Thank you, CopyCat. I look at a number of things each draw for each state that I cover. I start with my 10-digit number which is the order of the digits that have been called. So, for today's Midday the 10-digit number was:
08296-15473
I put a dash between the first 5 and second five to make it easier to use. If you take the time to compare that number with the last draws in California (combined Midday and Evening), you will see how I do it. I got the idea from OhioPick3.
I used to list the 10-digit number as Column A and Column B and explain to pick 1 from A and 2 from B or vice versa. That works most of the time. Now and then there is a 0-3 or 3-0. I have a spreadsheet that I have "programmed " to do that for me and to list the sums of each of the numbers next to them. It also highlights the sums that are below 9 and above 19, so if I want to eliminate those, it is easier to see.
I look at past history to decide how to play the numbers. I normally decide if I'm going to play an ODD sum or an EVEN sum. For today's Midday in California, I looked at past history (about last 50 draws) and saw that when there had been 3 EVENs in a row, another EVEN hit, so I played EVEN sums. I decided to not play the column distributions this time (1 from A, 2 from B, etc.). Instead, I played from the entire list of 1-2 and 2-1, but only those numbers that had an EVEN sum and only those that had neighbors (2 numbers in sequence), because neighbors had skipped 5 times in a row. So, if you look at the numbers I played, you will see that they all meet those requirements (also not less than 9 nor more than 19). By the way, 09 is a neighbor and that is what hit this time.
For tonight's draw the 10-digit number is: 39082-61547 and I'm playing ODD sums and 2-1 distribution (also no sums less than 9 or more than 19).