The pick 5 in PA is a combination of numbers from 0 to 9, that is 10 possible digits in each of the 5 places...

Fact 1... there are 100,000 possible combos. Based on 10x10x10x10x10 = 100,000. They can be from 00000 to 99999

Fact 2... IF we are only interested in the combinations made from 5 unique digits, our choices grow smaller with each successive position... 10,9,8,7,6 = 30,240 combinations of 5 unique digits.

Fact 3... Since each combination of 5 unique digits contains itself and 119 permutations then that leads to there being a key set of combinations that would cover each eventuality, boxed... that would be 30,240 / 120 = 252

Does that sound right?

It is definitely not a revelation, as there still remains 69,760 combos that could fall on any given night... but it does seem to indicate that if you reduce the pick pool down to 252, you would have a better chance at catching a box hit... of course these need to be counted and I am stuck on exactly that program where all the permutations will be accurately counted (they count now but not accurately).

Does that sound like a reasonable assessment of the pick 5 situation?

I created a section in a spreadsheet where I can enter any 5 digit combo and it will count the number of straight hits, plus sum the hits on the 119 permutations. I am thinking that maybe the top 3 to 5 performers in this abbreviated list of 252 might be worth a shot at playing... but I need to get those accurate counts. Need to work on that program some more today.

I am relatively new to dealing with direct combos, and I have this program working with the pick 3, but not so with the pick 5... straight hits count accurately but it counts too many permutation hits that fail when the number is analyzed on the spreadsheet (for example, one such combo says it has 120 box hits, but when validated it only has 5).

Even the 252 list will only account for around 30% of the draws, but there is a gut feeling that there may be something worthwhile pursuing on this combo track.