Revealed - The REAL Truth About Lottery Odds

By Terry Fisher

The Truth about Lottery Odds convinced us to change the way we play. Dramatically. It will almost certainly convince you to do the same. To illustrate why, we use the USA Power Ball game as an example, but you will soon see the arguments apply to any Lottery game, 5-ball or 6-ball.

The odds of getting the first 5 numbers in the 53-number USA Powerball game are 1-in-2,869,685. The odds of getting the first 5 numbers AND the Power Ball are 1-in-120,526,770. That's the Truth � but not the WHOLE Truth!

If First Prize is $10 Million, the odds are 1-in-120,526,770. If First Prize is $100 Million, the odds are STILL 1-in-120,526,770 - but now the reward is 10 times greater. So, are Odds the perfect measure? We think not. Does it matter ? We think so.

You see, that 1-in-120,526,770 relates to buying ONE game. If you buy 10 games, your odds of winning First Prize are now 1-in-12,052,677. If you buy 100 games, your odds of winning First Prize fall to 1-in-1,205,268.

Using the info in the two paragraphs above, you can make a Quantum Leap in your Powerball Playing Strategy.

Let's, for example, suppose you budget $20 a week as your lotto money. To keep it simple, we will assume your lottery starts at $10 Million and increases every week by $5 Million. It goes for 10 weeks without being won. If you are like 99% of lotto players, this represents your playing strategy (or lack of it!).

Odds for $1 You Play Your Odds First Prize
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $10 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $15 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $20 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $25 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $30 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $35 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $40 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $45 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $50 Million
120,526,770 $20 6,026,338 $55 Million
TOTAL $200

Now let's suppose you change your playing strategy to matching your investment to the size of the First Prize. Those with Maths Degrees can do the six decimal places stuff, but we'll keep it simple by going with gut feeling. Your Odds with the new strategy might look like this �..

Odds for $1 You Play Your Odds First Prize
120,526,770 $5 24,105,354 $10 Million
120,526,770 $5 24,105,354 $15 Million
120,526,770 $5 24,105,354 $20 Million
120,526,770 $10 12,052,677 $25 Million
120,526,770 $10 12,052,677 $30 Million
120,526,770 $15 8,035,118 $35 Million
120,526,770 $15 8,035,118 $40 Million
120,526,770 $25 4,821,071 $45 Million
120,526,770 $50 2,410,535 $50 Million
120,526,770 $60 2,008,780 $55 Million
TOTAL $200

Your total Investment over ten weeks is still $200 - but the odds have varied dramatically from week-to-week. Under the old system, the odds were 1-in-6,026,338 every week. Under the new system, the odds are much higher while the prize is peanuts - but much lower as First Prize climbs. On the 10th week, your odds are THREE times better at 1-in-2,008,780 than they were when playing $20 every week.

"If First Prize is Peanuts - Play with Peanuts."

"If you are being offered a small fortune, play with a small fortune."

MYTH NUMBER TWO

"Playing a System Entry Increases Your Chances of Winning."

True �. But again, not the WHOLE Truth.

Playing a System 10 requires paying for 252 games. Of course you increase your chances of winning � by 252 times (over a single game). But the advantage is from playing 252 games - however you play those games.

If you play 252 random games, or even Auto-Pick games, your odds of winning are 1-in-478,281 (120,526,770 divided by 252).

If you play the 252 games in a System 10, your odds of winning are still 1-in-478,281 (120,526,770 divided by 252).

If you play 252 games in an organized systematical way, your odds of winning are still 1-in-478,281 (120,526,770 divided by 252).
However, there are some tactical advantages & disadvantages to consider in those three choices.

First, Random or Auto-Pick entries have no guarantee whatsoever, other than a 1-in-478,281 chance of winning.

The big advantage of a System Entry is that it maximizes the number of prizes you win. But, whether you play a System 8 or a System 20 � there is only ONE First Division in there. All the additional Prizes are in the lower divisions. And it is still a CONDITIONAL guarantee - you win IF you trap the winning numbers, but you could end up without a single winning number.

The big advantage of the Organized, Systematical entries that lottery books promote is a guarantee of a Prize of some kind.

Play 2 of the 110-game entries recommended at http://www.win-power-ball-lottery.com/power-ball-lottery.html - and your 220 games guarantee several small prizes. Toss in 32 additional games and you have exactly the same chance of First Prize as a System 10 entry - 252 chances-in-120,526,770. The big advantage is that 1 or more games in each 110-game set is 40% or better on the way to First Prize; you are absolutely guaranteed 2, 3, 4, or all 5 winning numbers from playing ALL the numbers in a mathematical matrix that gives a guaranteed result - and a guaranteed payout.

Also, those 252 organized games mean you can use all 42 Power Balls 6 times - with a System 10, you get just one Power Ball. So, if you are organized and play 42 Power Balls 6 times, you collect $18 from getting the Power Ball correct 6 times. You also collect from having Two or more winning numbers correct at least twice. Since the system uses all 53 numbers, you have done everything possible to maximize your chances.

Of course, 252 games every week is out, unless you are playing in a Group. So, what Strategy should you adopt? We suggest one of these approaches.

The first is for playing alone. We recommend the "What Works Eight Weeks out of Ten" approach. This can start as low as 9 games and build in sets of 9 games, making it ideal for starting low and building up as First Prize increases.

The second is for playing in a Group Entry. The 110-game entry guarantees 2, 3, 4 or all 5 numbers together, often more than once, and guarantees you get the Power Ball at least twice. By playing all 53 numbers you make sure you have all the winners somewhere in your entry, all organized in the best possible way. This approach is ideal for a small group.

When the First Prize has jackpotted / Rolled-Over to astronomical proportions, we recommend moving up to the 1325-game entry that guarantees Three or more of the first Five winning numbers.

What are your chances of Four winning numbers ? We guarantee Three winning numbers together. There are 2 winning numbers left in the remaining 50 balls - So your chances are 2-in-50 or 1-in-25.

The chances of that all-important Fifth ball are then 1-in-49. Agreed, you still have to get the power ball, but knowing you have 60% or more of the first 5 winning numbers before a ball is even drawn - that's not a bad starting position!

This 1325-game entry demands serious organization. You may need 40-50 members to get the funding together. This needs to be in place well before you need it.

The final choice is using lottery software or lotto books to create multiple reduced-guarantee lotto systems. With 53 numbers - for example - you could have three sets of eighteen numbers (one number played twice).

The advantage here is that if you get all the winning numbers in one set of 18 numbers, the odds of First Prize are much higher than playing 53 numbers together. If your lottery only has 36 balls, 2 sets of 18 numbers guarantees a prize (your worst split is 3 balls / 2 balls - and your best 5 balls / 0 balls!)

A second advantage is controlling the cost. Most lottery software or lotto books would have several systems for 18 numbers, one of which should fit your budget.

Of course, 3 sets of 18 numbers is just one example. Four sets of 14 numbers equals 52 numbers, allowing you to play all but one of the 53 numbers in the USA Powerball game.

Whether you are playing a game with 25 numbers, 53 numbers or anything in between, you can adapt this strategy to fit your lottery and budget.

The book "Powerball Strategies" outlines the above strategy in more detail and has over 20 systems that can be used with any 5-ball game.

Start treating Winning the Lottery as a Job -
Then maybe you won't need a Job!

This Special Report is from Terry Fisher, CEO, LottoMasta International and Author of several Lottery Books, including "Winning Lotto Secrets" and "Powerball Pro." For a "ranking" of the best lottery books on the web, please visit http://www.lottery-books.com

Lottery Scam, What It is and how to Avoid It?

By Nowshade Kabir

Internet scams and frauds are on the rise! The quantity of scam
emails with various fraud schemes any email account receives
today is simply overwhelming! There is this infamous Nigerian
419 scam, which is by far the most widely circulated one. I wrote
about it in one of our ezine articles not long ago. You can read
about it here! And there are many other scams like Lottery, Letter
of Credit, money transfer, black money conversion, real estate,
fraudulent order and the list goes on and on.

Looking at my daily doze of scam letters, looks like, the lottery
scam seams to be gaining popularity among the con artists. This
scam is similar to other forward fee schemes, where the goal of
the con artist is to persuade an unsuspected victim to send an
advance payment for some dubious offers that the swindlers never
plan to fulfill.

Email Lottery Scam

The subject of the emails from an unknown source to you will,
probably show, something similar to, �Congratulation! You have
own a lottery�. With minor variations the text in most of these
letters is virtually identical.

The letter, usually, claims to be issued by a Lottery Company
based in some countries like The Netherlands, Switzerland, England,
Canada or the USA.

And then it says that you are one of many people randomly chosen
from all over the world to participate in a lottery of a very large
sum. You along with some others have won this lottery. You will
be asked to contact them immediately to claim your prize money.
Most certainly, the letter will also warn you to keep this as a
secret and will specify that the offer has a time limit.

If you contact them after receiving this letter; there are number
of variation how the thugs will try to swindle you. They are quite
imaginative and sometimes very innovative in their endeavors.

In general the idea is � you have to pay a fee before the lottery
company can release the amount to you. The pretexts are, usually,
an investigation company has to make sure that you are the right
person who won the lottery, as a foreigner you have to pay a tax
before you can get your prize and there is a processing and
handling fee that has to be paid before hand, etc.

Don�t think that these dubious offers are only sent by emails.
People received them by regular mails, by direct phone calls and
even by SMS.

Phone Call Lottery Scam

One fine morning you may receive a call from a person, claiming
to be a lawyer from a prestigious law farm, and will tell you
that you have won a foreign lottery; that a processing fee is
due before the prize money can be released to you. The seniors
are most likely to be the victims of these telemarketers. If you
are located in the USA, most likely, the person will introduce
himself as a Canadian lawyer and will inform you as if you have
won a Canadian Provincial Lottery.

Lottery Scam by SMS

You may even receive a SMS message advising that you have won
a foreign lottery. You will be instructed to log onto a website
and enter a login and password, which would be provided to you
in the message. The site will have the same look and feel of a
legitimate lottery site, but in fact, it is a copy site created
by the scammers. The URL address will have a very minor,
virtually, unnoticeable difference. Once you log in and see
for yourself that you have really own the lottery, you will
be asked to forward a gaming tax of US $100 to US $500 before
you claim your prize.

How to identify these scams and avoid being conned?

The number one motto that you should follow is � if it is too
good to be true, then probably, it is indeed too good to be true!
There is no way you can win a lottery, in what you have never
participated!

The followings are the signs of probable scam offers, you will
be better off if you avoid them scrupulously:

Any offer, where you have to send cash upfront to redeem you
prize.

Any offer of a substantial percentage of a large sum of money
to be transferred into your account, in return for your
"discretion" or "confidentiality";

Requests for signed and stamped, blank letterhead or invoices,
or for bank account information;

Requests for payment in advance of transfer taxes or other fees;
Statements that your name was provided to the soliciting party
either by someone you do not know or by "a very reliable
contact;"

Unsolicited calls asking if you would like to be in a "Lottery
pool";

Mail notifying you that you have already won a substantial sum
of money.

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present
CEO of Rusbiz.com � a Global B2B Exchange with solutions to
create e-catalog, Web store, business process management and
other features to run a business online. You can read various
articles written by Nowshade Kabir at http://ezine.rusbiz.com.

Instant Lottery Tickets - How To Make Money With Losing Lottery Tickets

By Robert Benjamin

Buying and scratching instant lottery tickets is something that almost everyone has done at one time or another. For some folks it's probably something they do too often. I guess for me, the bad buying habit is junk food. If I had spent my extra money on instant lottery tickets over the years, I may have been rich by now instead of overweight. Like anything, whether it's food or gambling one must do it in moderation, and that is often not easy to do.

Here in the state of Pennsylvania where I live, the first scratch off ticket came out in 1975, and they have been a big hit every since.

I have bought instant lottery tickets of every available price range in my state. I usually buy the $1 - $2 tickets, but once in awhile I buy a $5 - $10 ticket, and one time, I purchased a $20 instant ticket. I won nothing on the $20 ticket, not even $1 or a FREE ticket, so that was like throwing away my $20. You would think that with having to spend that much money, they would give everyone at least a FREE $1 ticket or something. I thought afterwards that I was kind of foolish for spending and losing the $20 on one ticket, but heck as they say, "If you don't play, you can't win !", it was a gamble, and I didn't win that time. I have known two individuals who each won near $20,000 on instant lottery tickets. So I can say for sure, "yes, some folks do win it big."

Unlike the live lottery that is usually drawn by picking numbers, the instant lottery is pre-determined months ahead of it's release. The tickets are designed and printed, then they are distributed to the lottery retailers throughout the state. Most small convenience stores offer instant lottery tickets, as well as the large chain stores. You can usually find them in a vending machine with multiple styles and price ranges to choose from, or they are at the cashiers area on the counter or behind a shielded section. Instant lottery tickets sell for as low as $1 and as high as $20 each in most states of the U.S. but some states may have tickets that sell for even more than $20 each.

States do instant lotteries to help fund many different programs. For instance in Pennsylvania, the lottery is used to generate funds to benefit programs for the Commonwealth's older residents. In Ohio, since 1974, the Lottery has provided more than $13 billion to public education. Annually, the lottery provides about 4.5 percent of the funding needed for Ohio's public education. In Missouri, approximately 27.3 cents of every dollar spent on the Lottery benefits education programs; 61.6 cents goes back to players as prizes, 5 cents is used for administrative costs and 6.1 cents goes to retailers in the form of commissions, incentives and bonuses. In all, more than 93 cents of every dollar stays in Missouri. It's different for every state, but the lottery is very beneficial despite the few problems it can cause to some, in the form of gambling addictions.

Most folks buy instant (scratch off) tickets, and if they don't win anything, they throw the tickets in the trash. Did you know that every time you throw a losing instant lottery ticket in the trash, you are throwing money away ? Yes, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of folks around the world that would love to buy your tickets from you. I have seen losing lottery tickets sell for as high as $15 each, these were tickets that had no redeemable value. I once went to a local convenience store and asked them if I could have a bag of losing instant lottery tickets I saw they had on the floor behind the counter. The clerk gladly gave them to me, I took the tickets home and after checking through them all, I found two that were $1 winners that were not redeemed, and I sold the remaining losing tickets for $30, and the store was just going to throw them away.

Where did I sell them ? On eBay. I happened to look one day and I noticed there was losing instant lottery tickets for sale on the eBay auction website. There are folks selling non-winning, so called 'worthless' lottery tickets on eBay all the time. I just did a search now while writing this article, and I found over 100 different auction listings for them. Who buys these non-winning lottery tickets ? Collectors.

Instant Lottery Ticket collecting is fast becoming a big thing. There are groups and individuals all around the world, that love collecting lottery tickets. There are many websites, discussion groups and forums now just for lottery ticket collecting. In fact there is even a new term or name for an instant lottery ticket collector: LOTOLOGIST, and the instant lottery ticket collecting hobby is called: LOTOLOGY. To see how big this hobby is becoming just visit your favorite search engine, such as GOOGLE, and do a search for: lotologist OR lotology. And you can find many sites collecting, selling and buying used non-winning instant lottery tickets.

One unique website is the 'Pennsylvania Lottery Merchandise Museum' - They will buy or accept donations of Pennsylvania Lottery Merchandise. The Museum has all of their lottery merchandise online for visitors to easily view, you can visit the museum at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/palot.htm

There is Computer Software that is made just for collecting instant lottery tickets. The software is called: ' Lottery Ticket Collector Professional ', you can download and try the software for free at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/ltcpro

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright � 2006

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business on the internet for over 5 years, and has been producing low-cost software for the past 25+ years. He first released software on the AMIGA and C64 computer systems in the late 1970's-80's.

RB59 Software

http://www.rb59.com/software

How to Meet Single Women Using Lottery Cards

By Don Diebel

Here's a great way to meet single women in bars and nightclubs. Also, it's a great ice-breaker and a very unique way to introduce yourself to women. All you need is some blank lottery cards that have not been filled out with the picked lottery numbers and a pen or pencil. Bring them with you when you go to bars and nightclubs to meet single women.

Here's what you do next. Pick out a hot & sexy beautiful single woman that you are attracted to and approach her. Pull out your lottery card and pen or pencil and say, "Excuse me, but I always ask the prettiest girl in the club to pick my lottery numbers, so can you help me pick some numbers?" It's very rare that you will be turned down.

The next step will be to give her your business card and say, "Call me next week to see if I won, and if I did I will split the winnings with you. If I didn't win I will buy you lunch? Does that sound like a fair deal?"

Don't leave her after she has picked the numbers. Hang around and try and get to know her. You never know what may develop just from using this unique approach. Try it. It works!

This article written by Don Diebel (Americas #1 Singles
Expert). If you would like more free dating tips on how to
successfully meet, date, attract, and become intimate with
women, please visit his website at: http://www.getgirls.com.

5 Top Tips To Win More With Any Lottery

By Martin Waterhouse

Here's 5 top tips to bear in mind next time you complete your lottery playslip. They won't increase your CHANCES of winning - because ONLY more entries can do that.

BUT they can significantly increase the AMOUNT you win when your numbers do come up.

How?

Because all 5 lottery tips are based on avoiding the way a lot of other people pick their numbers. If you pick lottery numbers the same way as most people do, then when you hit the jackpot, you share that prize with everybody else who picked the same numbers.

That can turn a jackpot pool of millions into a prize of just thousands! It happens all too often - so please don't let it happen to you.

Here's those quick tips for making sure that your lottery jackpot is the life changing sum you are looking for:

[1] Don't pick numbers that have already won, especially not from recent draws. Many players believe that winnings numbers are somehow lucky and therefore more likely to come up. Of course that isn't true, but a lot of people do it.

[2] Don't pick numbers based on an arithmetic sequences, such as 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, or 01, 11, 21, 31, 41, 49. People like number patterns - you would be stunned at how many people pick this way every single week.

[3] Don't pick numbers according to a 'tip' service. Just imagine how many other people will use the same numbers!

[4] Don't pick numbers purely according to family birthdays. Enormous numbers of lottery players choose the day of the birthday of family members when selecting lottery numbers. But there are only 31 days at most in a month - which means an awful lot of people pick all their numbers in that range.

[5] Don't make a pattern on your playslip. Diagonal or straight lines in any direction, star shapes, boxes, zig-zags etc. You might think who else would do that? The answer is anywhere from tens of people to tens of THOUSANDS of people!

The easiest, fastest way to pick better lottery numbers, is to pick them totally at random. So pull scraps of paper out of a bag. It won't guarantee NOT picking a 'bad' set of numbers, but at least there's a good chance you won't be sharing your lottery millions with a hundred other 'lucky' winners.

Be lucky.

>>> Martin Waterhouse is a lottery and statistics fan - who is not popular with the vendors of expensive lottery 'systems' based on dodgy maths and mumbo-jumbo! Publisher of the internets foremost lottery syndicate review and lottery tips site, Lottery-Syndicate-World...

Want better chances of winning the lottery in an instant? Find the worlds best lottery syndicates online today at >>> http://www.lottery-syndicate-world.com

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Is There Magic in the Numbers in Lotto Games? Some Observations

By John Anderson

Lottery games have been around for centuries. A variant of Bingo was invented in the late 1800s, but the Romans played the numbers long before that. The biggest difference between then and now is the cost to play the game and the size of the payoff for winning. Even the staunchest anti-gambling advocate has to admit to being intrigued by the prizes. By risking a dollar a person might win many millions. Unfortunately, as we all know, not everyone is willing to stop at a dollar. Horror stories, and hopefully mostly just stories, abound about welfare families spending their entire income buying tickets.

Who have been the winners? Was it ever anyone who spent a hundred dollars or more on tickets to cut down the odds? I haven't heard of one, but I do know that a woman won forty million dollars when a clerk refused to change a five dollar bill for her so she could have bus fare. Determined to get her change, she bought a PowerBall ticket. (I hope she went back later and planted a big kiss on top of the curmudgeon's head.) Did any of the winners read a book telling them how to pick the numbers? How many used their own or their spouses' birthdate or the two combined? Or did they use their telephone number, or numbers on a fortune cookie? As far as I know, all but one of the winners let the lottery computer pick the numbers for them. The one great exception was famous. A man in Chicago faithfully bought the same number for the Illinois lottery at the same grocery store for years. One day the number came up. And guess what? He couldn't find his ticket! After learning about his history and considering the fact that no one else claimed the prize, the lottery commission magnaminously awarded the prize to him. It would be the first and last time it would ever happen. Now, you must present the winning ticket to claim your winnings.

The point is, the odds against you are incredible. Imagine, if you will, a hundred yard long sandy beach with exactly one pebble that is different from all the rest. Even if it looks different, what do you think your chances are of finding it?

So who cares, you say. I'll play anyway.

Let's say you like to pick numbers. Which of the two listed below would you say is LESS likely to come up: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 or 22, 34, 39, 40, 46, 48 and 55. Niney-nine out of a hundred people would say 1, 2, 3, etc. is less likely because they are the first six numbers in our counting system and we imagine a connection between them. This imagined connection likely will translate into a bias against playing them. But the truth of the matter is, neither is more or less likely to occur than the other. The question is whether there is a practical aspect to this bias. Amazingly enough, there is. But it probably will take a very long time to show up. maybe even several billions of years. Sooner or later, over a infinitely long time span 1, 2, 3, etc. will wind up in the machine's trough. If the bias has continued, no one will have chosen the right numbers. (Never mind that the computer might have selected them for someone.) In fine, over a long enough time span, even the tiniest bias can make an important difference.

For the people who have bought books about picking winning numbers, how many authors claim they have a foolproof way of choosing the numbers? Obviously they don't, or hundreds of people would win every week. What they do say is that they can increase your odds of picking the right numbers. My question is, how do they know this is the case? Are the five non-winning numbers the book helped you find more likely to have been the winners than the millions of other combinations that didn't win either? If so, what is the process that determines these probablilities and how can it be demonstrated?

In conclusion, let's return to the possible practical importance of even the tiniest biases. I have done studies of winning numbers for the PowerBall contest for the last ten years. (I'll let you research this for yourself.) Rather than evenly spread numbers across the complete range, certain ones have appeared significantly more often than others. Mathematicians who study probability theory say that this is a good proof of true randomness. Be that as it may, the question becomes: If a person played these numbers exclusively, would he/she be more likely to win? Probably not. Past performance cannot predict future occurrences. But even so, is there even a slightly greater probability that these numbers COULD actually come up more often in the future than some others?

Possibly. The reason may lie in the mechanics of the way the numbers are chosen. The machine and the pingpong balls that bounce about before they blow out of the chute could contribute their own tiny bias. What if some of these balls were infinitesimally lighter or heavier than the rest? Or is it possible that the laws of randomness select certain numbers more often than others? We can never know. But even an infinitely tiny boost in your ability to predict one or two of the six numbers would cut down the odds against you by several millions. Is that tiny boost worth putting money on the line? That's entirely up to you. In a nutshell, a little research may actually reduce the multi-million odds against you by a tiniest bit. Who knows. It may be enough to help you pick a winner.

Copyright 2005 by John Anderson

John Anderson has been selling stamps and collectibles for more than thirty years. He is now semi-retired and writing his second novel. His first, The Cellini Masterpiece, was written under the pen-name of Raymond John and published by iUniverse. If you have a question for John, or would like to contact him, he can be reached at http://www.cmasterpiece.com

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