of the filters in MDIEditor and Lotto WE. There is 6 layers of the MDIEditor and Lotto WE. Right now that software is for my use only. That's it and that's that.

* Pick-3 Strategy Checking of W3 & MD3 Reports Date: 06-21-2005

*** Strategy Composition *** *** If the MAXIMUM level of a condition is set to 0 *** *** and therefore the condition was disabled *** *** the program sets as defaults very high values ***

Draw_#: 0 - 99999

Tot1: 1000 - 2000 Rev1: 0 - 99999 All1: 1 - 99999 Pot1: 0 - 99999 Vr_1: 0 - 1 TV_1: 0 - 99999 Pr_1: 0 - 99999 Syn1: 0 - 99999 Bun1: 0 - 99999 Any1: 0 - 99999 Val1: 0 - 99999 Sum1: 0 - 99999

Tot2: 0 - 999999 Rev2: 0 - 99999 All2: 0 - 99999 Pot2: 0 - 99999 Vr_2: 0 - 99999 TV_2: 0 - 99999 Pr_2: 0 - 99999 Syn2: 0 - 99999 Bun2: 0 - 99999 Any2: 0 - 99999 Val2: 0 - 99999 Sum2: 0 - 99999

Tot3: 0 - 999999 Rev3: 0 - 99999 All3: 0 - 99999 Pot3: 0 - 99999 Vr_3: 0 - 99999 TV_3: 0 - 99999 Pr_3: 0 - 99999 Syn3: 0 - 99999 Bun3: 0 - 99999 Any3: 0 - 99999 Val3: 0 - 99999 Sum3: 0 - 99999

Tot4: 0 - 999999 Rev4: 0 - 99999 All4: 0 - 99999 Pot4: 0 - 99999 Vr_4: 0 - 99999 TV_4: 0 - 99999 Pr_4: 0 - 99999 Syn4: 0 - 99999 Bun4: 0 - 99999 Any4: 0 - 99999 Val4: 0 - 99999 Sum4: 0 - 99999

Tot5: 0 - 999999 Rev5: 0 - 99999 All5: 0 - 99999 Pot5: 0 - 99999 Vr_5: 0 - 99999 TV_5: 0 - 99999 Pr_5: 0 - 99999 Syn5: 0 - 99999 Bun5: 0 - 99999 Any5: 0 - 99999 Val5: 0 - 99999 Sum5: 0 - 99999

Tot6: 0 - 999999 Rev6: 0 - 99999 All6: 0 - 99999 Pot6: 0 - 99999 Vr_6: 0 - 99999 TV_6: 0 - 99999 Pr_6: 0 - 99999 Syn6: 0 - 99999 Bun6: 0 - 99999 Any6: 0 - 99999 Val6: 0 - 99999 Sum6: 0 - 99999

HiLo1: 0 - 5 HiLo2: 0 - 5 HiLo3: 0 - 5 OdEv1: 0 - 5 OdEv2: 0 - 5 OdEv3: 0 - 5 InDe1: 0 - 5 InDe2: 0 - 5 InDe3: 0 - 5

Ion1_1 0 - 9999999 Ion2_1 0 - 99999 Ion3_1 0 - 99999 Ion4_1 0 - 99999 Ion5_1 0 - 99999 Any1_1 0 - 999 Any2_1 0 - 999 Any3_1 0 - 999 Ver1_1 0 - 999 Ver2_1 0 - 999 Ver3_1 0 - 999

Ion1_2 0 - 9999999 Ion2_2 0 - 99999 Ion3_2 0 - 99999

Ion4_2 0 - 99999 Ion5_2 0 - 99999 Any1_2 0 - 999 Any2_2 0 - 999 Any3_2 0 - 999 Ver1_2 0 - 999 Ver2_2 0 - 999 Ver3_2 0 - 999

Ion1_3 0 - 9999999 Ion2_3 0 - 99999 Ion3_3 0 - 99999 Ion4_3 0 - 99999 Ion5_3 0 - 99999 Any1_3 0 - 999 Any2_3 0 - 999 Any3_3 0 - 999 Ver1_3 0 - 999 Ver2_3 0 - 999 Ver3_3 0 - 999

Ion1_4 0 - 9999999 Ion2_4 0 - 99999 Ion3_4 0 - 99999 Ion4_4 0 - 99999 Ion5_4 0 - 99999 Any1_4 0 - 999 Any2_4 0 - 999 Any3_4 0 - 999 Ver1_4 0 - 999 Ver2_4 0 - 999 Ver3_4 0 - 999

Ion1_5 0 - 9999999 Ion2_5 0 - 99999 Ion3_5 0 - 99999 Ion4_5 0 - 99999 Ion5_5 0 - 99999 Any1_5 0 - 999 Any2_5 0 - 999 Any3_5 0 - 999 Ver1_5 0 - 999 Ver2_5 0 - 999 Ver3_5 0 - 999

Ion1_6 0 - 9999999 Ion2_6 0 - 99999 Ion3_6 0 - 99999 Ion4_6 0 - 99999 Ion5_6 0 - 99999 Any1_6 0 - 999 Any2_6 0 - 999 Any3_6 0 - 999 Ver1_6 0 - 999 Ver2_6 0 - 999 Ver3_6 0 - 999

Key filter: TOT_1 min=1000; MAX=2000 Three additional filters: ALL_1 min=1 VR_1 MAX=1

Many additional filters can be safely set at runtime!

*** Frequency of the Pick-3 Strategy in 1000 Draws ***

*** HITS: 100

* Skips: 6 12 2 6 1 6 19 24 0 21 4 10 5 1 2 13 3 0 6 72 3 7 12 14 5 4 2 3 10 13 22 10 11 20 4 11 19 1 8 7 4 4 7 17 12 1 7 1 3 17 3 12 1 34 1 1 8 10 6 39 2 33 13 6 3 2 2 6 1 15 1 20 5 5 0 15 4 0 8 0 4 18 21 2 1 3 24 1 9 10 2 18 14 2 7 5 2 2 4 16

* Sorted Skips: 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 = 60 times; 249 draws 8 8 8 9 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 24 24 33 34 39 72 * Median Skip: 6

* Pick-3 Strategy in the Past - W3 1 File: W3.1; Date: 06-21-2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Line Draw Tot Rev All Pot Vr TV Pr Syn Bun Any Val Sum no. ings 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Median > 1406 145 4 1 0 6 35 64 3 61 3 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Min > 1011 7 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Max > 1962 1264 31 9 0 26 231 411 14 434 18 436 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 057- 1432+ 472+ 13+ 3- 0- 6+ 80+ 79+ 3+ 65+ 2+ 1- 20 598+ 1599+ 220+ 4- 1- 0- 3- 108+ 41+ 4 18- 4 30+ 23 142+ 1200+ 25- 19+ 0- 0- 7+ 35+ 243+ 5 62- 3+ 4- 30 037- 1572+ 12- 3+ 2+ 0 9+ 47- 58- 3- 12+ 6+ 40+ 32 799- 1683+ 48- 7+ 0- 0- 10+ 31+ 211+ 7+ 434+ 3+ 128+ 39 874+ 1270+ 14- 3- 0- 0- 1- 11- 328+ 1- 14- 1+ 2- 59 642+ 1707+ 123- 26+ 0 0 11+ 81+ 206+ 1- 43- 18+ 3- 84 810+ 1429- 214- 7- 1- 0 7+ 95+ 26+ 3+ 139+ 0- 35- 85 723+ 1635+ 389+ 8- 6+ 0 3- 14- 12- 1- 72- 1- 56+ 107 954+ 1240+ 50- 2+ 3 0- 5+ 289+ 17- 2+ 50- 1+ 10- 112 011- 1728+ 69- 1- 1+ 0 0- 2- 169+ 1- 69+ 11+ 0- 123 257+ 1083+ 298- 2- 3 0- 10+ 39+ 38+ 1- 63- 0- 7- ... 971 725+ 1756- 441- 1- 3+ 0 2- 22- 136+ 1- 47- 3 26+ 976 034- 1608- 70- 7- 2+ 0- 26+ 206+ 332+ 1- 70+ 9+ 62+ 993 668- 1743+ 73- 1- 0- 0 11+ 65- 63- 1- 73+ 0- 44- etc.

* Pick-3 Strategy in the Past - MD3 1 File: MD3.1; Date: 06-21-2005

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Line Draw Ion1 Ion2 Ion3 Ion4 Ion5 Any1 Any2 Any3 Ver1 Ver2 Ver3 no. ings 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Median > 147 6 5 1 5 0 2 5 2 7 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2nd Min > 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2nd Max > 1429 141 35 7 47 5 8 14 11 28 53 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 057- 345+ 0 1- 3+ 7+ 0 3+ 5+ 0 5- 13+ 20 598+ 339+ 4- 22+ 1- 19+ 0- 1- 4- 0- 10+ 11- 23 142+ 86- 17- 4- 5+ 4+ 2 4+ 5 2 19+ 32+ 30 037- 134+ 2 8- 0- 8- 0 2+ 3- 20+ 26+ 29+ 32 799- 371+ 141+ 2+ 1+ 4+ 1+ 7+ 7+ 3- 7 31+ 39 874+ 526+ 0- 2- 0- 11+ 0- 1- 2- 3+ 5- 15+ 59 642+ 159+ 7- 3 9+ 29+ 0 1- 8 2+ 10- 26+

84 810+ 1429+ 3- 5+ 1+ 3+ 1+ 3+ 7+ 1 7- 8- 85 723+ 236+ 5- 1- 0- 1- 0- 1- 3- 1- 10+ 12- 107 954+ 301+ 14+ 10- 4+ 2+ 1+ 2+ 9+ 3+ 9+ 9+ 112 011- 86+ 44+ 0- 0- 11+ 0- 1- 1- 1- 2- 37+ ... 959 582+ 57- 11+ 4- 3 8+ 0 3+ 14- 5+ 12- 22+ 965 062- 448+ 6- 2+ 1 8+ 0 1 7+ 0 1 10+ 968 161- 758+ 3+ 5- 0 12+ 1+ 3+ 3+ 1+ 3+ 10 971 725+ 968+ 5- 8+ 0- 16+ 0 1- 2- 1+ 6- 19- 976 034- 130+ 8- 20- 1- 11+ 0 1- 4- 5- 6- 32+ 993 668- 4- 2 1- 0- 0- 0- 1- 1- 0- 1- 3-

etc.

* Pick-3 Strategy in the Past - MD3 6 File: MD3.6; Date: 06-21-2005

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Line Draw Ion1 Ion2 Ion3 Ion4 Ion5 Any1 Any2 Any3 Ver1 Ver2 Ver3 no. ings 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Median > 139 8 5 1 3 0 2 4 1 6 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2nd Min > 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2nd Max > 1135 87 33 7 21 4 6 16 10 20 50 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 057- 867+ 13+ 1- 0 11+ 0 1+ 2+ 0 13+ 17+ 20 598+ 389+ 3 0- 0- 3+ 0 2+ 3- 6+ 6- 8- 23 142+ 66+ 41+ 6+ 1+ 5+ 3+ 4+ 7+ 10+ 11+ 41+ 30 037- 114- 5- 42+ 7 1- 0- 5+ 5- 1- 6 11- 32 799- 24- 87+ 7 0- 0 0- 0- 3- 0- 1- 3- 39 874+ 198- 1- 33+ 1 1- 1+ 3 7+ 1- 5+ 7- 59 642+ 50- 0- 1- 0- 15+ 0 1- 2- 1+ 2- 18- 84 810+ 367+ 18+ 17+ 0 10+ 0 0- 3+ 0 4+ 53+ 85 723+ 16- 1- 0- 0 4+ 0 1+ 1 0 1- 34+ 107 954+ 203+ 14+ 0- 0- 9+ 0 1- 1- 0- 1- 8- 112 011- 112+ 22+ 0- 1+ 12+ 2+ 6+ 6+ 2- 8 41+ 123 257+ 1- 0- 2- 4+ 4+ 0- 0- 16+ 0- 6+ 21+ ... 959 582+ 416+ 6+ 7+ 0- 0- 0 1+ 3- 0 1- 3- 965 062- 56+ 33+ 4- 0- 10- 0 0- 1- 0- 6+ 9- 968 161- 26- 30+ 1 0- 8+ 1 2- 2- 2+ 6- 13- 971 725+ 112- 0- 9+ 2+ 9+ 0 1- 10+ 3+ 6 10- 976 034- 178+ 5+ 0- 0 2- 0 1+ 3+ 0- 17+ 19+ 993 668- 32- 16+ 13+ 2- 3- 3+ 3- 7- 9+ 11+ 26-

• Download STRAT332.EXE, STRAT432.EXE, StrategyH.EXE from the free downloads site.

• The gateway to Lotto, Lottery, Wheels, Software, Systems, Strategies - The Main Lottery Page.

• Cross-reference strategy files created by LotWon, SuperPower and MDIEditor & Lotto WE.

• A follow-up — Strategy-in-reverse for lottery and lotto. • Basics of a lottery, lotto strategy based on sums. • Pick-3 Lottery Method, Strategy, System, Play. • Free Lotto, Lottery Software, Excel Spreadsheets. • UTIL-5/6/3/4/horses: New software utilities for lotto, lottery, gambling,

Powerball, Mega Millions. • A Must-Win Situation: New Lottery, Lotto Utility Software.

o • "My kingdom for a good tutorial!" Lotto, Lottery Strategy Tutorial. o • A Survival Guide to "MDIEditor and Lotto". o • The Help page has good information on creating & editing the lotto,

lottery data files. o • The full-blown version of "MDIEditor and Lotto WE" v1.3 is now

freeware!