Disclosing The Third Lotto Myth

By Author: Darrel Dolph
Total Articles: 44
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The Lottery is not a fair game if you play intelligently. Let's banish this Lottery Lie once and for all. The Lottery has never been, is not now, nor will it ever be a fair game. In fact, there are many Winning Lottery Strategies that will astonish any fair game proponents.

Lottery Lie #3 - The Lottery is a fair game. The chances of winning the Lottery jackpot are the same for us all.

It Is Not Fair

Any state Lottery has no choice but to proclaim that their Lottery is a fair game. Can you just imagine the brouhaha that would take place 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 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 Long Tall Glass of Water

A few years back, I was having a discussion on this subject with a 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 increase his chances of winning the Texas 6-54 Lottery jackpot.

So, I asked him an easy question. 'Perc, can you choose 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 game that night, Perc was going to play a 6 out of 53 game. 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

For those of you thinking that this is a joke and not worth your time, you need to pay very close attention. You see, what Perc did that night was a very big deal. Here's how big.

The chances of winning the Texas 6-54 Lottery are 1 in 25,827,165. But, the chances of winning the Perc 6-53 Lottery are 1 in 22,957,480. Wow! 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 the 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. There are 48 numbers that won't be drawn. All you have to do is correctly pick just1 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 increasing your chances of winning the Lottery Jackpot 48 weeks out of the year is good enough for you. Given this choice, 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.

Is It a Fair Game?

So, is the Lottery a fair game? It would be if all of the players did nothing to improve their chances of winning the Lottery Jackpot. Perhaps that will happen one day, but I'm not holding my breath.

And, this isn't the only way to improve your chances of winning. There are many more Winning Lottery Strategies you can use. However, to take advantage of them you will need a computer and great Lottery software that provides you the information you need when you ask for it; like a genie. Well, the best genie isn't in a bottle; she's on your computer.
Professor Dolph is the world-famous Lotto expert, lecturer and columnist who authored LONA, your LOttery Number Advisor. For a refreshing look at Lotto software, go to Winning the Lottery