A good strategy when buying lottery tickets is to buy combinations that no one else has picked. This way, if you win the jackpot, you win the entire prize and not have to share it. This is especially important in the following 3 cases:
1) lotteries with relatively small jackpots
2) buying tickets for a pool (money is already being split)
3) simply wanting all the money no matter how much it is.
How do you do this?
Well for one, do not buy any duplicates yourself. People have been known to buy duplicate tickets either by design or mistake. Second, you can check with friends and make sure that no one has a duplicate ticket among the group. Those two options will make a very minor difference so I present the following concept.
How about a web site that offers the "unique lottery ticket service". It can work as follows.
1. The web site offers quick pick combinations for a particular lottery and draw date upon request. For example, a visitor can ask for 10 Powerball combinations for Sept 20. The web site registers the combinations and will not offer them to any other visitor.
2. The web site offers combinations based upon some filtering criteria for a particular lottery and draw date upon request. For example, a visitor can ask for 10 Powerball combinations for Sept 20 using only numbers that are cold or hot or odd, etc. Like above, the web site registers the combinations and will not offer them to any other visitor.
3. The visitor can enter their own numbers for a particular lottery and draw date and the web site will determine if they are unique and inform the visitor. If they are unique, they are added to the list of registered combinations.
If very few players use the service, then it would be similar in value to checking among your friends for duplicates as explained above. But if many players use the site then the selected combinations have a greater value than combinations that have NOT been registered on the site.
Allow me to address the first and most obvious criticism. There is absolutely no way to guarantee that a particular combination of numbers is unique because not every one will register their combinations. True, but the main point being presented is that even if only two people register their combinations, the value of their tickets have marginally increased. If many players register their combinations, then their values have increased enough to warrant the effort.
Good luck,
Jake
P.S. Lottery Buddy - as promised