“I’m worried about a computer randomly picking numbers for me. What are the odds of using quick pick selections rather than hand picking?”
A quick pick is where the lottery machine randomly chooses the number for you. So you have two random events going on, the selection of your numbers AND the lottery draw itself… which makes no difference whatsoever!
Every ball in the lottery has exactly the same chance of being drawn. Therefore every set of numbers in a lottery draw has exactly the same chance of being drawn. So it does not matter how your numbers were selected, they are just as good as everybody elses numbers.
Whether you like pulling numbers out of a washing machine full of numbered ping pong balls, picking ages of your favourite family members, or counting how many times your horse taps his foot – your chances of winning the lottery are just as good as everybody elses!
So use quick picks if you like – the only danger is you might find your numbers mean you are more likely to share a jackpot if you do win it. More on that in my free tips course.
I agree. The quick pix is able to pick a more pseudorandom set of numbers than mere humans. Therefore as you say one is more likely to share any winnings if you choose your own numbers. Humans have great difficulty in choosing or recognizing such numbers. Great site – Joe
I agree. But I often wonder as I buy my tickets a few days before, if this powerful computer could scan the numbers being picked by the public, and be able to avoid most numbers. I mean in more than 30 years of trying and still no decent winnings.
It would certainly be possible. The lottery companies could allocate combinations that had not already been picked to people buying a quick pick.
After all, it would still be a fair draw as all combinations have the same chance of being drawn.
The main reason they wouldn’t though is rollovers!
Lottery companies love rollovers. Big jackpots create great publicity and sell a lot more tickets.
It’s the only reason there are lottery games with insane odds. Look at the chances of winning Mega Millions! Hugely popular but not the game those players should be spending their money on.
Quick picks win a lot of the time. The lottery cannot manipulate which combinations you get with a quick pick, because lottery players buy their tickets at different times, days and places. Many players have won with a quick pick line.
Statistically I would agree that per-draw, your chances are equal with whichever numbers you use (whether you pick them, if you let the machine pick them).
If you play regularly, though, I would think that it would be best to pick a set of numbers and stick with it. You can, again, pick them yourself or let the machine pick them, but once you have “your numbers” I think it makes sense to stick with them.
Think of your numbers as a target, and the draw is the ‘dart’ … if you’re constantly moving the target around (changing numbers… random quick-pick each week), you’re relying on two random events (the draw and your numbers) to sync up each time. If you keep your numbers the same for each draw, your ‘target’ stays still, and only the weekly drawing numbers have to line up.
I’m no mathematician, statistician, or even a great gambler, but this is just what makes sense to me. I could be completely wrong about it. But just imagine the sinking-feeling you’d get if your numbers from ‘last week’ won ‘this week’ and you had gone and changed them.
Hey Joe,
This is a common misconception. But changing your numbers or not makes no difference to your chances at all.
LG
I have to agree with Joe, that has actually happened to me. I didn’t play my numbers one week and I would have won money. It wasn’t a jackpot, but still was mad at myself. I will never do that again. I’ve always used quick picks and haven’t won hardly anything. I say use your numbers, they are yours for a reason!
Hey Rob,
We’re just about verging on the realms of ‘superstition’ here. And lottery companies do like it when we get protective over numbers, because it means we play more often, i.e. “I can’t miss this week, it might be the week my numbers come up”. They’re well aware of the psychology and certainly wouldn’t do anything to harm the perception – why hurt your ticket sales?
. It works really well for them when they decide to introduce an extra draw in the week too – “must play my numbers on Wednesday as well now, just in case…”.
It doesn’t actually matter if you play the same numbers for 10 years straight, they are still just as likely to come up in the next draw as any other set of numbers. So sticking or changing really doesn’t make any difference.
But if you like your numbers, by all means stick with them as there’s no harm in it.
It’s not playing at all that really hurts your chances