why would the lottery ask how you pick your numbers to win at the game?
Why would anyone ask "what do you do for a living?" or "where did you buy that nice suit?" The people who work at the Lottery Office were probably just being friendly or making small talk when they asked that question. The fact that people here actually think they are "watching us" and care means that some of you sincerely believe you have the "secret" to win a large jackpot. There have been several winners who won 2 or 3 jackpots and they're not in jail! They're just very lucky. It just makes good press to say "Joe & Mary have been betting the birthdays of their 6 grandchildren for 4 years and they've brought them a lot of luck." Since there's no way of getting inside your brain to prove where your numbers actually came from, asking that question would serve no purpose whatsoever if they were really conducting an investigation.
As far as asking questions in general, it is their job to make sure the person claiming the prize didn't steal the ticket or obtain it illegally. Of course, who would admit to that anyway? I'm glad they ask questions, since it protects the players and the integrity of the game. The times dishonest clerks have been caught is when they were asked questions they couldn't answer correctly. If you're not doing anything illegal, then there's nothing to worry about. As I wrote earlier, simply answering "I just thought of them off the top of my head" is as good a response as any. Using common sense, what can they say to dispute that? "No you didn't! You need to take a polygraph and get a PET-scan so we can see the numbers in your brain."
People on this board have a very pumped up, inflated image of how important we are to the Lottery. If every active member here stopped buying tickets, it would make a small dent in the PB or MM budget.