RJOh,
You asked, "Are you suggesting that any effort beyond using quick picks and combinations of birth dates is a waste of time?"
If you read below, you can answer your own question.
Please excuse me for paraphrasing myself.
Yes! You CAN effect the DISTRIBUTION of your winnings!
The mathematics governing probability in lottery games is elementary and pathetically simple. There's no logical reason AGAINST selecting your numbers in any way you wish. You won't lose [or win] any more than the Quick Pick players! What I have been repeatedly trying to tell you is that, over the long haul, it makes absolutely no difference how you select your numbers. In the short run, the following example best illustrates the [only] control you have over the distribution of your winnings:
If you spend $10 per day buying 10 identical $1 straight tickets on your favorite [of the day] Pick-3 number, over time, on average, you will win $5000 about once every 3 years. If you're lucky, and you happen to win $5000 early in the process, I would recommend that you, "take the money and run!" Alternatively, if you spend that same $10 on your Top Ten favorite numbers [of the day,] over time, on average, you will win $500 about every 3 months.
You pays your money, you takes your choice.
If you prefer to buy $1 box tickets, or "50 - 50" tickets, your long term winnings will be the same, about $5000 every three years. The difference will be that you will get many more SMALLER wins. The important thing to remember is that whatever your strategy is, [roughly] every 3 years you will spend $10,000 to win $5000! (Unless you are one of the lucky few!) Anyone who tells you you can engineer a way to be one of those lucky few, is either suffering from innumeracy, or is trying to sell you something!
Please note that I have NOT set down any rules of play. They are your choice, and this discussion can be extrapolated to a 6/49 game or any other - different numbers, same ideas.
Be my guest, LOOK BACK, FILTER, and have a ball!
--Jimmy4164