Comment #1

hypersoniq — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 13:53:11 GMT

If it were possible to brute force the Mega Ball, it would add a minimum $46 Million to the jackpot winnings...

Original Blog Entry: Pennsylvania Cash 4 Life, the first non replacement draw target!

hypersoniq — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 14:00:32 GMT

After doing some quick research, this nightly 5/60 + 1/4 game has used the same matrix since it's introduction on April 7th, 2015... 10 years = NOT data starved!

Why this game?

Because the bonus ball can be brute forced... unlike the other jackpot games with a bonus ball, covering the bonus balls requires only 4 tickets for a draw. At $2 per ticket, that's only 8 bucks... compared to the prohibitive cost of doing the same with something like the Mega Millions, where the elimination of the bonus ball by brute force would cost $120 per draw.

Since the initial window would be possibly 26 drawings, $208 for the Cash 4 Life is definitely cheaper than $3,120 to do the same with the Mega Millions...

Of course a single $250 straight on the pick 3 covers the $208 attempt... and would be the only scenario by which it goes live.

Thinking about it, even at my age of 56, a win would also capture 3 2nd tier prizes...

1 grand prize, taken as a lump sum is $7 million before taxes

3 2nd tier prizes would be taken as annuities, and depending on the taxes, would be worth somewhere between $25,000 to $36,000 per year AFTER taxes!

Pretty sure with a minimum $75,000 guaranteed annual post tax income and at least $3,500,000 clear in the bank... early retirement is an option!

The best part is, the pick 3 win (if any) would pay for the chance!

Also provides a bit of motivation for development... I need to make a csv with all 10 years of data, then make a working copy where the bonus balls are stripped, totally focusing on the 5/60 part.

But reality sets back in and I must still clash with 20 years of failed attempts at a simple 1:1000 game...

Bottom line, you don't know if you don't try...... [ More ]