Greg:
I'm with you - except for the part about Delaware. I'm not saying you're wrong; only that I don't know enough about Delaware's lottery commission, their draw methods or their scandal history to be able to judge.
I do know that the Hoosier Lottery uses methods similar to what you describe, except that their RNG software contains code meant to scan the database to find the number with the least amount of play.
LosingJeff and I have spent the better part of three years gathering evidence against this crooked agency. We've met with Hoosier Lottery officials, state legislators, newspaper reporters, retailers, grand jury investigators, attorneys and countless others; we've chased down, procured and verified documents which supposedly didn't exist; we've read and copied our state gaming laws, searched the internet for related stories, written letters, made phone calls, traveled overnight for meetings and made enough copies to drive the price of Kinko's stock to record highs.
Despite all these efforts, the Hoosier Lottery continues to operate, but every day brings us closer to our goals.
Many people suspect their lottery is cheating them, but making blanket statements without some type of evidence to support your claims will only earn you the label of "conspiracy theorist," and you don't want that.
If you suspect your state's lottery of wrongdoing, look into it. If you find something, look into it some more, and then keep looking until you find what you need to bring them down.
On the other hand, if you don't find anything to support your suspicions, it's probably because there's nothing to find, and that's okay, too. Actually, this is the result you're hoping for, because it indicates that your lottery games are being run honestly and fairly.
Jeff and I use Delaware, South Carolina and other states with lesser populations to show the massive disparity in daily game payouts between those states and Indiana. This alone is compelling evidence that our suspicions have merit, although it's not conclusive by itself. That's why you need to keep looking. Once you have several hundred "coincidences" crammed into a file folder, other people will begin to see that what you say is true.
Todd is notoriously skeptical about claims of crooked lotteries, but once he was made aware of the proof we have, even he agreed that our situation was dire. The evidence we have is so strong it simply cannot be denied, but it took a lot of effort to obtain that evidence.
I'm reasonably certain you're correct about the coming winter (we had one last year, so I don't doubt it), but that doesn't really qualify as evidence of a crooked lottery. You should look a little deeper.
Please understand that I'm not trying to discourage you, and I'm not discounting your suspicions. I'm only suggesting that you verify the true status of the games you play. If there's nothing to find, so be it; you can play with confidence and with the knowledge that you're playing a fair and honest game. You'll also be able to alleviate the suspicions of others who don't have the information you've taken the trouble to gather. Conversely, if you do find something to indicate your state lottery commission isn't playing by the rules, then you must commit to the search, and continue digging until you find the proof you need.
Whatever you find, accept it. Should it turn out that you're wrong, that's okay - no harm, no foul; at least you'll know. If you do find evidence of wrongdoing, though, you'll have to accept that as well. But you'll save yourself, and others, a lot of money by refusing to play a game you know you can't win.