One strategy for playing Pick 3 is to pick one number and play it straight for a buck every draw. If you pick the right number, you might win pretty decent money. Even if your number only hits twice straight in a year, you still come out ahead by $270. If it only hits once during the year then you come out $230 dollars behind. If your number doesn't hit at all, the worst you can possibly do is to come out $730 behind for the year. This strategy is a way to prevent "accidentally" losing $10,000 in a year without intending to, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I got to wondering what numbers would have been winners this year following this strategy, so I did a little data wrangling and found the answer. It turns out that there was one number that was the sole leader in the top spot, 020, which fell straight 5 times so far this year. 020 had not fallen straight since February of 2013, then it fell 5 times this year. What a hoot!
Below is the chart of every number that would have made money this year to date, had you played it straight for a buck every draw. To date, there have been 682 draws, so any number which has fallen twice or more would have made money. This chart shows all those numbers and how many times they fell to date.
Virginia
Numbers that hit 5 times so far in 2016 - 020
Numbers that hit 4 times so far in 2016 - 018 198 241 825
Numbers that hit 3 times so far in 2016 - 032 043 050 106 143 226 262 306 314 343 353 402 407 417 465 562 606 693 719 765 767 797 811 867 877 947 952 959
Numbers that hit 2 times so far in 2016 - 000 021 060 073 074 080 084 093 094 113 141 146 158 165 168 175 188 189 191 195 202 204 213 215 234 237 240 246 247 259 266 267 275 293 296 305 315 320 323 379 388 408 412 418 423 429 430 432 440 445 446 451 457 458 472 475 482 485 490 501 505 514 537 538 539 561 566 574 576 577 582 585 588 593 595 596 598 603 626 627 629 635 656 664 671 678 683 696 698 709 713 722 723 734 735 744 753 764 782 790 805 821 851 859 861 864 880 889 891 895 897 923 941 953 977 978 980 991 993 997
And, yeah, it turns out that 198 would have been the best number to play 50/50. If you had played 198 50/50, you would be up $780 year to date because the 198 combo fell ten times so far this year.