South Fort Myers United States
Member #26,834
November 23, 2005
454 Posts
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Sorry if I was abrupt. Didn't mean to come across that way - Cashman you know I answer every single PM you send me... and you are not as as*. If anything, you have encouraged me to strive for pairs. :)
Zoozie
"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" Napoleon Hill
Dump Water Florida United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
3,568 Posts
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Cashman, if you don't have CoverMaster you can get a copy of the older version v54 here http://www.lotto-logix.com/wheellinks.html and while you're there download the password protected newest version and send for the password. CoverMaster is one of the easiest and useful free tools you can put in your lottery tool box. Even if you don't think you'll need it, get a copy while you still can. The real trick to saving money is not to close the wheel, but to stop at somewhere between 90% to 99% you'd be surprised at the difference one to ten percent makes and if you don't win when the odds are 90% to 99% in your favor, you're not lucky enough to play lottery, lol. BobP
Poway CA (San Diego County) United States
Member #3,489
January 25, 2004
14,120 Posts
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I have 3 programs, including CoverMaster, that makes wheels. I also use wheels at other sites and the ones found here on Lottery Post. There are none better than those found on LP. The programs will produce wheels, but they are not usually optimum.
I have put a lot of them into Excel spreadsheets to make it easy to use.
Dump Water Florida United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
3,568 Posts
Offline
I have 3 programs, including CoverMaster, that makes wheels. I also use wheels at other sites and the ones found here on Lottery Post. There are none better than those found on LP. The programs will produce wheels, but they are not usually optimum.
I have put a lot of them into Excel spreadsheets to make it easy to use.
Thanks CalifDude, as this needs to be addressed.
An "optimal wheel" is a wheel that 100% covers a prize tier guarantee in the fewest possible combinations. For example the wheel that 100% guarantees a 3if6 win using 49 numbers in 163 combinations.
What most players don't understand about this wheel, is it's really a 3if3in22 number wheel scabbed together with a 3if4in27 number wheel which combined guarantee 3if6 no matter how the numbers fall.
The problem is we don't play this wheel to win the 3# prize, we play it in the hopes the wheel will play above it's guarantee. The killer is the odds favor no more then 3 numbers falling among the 22 or no more then four numbers falling among the 27, so a jackpot is not only unlikely, 99% of the time it's IMPOSSIBLE !!!
On the other hand, if we tell CoverMaster to make a 3if6 wheel using 49 numbers in 163 lines, we get a 99% wheel that isn't made out of two independent parts. A jackpot (though unlikely) is possible in every draw!
If we stop at 90% we use roughly 90 lines, that's a $73. savings equal to a 4# prize win in most states and again we're not using a split wheel. Of course when we play 90 lines instead of 163 lines we are giving up 73 chances to win the jackpot and making less likely the odds of multiple lower tier prizes, but if you're playing on a budget or in a club it's easier on the budget.
CoverMaster is capable of making optimal wheels, but it takes a lot of tweak work and it helps to know in advance what the optimal possible wheel size is and how that optimal wheel is constructed, ie: split or whole.
The advantage is you're playing a custom made wheel, not one out of a book or software everyone else is loading with the same numbers from say Gail Howard. You can also use CoverMaster to build wheels within wheels and around wheels, things that don't come in store bought wheels. For example you can start off with a 4if6in12 number 6 line wheel for your stronger numbers, lock it and build a 3if5of6 or 3if6 in 18 numbers or 24 numbers wheel around the 4if6in12 wheel using fewer lines then playing both wheels independently.
I'm not saying not to use LotteryPost wheels, they are excellent. What I am saying is there are times when the budget doesn't match the cost of wheeling all the numbers you want to put into play or the strategy you want to apply, that's when it's time to turn to making your own wheels and besides it's fun. BobP
United States
Member #986
January 5, 2003
280 Posts
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BobP, if you would be so kind to give us a little tutorial on covermaster. The basics are simple but when you talk about wheel built on a wheel gets confusing to me. Screenshots of the reports with explanation would be nice also . Like I don't know what var means in the optimizer window.
Dump Water Florida United States
Member #380
June 5, 2002
3,568 Posts
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BobP, if you would be so kind to give us a little tutorial on covermaster. The basics are simple but when you talk about wheel built on a wheel gets confusing to me. Screenshots of the reports with explanation would be nice also . Like I don't know what var means in the optimizer window.
It's really simple, but you get more creative the more you use the program. I also suggest you download the doc.zip.
Let's say you want to build a 4if6 wheel that starts with the pointer number line 1-2-3-4-5-6 so you will later replace these six numbers with your best picks. After all, if your best picks actually turn out to be winners you want them in one combination not scattered throughout the wheel. So on the CoverMaster grid you simply type in 1 tab 2 tab 3 tab 4 tab 5 tab 6 enter.
Click the [Edit] drop down box [Lock - all] the 1-2-3-4-5-6 line is now locked and won't change no matter what else you request of CoverMaster until you replace them with your own numbers which you copy to notepad to print or the pointers print using CM's print function. anyway . . .
Before or after use the up and down arrows to set . . .
Pool = 12 Pick = 6 Match = 4 Hits = 6
This tells CoverMaster you want a 12 number wheel for Pick-6 that guarantees a 4# match (win) when you hit 6 of the winning numbers among the 12.
Click [Generate] [CoverMaster Q scan or Timed Randon Search] [Optimize] now or you can limit the lines to six and optimize later and [Start] we should build a 4if6in12n6line wheel or try again.
Once our wheel is made, [Edit][Lock-all] and now we can build a larger looser wheel around our 4if6in12 wheel.
Pool = 24 Pick = 6 Match = 3 Hits = 6
Click [Generate][Timed Random Search][1 sec][Max Tickets 15][Auto Optimize][Start][Finished]
It normally takes 20 or more lines to make a 3if6in24number wheel, but here we've built around a 4if6in12 wheel for our better 12 numbers and with only 15 lines have 96% coverage of 3if6in24. Half our wheel has better coverage and the other half 96% with a savings of at least the value of a 3# prize so even if we lost within that 4% window we're covered and otherwise saved money.
The drop box [Configure] [Own Numbers][Set] lets you replace the wheel place holder pointer numbers with your best picks.
btw var. is nothing you have to worry about. When the program runs out of combinations to improve coverage it trys to vary lines with no improvement to see if this causes an improved line down the road.