On March 2nd of last year, #31 had 15 hits, and it ended the year with 58 hits, which made it the 2nd biggest hitter of 2016 behind #'s 17 and 29. (They each had 59 hits in 2016) So you can see that this year #11 is right schedule. It could go cold and not do well the rest of this year, I've seen that happen to a few numbers, but #11 certainly does have a solid base of hits early in 2017 which it will need if it's going to get anywhere close to 60 hits in 2017.
Here's a look at the top three hitters of 2016 and where they stood on 3/31/16, 6/30/16, 9/30/16 and 12/31/16;
On March 31st, #31 had 18 hits and finished 2016 with 58. #17 had 15 hits and finished with 59. #29 had 14 hits and finished 2016 with 59 hits.
On June 30th, #31 had 29 hits. #17 and #29 had 28 hits.
On Sept 30th, #17 and #29 had 44 hits. #31 had 42 hits.
On Dec 31st, #17 and #29 had 59 hits and were tied as the top hitters of 2016. #31 had 58 hits and finished the year as the number two hitter.
This pattern appears every year all the way back to 2001 when Take5 drawings were first held 364 days a year. (There was no drawing on Christmas day, but in 2011 that changed, and a Christmas Day drawing was added.) The big hitter's numbers change every year, but if a number was going to be the biggest hitter of the year, then it has to have about 15 hits by March 31st, 30 by June 30th and 45 by September 30th, or it wont be in the top two or three hitters of the year. So if you know on March 31st that a certain number has a very strong chance to be one of the most frequently drawn numbers of the year, doesn't it make sense to play it regularly/steadily for the balance of the year? Just sayin'! G5