So as you can see above, #16 with its 34 hits through June 30th has a shot at 68 hits in 2022. But 68 hits in a calendar year doesn't come easy. Since 2002, the top hitter of the year took the top spot with 68 hits in just four different years. The lowest number of hits to claim the top hitter of the year award is 61, and that happened in three different years since 2002. I averaged all of hits the top hitter of the year has had since 2002, and 65 hits is the average number of hits for the top hitters.
So it's fair to say that in order to become the number with the most hits in any given year, that number will need at least 61 hits, and probably wont have more than 68. As of today, there are five FF5 numbers that have an excellent shot at having 61 or more hits. They are #16 with 34 hits, #'s 22 & 23 with 32, #'s 7 & 14 with 31 hits each. I'm going to play them regularly for the balance of this year. #27 has 30 hits year to date, so it's also worth playing quite a bit, but I suspect that it wont be the number with the most hits in 2022. My guess is that #16 will ultimately be the hottest number of this year.
Whatever the reason might be, numbers that have the most hits by the end of June (usually 30 or more hits) will continue to be the most frequent hitters during the second half of the year. I've seen this happen not only in FF5, but also New York's Take5 game too. The frustrating thing for me is that even though I've seen it happen for years, I've never been able to use this knowledge to win a jackpot. I do know that it has helped me win many three out of fives, and some four out of fives, but that five out of five is a very tough match. G5