Lottery Gambling in America

There is no question about it, wagering on the lottery today is almost as American as apple pie and baseball. It has grown from one state in 1964 to 40 states, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. You can walk into almost any convenience store or supermarket and buy a lottery ticket. The price is small and the win is big. How do you win the lottery? I’m not sure one can do all the right things and still win, but here are a few suggestions:

• (1) Chose a game with the lowest odds. Many states have numerous games besides the big jackpots with high odds. Normally you can find ones like Pick-3, or Daily-5. These are small numbers with small odds.
• (2) Try and pick numbers that have the best chance of being drawn. Go to your computer and look up past winners. If your favorite numbers have already been drawn, I suggest picking new ones..
• (3) Play that which is most likely to happen. If something rarely happens, like drawing numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6, don’t play that way. (Those numbers have never appeared in a US or International lottery).
• (4) Everything does not even out. Many players think a specific number is “due”. That simply is not true. During one period in the New York lottery, number 45 did not show up in 100 drawings..
• (5) Try and spread your numbers evenly, high and low. This will help statistically to balance your entry..
• (6) Patience, when playing a given set of numbers for a long time, stick with them..
• (7) And most importantly, don’t use the “grocery money” to play the lottery, use only “entertainment money”.