[Part 1 of 10:  Prologue]

The Most Human Way to Pick Numbers Every Friday and Saturday, my father sits at the living room’s table with a lottery slip. He doesn’t look at charts or historical data. Instead, he takes a moment to look back at his day. He thinks about the people he loves.

He picks numbers based on my birthday, the names of our family members translated into digits, or a vivid dream he had the night before. Sometimes, he even uses “good vibes” he felt that morning. It’s his weekly ritual of hope, a way to turn his love for his family into a winning chance.

He would often travel to specific stores rumored to be “lucky” places famous for producing multiple first-prize winners, believing that the location itself held some cosmic favor. I used to think it was just a small, harmless hobby. But later, I realized he was buying tickets much more often than I had ever imagined. It wasn’t just a game; it was his way of stubbornly chasing a miracle for all of us.

As a Data Scientist, I love my father’s heart, but my brain can’t help but twitch. I know the math. I know that “love” doesn’t change the probability of a 1-in-8-million event. But looking at the lottery apps available on the market, I realized something: They aren’t much better than my father’s dreams.

(To be countinued...)

• Think of this as a case study, not a pitch
• This is my honest account of that journey: technical challenges, mistakes, and lessons learned