Ok, I'm a real numbers junkie. I mean, a real numbers junkie. Some people don't think this goes well with being a lottery player, but the 40 cents on the dollar that goes to the state is worth the entertainment value for me. (And I've invested far more man-hours than dollars examining these things.) When I'm driving cross country and get gas in a new state for the first time, I always pick up a lottery bet slip and figure the odds in my head. I think that kind of stuff is fun.
I always pick my own numbers, but not because Quick Picks aren't random. They are VERY random. (note: I've only studied the Massachusetts lottery, and not any other states) I did a large statistical study on MA Keno numbers, and found that they're far more random than a typical "fair" roulette wheel. I also studied the QP number generator (this took some effort, but if you know what you're doing and are persistent enough, dventually you can talk to people who can help you with things like this), and it also showed more randomness than the roulette wheel.
In fact, I know my computer is more random than me, so I let it pick my numbers (I filter them against each other and against common lottery tactics, like consecutive, birthday, or pattern numbers). This does two things:
1) After I buy my tickets and check my numbers, I don't ever have to look at them again unless I'm claiming a prize. Since I always play the same numbers, a quick glance at the paper or 5-second flash on the TV will let me know if any of my numbers won.
2) I love winning, and I'd rather have a 10% shot at a $10 prize than a 1% shot at a $100 prize. So I spread my numbers out as much as possible. When I generate my numbers on the computer (I pick new numbers every month or so, or whenever I feel like changing how much I bet) I always throw out picks that have 3 or more numbers in common (on a pick 6) with any of my other plays. If I can, I throw out all of the 2-numbers-in-common, too, but this is less important. That way, I know I'll never win on the same triplet twice, so it maximizes my chance of winning some prize. (An extreme example of what I'm talking about is that if your first number is 21-22-23-24-25-26, then if you pick 21-22-23-24-25-27 as your second number, you don't really improve your chances of winning a small prize that much.)
If you play the lottery less, maybe a couple of tickets a week, then it's worth it to do QP. But the only reason for a serious lottery player to do it is that QP's are much more random than even the best human picks.
Maybe this post actually belongs in the math forum. Anyway, if you want a bit of reading on the subject (it gets a little technical) check out http://web.mit.edu/cocosci/Papers/random.pdf
