Though it is still running 37 minutes after I started it, in less than 20 additional lines of code I was able to get back test data. It runs the follower code for the first 1,000 draws, adds the next draw and repeats the process. Using the mid day PA pick 3 data for the test run, so the eve file will take twice as long... but when run will provide a list of picks to compare to draw results.

Now I will be able to see results.

The spreadsheet design part of this is based on the questions I want to answer.

1. Would this system ever have won? If it did, were there enough hits to be profitable? What were the gaps between wins?

2. How far off were the system picks from the draw results? That is the difference between the drawn number and the guess.

3. Is there one difference that happens more than others? If applied as a mask, can it produce more hits than the raw guess?

4. Is it better to use some form of absolute subtraction to obtain the difference or would it be better to use an Xlookup table?

Some daunting work ahead, but for most of my time playing the lottery, excel was my wheelhouse. This part will also take time to get right.

The code changes were tested at each step to get them right, the same care will be taken with the spreadsheet.

This was a HUGE step, and it only took 2 days. I am hooked on Pandas data frames in Python, that was the secret to cracking the execution of the back test scenario with such a complex estimation function (follower data).

The end goal is to obtain an error correction "mask" that can be applied to the original follower system picks for a better guess. The notes I left myself in this blog helped maintain focus. Even without much interaction, this is a very useful Lottery Post feature!