RJOh,
I am glad I got that out of my system. I expect they have to sell a lot of losers to make a profit. They just sent me a bunch of coupons, but they are not much, most are buy 1 online game and get a QP free, or $1 off an instant ticket, limit 1. Really more of a tease than anything else, but maybe it gets the casual player to spend more, it just does not seem like too much of a temptation to me. I wish it were a percentage off instead, or buy 1 get 1 free instant ticket.
If I had just had it the other day, why I could have bought an entire $300 book of tickets for the amazingly low price of $299! Heck, I could have gotten my $50 worth of tickets tonight for $49! Maybe getting something from the Lottery increased my luck. After all, I did get those coupons today, even though I did not use them, and I ended up winning $300. I think I will go buy a $1 ticket and make them give it to me for free, and then act real excited about it, really ham it up, telling the cashier that I am going to win the jackpot.
One thing I used to do which brought me much delight, but horror to a clerk is to wet a dollar bill in the sink, then take it up and buy something with it. When they ask why it is wet, I would tell them that I had accidentally dropped it in the toilet. You would be amazed at how fast someone will drop a dollar bill. It was especially fun to do in hot, dry summer months, when it hadn't rained in weeks. Then after they drop it, you explain that you are just kidding, and that you dropped it in a puddle outside, which is not believable due to the fact that it hasn't rained in quite some time. Then they REALLY don't know what to believe. Maybe I will do that with the $1 off an instant ticket coupon.
I had been expecting to find X pattern means Z, but in reality it is not so. With the book, I told my wife that I was glad that there had been many losers,and up that to that point, all of the winners had been free tickets. I went on to explain that the poor payouts so far almost guaranteed a big winner, but in reality that was not the case. The biggest winner was $40, which is not so hot for a $20 ticket.
Judging by that roll, I could get 4 (or more) losers in a row, or two (or more) winners in a row. To those (myself in the past included) who believe that there is a pattern such as a winner every forth ticket, while that may be a good GENERALIZAZTION, it certainly is not always the case, and many times not like that at all.
You can track tickets to a certain point, such as watching a roll in a slower store, and buying after three have been sold after your last winner, but it is just too tiring to keep up in the long run. My eyes have been opened. The lottery is random after all. Back to the drawing board. It kind of takes the fun out of it, but rest assured I will still see if there isn't some way to improve my odds, but it really just seems like it is luck of the draw. On one note, however, I did get my $300 winner within 3 numbers of my $60 winner in that same game, so I might be a tad more likely to buy from that part of the book.
Also of interest: There are around 5 $500 winners posted in that store from the (relatively) new GA game Georgia Lottery Black (It is right at a month old). That is pretty good for a station that is not real busy, but it might be just because the game is new, who knows. I have yet to win more than $25 on the Georgia Lottery Black ticket; it has been a real dud for me, but after what I saw, I will definitely buy some more there.
I noticed that they have started marking out the validation number on the front of the big winning tickets that they have posted. Does anyone know the relevance of that number, or why they do that? Are there people out there that use that number to forge or alter tickets or something? Just curious. I would think if the (three digit number in the box) out of the 10 digit number had been used, then it could not be reused. Maybe there is a way to tell from that number by matching it to the ticket number which ones are most likely to be winners? Does anyone know anything about this?
Think about this one thing: If there were absolutely no patterns or systems that could help someone win, or no rules of what to do or not to do, then there would be very little use for LP, but this great meeting of the mind and comparison of notes has allowed us to further our knowledge. For me, It took thousands of hours of research, and thousands of dollars spent on tickets searching for patterns, and after all that I have to accept the fact that it is random.
Just the other day, my wife spent $5 on instant games to win $30 (for a profit of $25), on games that I would not normally buy. We did win three tickets straight on a $2 game: free ticket, $3 and $5 in that order (I bought 5 $2 tickets and she bought one, along with a $3 ticket). Not really worth mentioning, but proportionate wins like that on a $20 game would be nice. I spent $100 and won something like $40, for a loss of $60. Go figure. I am still so excited about tonight's $300 win, I believe this is the third time I have mentioned it.
Another fun fact: I would rather win $500 than $700. Why? taxes. In GA, they take out 25% for the Feds, and 6% for the state, for a total of 31%, on anything over $600. Therefore, assuming that we win $725, we will only get to keep 69%, which would be $500.25, and they can keep the quarter for all of the taxes forms and claim forms you probably have to fill out. With $700, you would actually keep less than you would if you won $500; it would only pay out $483 after taxes.
No wonder there are no $750 prizes, it would be just about the same as winning $500 and not having to report it. A thousand dollar winner only nets you $90 more than a $600 ticket. How pathetic. The feds really deserve 25% of your winnings, just because you win. After all, shouldn't you be happy that they let you keep any of your money? Remember that all money belongs to the government, and they just let you keep what they think is appropriate for them to so graciously bestow upon you. Just ask Nancy Pelosi or Obama. It is not your money. You don't deserve to keep it. There are less fortunate people who need your money more than you do.
I need two $300 winners a day. That will kep me and the government happy. $219,000 a year, tax free. Where do I sign up?