Quick Picks Vs. Number Selection

Reply #21

wiseone2 — Sat, 01 May 2004 21:34:46 GMT

Well, well, assuming dragon is truely knowledgeable, and w/o any doubt about the lottery systems being on the up and up , and have no reason to keep the public unaware of any of its functionalities, I believe it's time to concede that for any particular drawing anyone, anywhere, at anytime, who plays can win the big jackpot..., regardless of the numbers you choose, or whether you select your own numbers or quick picks. One question remains.....why do the lotteries change drawing machines and... [ More ]

Reply #20

dragon — Sat, 01 May 2004 15:25:10 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by wiseone2 on April 30, 2004Being a computer networking professional....let me clarify something. A terminal by it's definition is a device that is connected to a central computer or another terminal in order to receive, retrieve, or disseminate data. All terminals have to have the capability of communicating with the central computer. This is how the lotteries are able to ascertain within an hour or so, how many winners there are per drawing and where the tickets we... [ More ]

Reply #19

dragon — Sat, 01 May 2004 15:23:16 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by wiseone2 on April 30, 2004Whether quick picks are generated only at the local terminal or from the central computer is an issue of importance. I know every terminal must be able to communicate with the central computer as a requirement of the state lotteries. They also must be able to communicate with each other. Why they need to communicate with each other I've wondered, but it very well may be for the purpose of quick picks, from terminal to terminal. I'm somewh... [ More ]

Reply #18

dragon — Sat, 01 May 2004 15:18:38 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by Jake649 on May 01, 2004Quote: Originally posted by wiseone2 on May 01, 2004Does the lottery have a safeguard built into its systems to limit the number of jackpot winners? NoWhy is it that the jackpot rolls over so much considering the number of tickets sold per drawing, and also the number of terminals that sell randomly generated quick picks?Far fewer tickets are sold than there are available combinations. See prob987 thread in Jackpot forum for the probabilities.Ar... [ More ]

Reply #17

dragon — Sat, 01 May 2004 15:08:11 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by BobP on April 30, 2004Don't be in doubt, contact your lottery and find someone who can answer the question of whether Quick Picks must chew through all the combinations for a draw before repeating one or not.Asking questions like this can be frustrating as the lotteries I've asked questions of seem to go out of their way to miss-understand the simplist questions requiring several emails often going nowhere.Anyway from what I've learned there is no connection between t... [ More ]

Reply #16

Jake649 — Sat, 01 May 2004 11:31:56 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by wiseone2 on May 01, 2004Does the lottery have a safeguard built into its systems to limit the number of jackpot winners? NoWhy is it that the jackpot rolls over so much considering the number of tickets sold per drawing, and also the number of terminals that sell randomly generated quick picks?Far fewer tickets are sold than there are available combinations. See prob987 thread in Jackpot forum for the probabilities.Are terminals limited to randomly generate certain nu... [ More ]

Reply #15

wiseone2 — Sat, 01 May 2004 09:29:52 GMT

Q: How are quick-pick tickets generated for games like Powerball? Is it in the local store terminal or a host computer? How many host computers are there?A: The quick-pick algorithm resides in the store's terminal. Each time it is seeded with several randomizer keys based on time and previous terminal activity.I found the minnesota lottery was very straightforward and honest with the answers to questions posted on their website. I found a lot of answers to some questions I've had. I've also se... [ More ]

Reply #14

ayenowitall — Sat, 01 May 2004 08:00:34 GMT

It looks like you're right, Jake. I found the answer to this on the Minnesota State Lottery Question and answer page.Q: If I buy a quick-pick ticket, can anyone else get those numbers?A: Yes, more than one person can receive the same quick-pick numbers. Quick-picks are randomly generated by the terminal at the retailer and there is no central computer that is controlling their generation.http://www.lottery.state.mn.us/qanda.html#07

Reply #13

Jake649 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 16:15:09 GMT

The lottery terminal generates the quick picks using a random number generator within the teminal. The terminal does not check with the central computer prior to selection. After a quick pick is selected, the terminal sends the information to the central computer for the purpose of recording the transaction. The terminal does not print the ticket until the transaction has been sent to the central computer. The terminal must wait for a successful transmission of the transaction before printing to... [ More ]

Reply #12

ayenowitall — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 09:59:37 GMT

So..... Is there no consensus here on the answer to my question? I'm not so sure that lottery officials would be the best people to ask about something like this. My experience in the past with questions like this about casino gambling and pari-mutuel horse betting has been that the people you'd think would know usually don't have a clue...even though they might have answer...LOL. I once called lottery headquarters with a question about a scratch-off game and all I got was a wide variety of gues... [ More ]

Reply #11

wiseone2 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 06:00:50 GMT

Being a computer networking professional....let me clarify something. A terminal by it's definition is a device that is connected to a central computer or another terminal in order to receive, retrieve, or disseminate data. All terminals have to have the capability of communicating with the central computer. This is how the lotteries are able to ascertain within an hour or so, how many winners there are per drawing and where the tickets were sold, etc. Terminals don't have the capability to... [ More ]

Reply #10

wiseone2 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:42:01 GMT

Whether quick picks are generated only at the local terminal or from the central computer is an issue of importance. I know every terminal must be able to communicate with the central computer as a requirement of the state lotteries. They also must be able to communicate with each other. Why they need to communicate with each other I've wondered, but it very well may be for the purpose of quick picks, from terminal to terminal. I'm somewhat concerned with the idea that quick picks don't come... [ More ]

Reply #9

DoctorEw220 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:34:46 GMT

i highly doubt lottery machines will wait until all number combinations are sold before they start repeating combinations. if it did, then there would be a guarenteed jackpot winner each time the jackpot got over $150 million. also, if a computer system did, then there wouldn't be such huge jackpots at times.

Reply #8

BobP — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:25:28 GMT

Don't be in doubt, contact your lottery and find someone who can answer the question of whether Quick Picks must chew through all the combinations for a draw before repeating one or not.Asking questions like this can be frustrating as the lotteries I've asked questions of seem to go out of their way to miss-understand the simplist questions requiring several emails often going nowhere.Anyway from what I've learned there is no connection between the terminal and the central computer for the print... [ More ]

Reply #7

wiseone2 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 02:36:10 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by BobP on April 29, 2004The only reason to buy your tickets early is the state can stop play on certain Pick-3 and Pick-4 numbers if they are over subscribed where if they won the state would have to pay out too much for the game to support.The larger games are perfectly capable of repeating Quick Picks and if the game has 14 million combinations and during rollover 14 million Quick Picks have been sold, about a quarter to a third will be repeats and no jackpot winner w... [ More ]

Reply #6

BobP — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:18:00 GMT

The only reason to buy your tickets early is the state can stop play on certain Pick-3 and Pick-4 numbers if they are over subscribed where if they won the state would have to pay out too much for the game to support.The larger games are perfectly capable of repeating Quick Picks and if the game has 14 million combinations and during rollover 14 million Quick Picks have been sold, about a quarter to a third will be repeats and no jackpot winner would be guaranteed .THERE IS NO QUANITY OF QUICK

Reply #5

wiseone2 — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:52:49 GMT

re: ayenowitall-- I'm inclined to believe there may be some element of truth to the number selection theory and playing as early as possible. I recall selecting my own numbers for a powerball drawing and purposely tried to play those numbers as soon as the terminals were activated. The numbers that were drawn that night matched my first 3 numbers exactly. I thought it more than just a coincidence. On the other side, regarding playing quick picks later in the day....I've read several single... [ More ]

Reply #4

Jake649 — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 13:39:17 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by ayenowitall on April 29, 2004I've always heard that people who select their own numbers should buy their tickets as early as possible because the lottery computers that generate QuickPicks won't give out any combinations that have already been played until all number combinations have been sold. The thinking here is that you're less likely to have to share a jackpot if you claim your numbers early because they won't be given to anyone else unless they actually happe... [ More ]

Reply #3

ayenowitall — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:35:39 GMT

I've always heard that people who select their own numbers should buy their tickets as early as possible because the lottery computers that generate QuickPicks won't give out any combinations that have already been played until all number combinations have been sold. The thinking here is that you're less likely to have to share a jackpot if you claim your numbers early because they won't be given to anyone else unless they actually happen to select the same numbers by design. By the same token... [ More ]

Reply #2

golotto — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 07:51:13 GMT

mixing quick-picks with personal-picks seems like a nice idea...esp at these pball jackpot levels. 3:2 pp vs qp works for me for a 5 line purchase. last year a $62M pb jkpt was hit using this ratio. it was one of the two qps that hit on that card of 5 sets played. i realize that any strategy is fine, but at higher jackpot levels i just like a combo slightly favoring personal-picks yet always including quick-picks.

Reply #1

RJOh — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 07:16:02 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by wiseone2 on April 29, 2004According to Powerball.com website in the new/info. section faq.....70% of winning tickets are quick/easy picks, including the jackpot. They also state that 70% of all Powerball ticket sales are quick picks. That just proves 70% of lottery tickets are bought by gamblers who don't want to bother with filling out tickets to play. I've seen people buy $20 worth of scratch off tickets and ask the clerk to check if any of them are winners withou... [ More ]

Quick Picks Vs. Number Selection

wiseone2 — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 06:05:30 GMT

According to Powerball.com website in the new/info. section faq.....70% of winning tickets are quick/easy picks, including the jackpot. They also state that 70% of all Powerball ticket sales are quick picks. It could be that the number of winning quick picks is due to the number of quick pick tickets purchased. However, the only way this could be true is if the Powerball lottery system purposely allows a specified number of winning tickets per drawing. If no one played quick picks would ther... [ More ]