1. Start out by working up the final production code for the pick-n script.

2. Update the draw history files

3. Run the script and use a "from the middle" approach at a phase 2 pick. (One for mid day PA Pick 3, one for evening PA Pick 3

If I get this done in time, I will go play each resulting combo for a week @ $1 straight and $0.50 boxed... if not, I will update today's results after the evening draw and play tomorrow.

4. Create a PA Cash 4 Life history file

5. Begin a version of the script with the new expectancy values and 5/60 format.

That should be more than enough for a day of coding... I will eventually need to plug the new formula for Cash 4 Life into the back test framework, may require some heavy tweaking, but that is for another day.

Progress wise, phase 1 is tested and complete. The resulting Neutral numbers will appear in 85% of the pick 3 game's 7 draw windows. Resulting in a relatively safe reduction of combos by about 70%. Phase 2 is the important part, as it attempts to reduce the remaining 30% of all combos down to ONE best guess.

Should the current plan for phase 2 not pan out (and it probably will not), I only need to go back to the phase 2 drawing board... it took months to even get to this point... going all in on the classification of frequency distribution!

The goal was always one best guess, and many previous systems pulled in a win within a few weeks only to go flat after... that is the nature of coincidental systems... if I won, it was coincidence that the number from my guess came up. Same for this approach. The goal is to capture something that happens 85% of the time, rather than maybe 30 times in tens of thousands of draws.

The odds are still 1:1,000

Any combo can come up at any draw

The past draws have no real weight in the next draw... but really, why are we here then? We are ONLY given the game setup and the past draws.

I am a firm believer in playing for fun, and that means as cheaply as possible, but catching the occasional win to keep it interesting.

I am certainly too dumb to solve an unsolvable problem, but just smart enough to enjoy the attempts. Without this hobby there would be no need for me to study statistics and programming.

Whether today or tomorrow, I am going to at least try... I have not donated to the cause of "older Pennsylvanians" in months, time to get back in the game!