Determining Hot and Cold Numbers

Hi All,

  For games like MM or Powerball, what is the best way to determine which numbers are hot and which ones are cold? Is it simply whichever #'s come out most (or less) or do they need to come out a minimum number of times (within a certain number of draws) before they're considered hot. I suppose different people have different opinions so i'm interested to see how people look at it.

I would say just use your instincts.  I don't think there is a "set in stone" way to do what you are asking.  Just try something and see if you are close.

Hello Massachusetts and Welcome Aboard the LP!

I determine a hot number as one that has shown up 3 or more times within the last few draws. This is where it can get tricky because the way I've seen it,once a number hits 3 times it can go either way,that is, keep on going for maybe 2 or 3 more times or go dead cold. Any time you see a number hit a second time,you can almost be sure it will hit again very soon.

I consider a cold number to be one that is out over at least 17 or 18 times in the pick 6 games.

Lottery Post Search is you Friend:

http://www.lotterypost.com/search.asp?q=defined+cold+numbers&t=all

http://www.lotterypost.com/search.asp?q=defined+hot+numbers&t=all

Thanks Raven. I tried search but i couldn't trim it down to meangful posts.

I decide if a number is hot or cold by the number of times it has hit recently compared to its average or median drawings per hit. Anything not hot or cold is normal. 

For example in MegaMillion since the matrix changed 180 drawings ago number 1 has hit 13 times varying 1-35 drawings between hits,that an average of 14 drawings per hit and a median of 11 drawings per hits.  Since it hit 7 and 28 drawngs ago, it's normal. Number 3 has also hit 13 times in the last 180 drawings varying 1-28 drawings between hits with an average of 14 drawings and a median of 7 drawings per hit, but it hit 6, 9 and 15 drawings ago so it hitting more than usual and it's hot.  Number 2 has hit 16 times in last 180 drawings varying 1-31 drawings between hits with an average of 11 drawings and a median of 9 drawings per hit and its last hit was 20 drawings ago so it's cold.

Using the above definition of hot, cold and normal in the last 50 drawings 44% of the numbers that hit were cold, 16% were hot and 40% were normal.  On two occasion all 5 number were cold and on one occasion they all were normal, the rest of the time they were mixed.

The above definition of hot and cold number is just a starting point.  You will find by varying that definition you can isolate numbers such that a group of 5 hot, cold or normal numbers will hit more often.

I believe that If you get yourself a software that can wheel hot and cold numbers into an abbreviated wheel, you will be all set.....Right now Lotto busters say they will be able to do it but they are working on it and soon they should have it done....

"more important than winning the states' lotteries is the movie "Red Planet...."

Wheeling software that already exit will wheel any numbers, hot, cold or what ever.

Why play an abbreviated wheel if you're trying to win the jackpot?

It allows the player to cover more numbers with a lower guaranteed at a lower cost.  It for the player who hopes to win something even if it's not the jackpot.  Once the number pool reach a certain size, wheeling can be expensive for good coverage so I prefer to pick numbers randomly from the pool with a few parameters to guarantee a good mix such as not repeating combinations of threes or more too often, restricting certain numbers to certain positions and etc.

Most abbreviated wheels are 4if5, 3if5, 3if4, 3if3 etc. but you lose the guarantee by filtering them. I was reading about a 22 number 3if4 wheel having 100 combinations that had 7 jackpot winners but they didn't mention how many people played it and got exactly what it guaranteed; 1 three and 22 two's.

I believe there are better playing strategies for a $100 each draw but you still need a way of consistantly picking at least 4 numbers.

It's pretty easy to see a 'hot' number, but it's pretty hard to determine how long it will stay hot, or when it will go cold. The next problem is that it's nearly impossible to figure this out AND make it work for all the numbers 5+1 - there are just too many other things that come into play.

But as I say, any system is as good as any other system, on any given day.  A 'quick pick' is a system as well. 

Once you have defined a hot, cold or what ever number, you can check previous drawings to see how often such numbers come up. 

Using MegaMillions I defined hot numbers as those that had come up in the most recent drawings 2 or more times their normal rate and then checked the previous fifty drawings and found only twice did three such defined numbers show up among the winning numbers.

What's hot, what's cold varies widely over time. Any number can come up at any time!

Here is an easy method to separate the numbers into 3 groups - cold, warm, hot.

Start a list of winning numbers. Single column, in consecutive order.  Strike the repeats as they occur. Do this for 10 drawings.

Refer to the list and place the first 12 numbers in a single row. Call this the Cold numbers, because these are the numbers that have not come up recently.

Go to the bottom of the list and place the last 12 numbers in a row. Use the same row as you used for the cold numbers.

Using graph paper and MegaMillions as an example, you will have 12 numbers on the left side the page, 12 different numbers on the right side.

The warm numbers are the 32 numbers that are not cold or hot You don't have to put these on the graph, but you could. Hard to find graph paper with 56+ cells in a single row.

Log the numbers as they occur, using one row for each d rawing. Put a circle around the hits, or repeats. After about 5 drawings, you will have a pretty good idea of what the current cold numbers are, as well as the hot numbers.

You don't need statistics or anything else. Just look at rows and make your own decisions.

You could play all cold numbers, all hot numbers, or only the warm numbers. Or a mix.

Keep in mind though that if in your guesswork, and thats all it is, if any cold or hot number you decide NOT to play should come up, you won't win the jackpot. LOL

Personally, I have in fact decided NOT to play any cold number only to have 3 or 4 of them come up in the winning combination.

You just never know.

You can, of course, use more than 12 consecutive numbers. You can use more or less and decide whats best for you. Keep in mind that the more numbers you use, the more hits you might have. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your instincts and guesswork.

Statistics are great, but I think looking at current history of where the numbers are is superior.

Hope this helps.

Bobby

I like quetions like this.  I feel I have been handed the opportunity to add my two cents worth in the infantile study of the lottory.  Here is my two cents worth.  The opinion is worth what you paid for it. 

Consistency is the key when employing hot and cold numbers.  How one decides what is hot and what is cold is, at this stage of the study, of minor importance.  Some people use the last 55 draws (assuming MM or Powerball) and take the five numbers with the least amount of hits as cold and the five with the most hits as hot.  Some use other criteria based on what they see.

However you decide, the key is to stay with your decision.  This is not to say you should stay with your decision until the end of time.  Data that you have collected over the years might force you to reconsider what you consider hot or cold.  Do not be timid to change your thougts. 

This lotto business can be compared to the early study of alchemy during which learned men tried to turn lead into gold.  What resulted from that doomed to failure exercise lead us to chemistry.  Today we lotto buffs are all alchemists looking for that one algorithm which will make lotto profitable.  I hope to be that person but if not me, then I hope that the finder is a member of LP and used the vast amount of information contained in the site to discover the holy grail.

good luck to you