OK, first some quick background. Brad Duke was a Powerball winner back in 2005. He won the headline grabbing Powerball jackpot of $220 Million, and after choosing the lump sum payout he more than happily banked $85 Million.

In an interview with Fortune Magazine in 2007 Brad revealed the incredible lottery system that was responsible for his big win.

Don’t worry, I’ll reveal exactly how it works right here.

Here’s what Brad did.

The Brad Duke Lottery System

First he took the last 6 months of Powerball results. Then he figured out the 15 most commonly drawn numbers from those results.

Then he used a wheeling system to combine those 15 numbers together.

In a nutshell, that’s it.

Here’s what is missing from Brad’s explanation though.

Firstly, he doesn’t tell us what kind of wheel he is playing. Is it an abbreviated wheel (potentially fairly cheap), or a full wheel (very expensive indeed for 15 numbers!). He also doesn’t tell us if he’s playing one Powerball number or covering all of them!

Secondly, he doesn’t say how many tickets he’s buying.

You can deduce from his comments though what the likely answer is when he says things ‘got bigger and more complex’.

So he actually started buying a lot more tickets, and as a result won more small prizes.

This, of course, is not a revolutionary lottery system. (Win Lotto Systems is based on the simple premise of ‘buy more tickets, and win more small prizes, while you wait for a big win’).

The Numbers Bit

If you play Brad’s system, you may want to arrange yourself a bank loan first…

Because even if you ignore the Powerball number, there are still 3,003 ways to arrange your 15 most drawn numbers. Cover every Powerball number on top of those and you’ve just bought over 105,000 tickets… feeling rich yet..?

So if for one very charitable moment we assume that analysing those past results actually worked, you still have to either stomach spending $210,000 on Powerball tickets and hoping you’re right – or choose a small amount of those combinations and hope you don’t eliminate the winning one.

Did Brad buy $210,000 of tickets for that draw? No.

Does playing the 15 most drawn numbers from the last 6 months even improve your chances of winning one jot anyway? No.

The Reality Check

The important thing to learn from Brad’s story, is this.

Brad Duke won the Powerball because… he was damn lucky. One of the hundreds(?) of tickets he bought for that draw just happened to be the winning combination.

Now he may believe that combination was more likely to come up. But that doesn’t make it true.

Remember: if the lottery was preditable in this way, it would not be random. And that would put the well paid Powerball Execs in a whole heap of legal trouble – illegal lotteries are not well liked by the legal system!

Still don’t believe me?

Think of it this way. Every week millions of players all over the world do similar analysis, over all kinds of different time periods – but never win!

That very same draw when Brad won the jackpot, hundreds of thousands of Powerball tickets would have been bought by people doing similar analysis to him.

So why didn’t they all share the jackpot? Because they weren’t lucky like Brad Duke!

Back To The Question…

So the idea of strong or weak lottery numbers is a total nonsense. They just don’t exist. There are winners and losers – but we only discover which ones those are after the draw is over and done.

Despite that, there are endless pointless lottery systems that are based entirely on analyzing past results. Do they work? No.

There is no secret formula to guaranteed winnings. No winner who can tell you the secret to how to pick the best numbers.

There is a very limited range of things you can do to improve your chances of winning (and I’ll happily give you those lottery tips and tricks for free).

But does that stop the lottery being fun to play? Of course not.

Good luck in the next draw, however you pick your numbers.

Related posts:

1. $50 Million Australian Powerball Jackpot – Largest Ever!
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3. Best Lottery System To Use…

There is so much lottery junk online. Not just systems, but bad advice and poor information everywhere.

Just dare to ask what works in an online forum, you’ll get ten ‘experts’ swearing on their mother’s life that asking Felix the psyhic feline is the only way to win.

Then another ten who say system ‘x’ works because they never won a thing before, until they started playing using system ‘x’ and matched 3 out of 6 on the first try… whilst neglecting to tell you that they bought 20 times more tickets than they ever did before.

Results Mean Nothing

The thing is that individual results do not mean anything.

I know that sounds a bit backwards. But because the lottery is random, and so very hard to win – isolated results one way or the other do not mean anything useful.

You Need See The Big Picture

Here’s a good example why:

Take Gail Howards wheeling books – some of the oldest lottery systems online. The smartluck.com website hasn’t been run by Gail for a long time and now includes a fair amount of factually incorrect advice.

But the site is full of testimonials of people who have won jackpots. And they are real winners too. So the system must work then, right..?

Well, not exactly.

These people have NOT won because of any secret system. They won because 100,000 Gail Howard fans have been buying lots of tickets for 30 years (yes, over 30 years!).

And because they were told to play games that are easier to win (i.e. Pick 5).

What About The 99.9% Who Lost!

So what happened to the other 99,900 people who bought Gail’s books but haven’t won..?

Did they not bother to use it? Did they not implement the clever techniques properly? Or were they just unlucky.

How can they claim these are lottery systems that work if the vast majority do not win when they use them?

Smart Luck Or Plain Random Luck

If you use any system and win big, it just means you were lucky.

Now if everyone who used a system won big within, let’s be generous here and say 10 years, that would really mean something.

But it can never happen, because the lottery just doesn’t work in any way that can be ‘beaten’. It really is random and every combination is just as likely. One of the worlds best maths Professors (a real one!) actually stated this in a newspaper yesterday.

A better chance of winning is the best that you can expect from any system. And that is worth pursuing.

So Are There Any Lottery Systems That Work?

It really depends on what you mean by ‘work’, and exactly what those lottery systems claim to do.

So when I assess and test lottery systems, I’m looking at the value of the insights and strategies that they offer. But I’m also looking at what they claim they can do for you, and if they are making innaccurate claims or giving bad advice.

Testing does not mean using them for a week or two and drawing unhelpful conclusions!

So when you read my lottery system reviews, bear in mind that anything I do recommend has value.

Because I’m one of the very few voices online that won’t recommend lottery garbage for a sly backhander.

Related posts:

1. Win Lotto Systems Review
2. Best Lottery System To Use…
3. Derren Brown Reveals Secret Of Lottery System Scams

So with thanks to Hobbs for hitting the nail squarely on the head again, here’s a guest post from him about which is the best lottery system to use.

Wisdom Of Hobbs Part 1

To your attention folks. One random event is not effected by another. There is no such thing as elimination of any number with any new lottery drawing. Each number has an equal chance of being drawn.

If there was a way to select numbers that were more likely for the next drawing, that would make wheeling systems highly effective.

There is no lottery system in existence that will reduce the number of possible combinations that can be drawn in any particular game, what it is, is what it is. If it’s 14 million possible combinations, that is what it is.

Don’t bother spending hundreds of dollars on Steve Player’s horse manure that he charges hundreds of dollars by the pound for. He plays well on the cravings of those that see big dollar signs in their eyes while reading the ads on the systems that he has for sale, only to end up wondering what happened after their pockets have been cleaned out and discovering that the systems don’t work. After discovering that they’ve been had, they seek a refund. To their amazement, there is none…

Don’t bother with the Black Book and getting shot in the leg. You may bleed to death or end up with a limp for the rest of your life, while rushing because there are only so many copies left. If you stand behind a horse long enough at a distance, you’ll see what comes out of the Black Book. The Lotto Black Book is absolute rubbish.

Ken Silver makes his silver sound so shiny and brilliant. After you fall for it and use it, you’ll discover that the silver isn’t so shiny and brilliant, but tarnished.

So which is the best lottery system to use? All the systems that are for sale depend on the word ‘IF’. If… in the lottery rarely happens. If is a small word, but has large significance. Folks, don’t fall for it, save your money.

The only sure way to win the lottery is to play every possible combination in that particular game. If you have 14 million dollars to spend, why spend it on a chance to win 2 million dollars.

Have a great day everybody. Thanks Lottery Guy.

Related posts:

1. Derren Brown Reveals Secret Of Lottery System Scams
2. Powerball Winner Brad Duke’s Lottery System
3. Lottery System Reviews

Along with simply ‘which lottery is the best?’ (to which my tongue in cheek answer is… ‘the lottery that just paid you the jackpot.’)

The Best Odds Of Winning

But it is a serious question, because the odds of the game are the number one factor that determine if you win or lose.

The lottery with the best odds is usually the one with the fewest balls drawn. So a pick 3 game is of course easier to win than a pick 4 game. Which is why the pick 3 prizes are much smaller.

Prize Matters

This is the hidden half of this question.

Because, yes you really want the game with the best odds. But you also want the jackpot to be big enough to get you excited. And the key is how you balance the two.

Yes, it’s great to win the pick 3 jackpot – but if winning that money won’t change your life at all, then you’re not playing the right game.

Compare Lottery Games

To compare lottery games well you need to understand the odds, and have an idea of how big a win would change your life. To make this super easy, use my tool to help you compare lottery odds.

Then you can pick which lottery game has the best odds for you.

Related posts:

1. Which UK Lotto Game Has The Best Chances Of Winning?
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3. Chances of Winning Mega Millions?

I get asked this type of question quite often.

Surprisingly the answer depends on you.

The UK has various lottery games, from Hot Picks to Thunderball. All with different odds, all with different prize divisions and amounts. Some with very different methods of play. So it’s certainly confusing!

All lottery games balance the odds against size of the jackpot, i.e. bigger jackpot = harder to win. So the answer really depends on how big a prize you want to win.

Here’s Why…

Ignoring Hot Picks for just a moment.

Daily Play actually gives you the best odds of winning ANY prize (at 1 in 7.4), and the best odds of winning the top prize (1 in 888,030).

But of course that top prize is much smaller than the other games at just £30,000 – bigger jackpots are harder to win, right?

Hot Picks confuses this slightly too as you have to specifically choose which prize level you want to play for, Match 1, Match 2 etc. Most of the prizes are too small to bother (you may as well just play a slot machine!). But…

• Pick 4 odds are 1 in 14,126 for a £7,000 prize
• Pick 5 odds are 1 in 317,814 for a £130,000 prize

So both are actually easier to win the big prize than Daily Play. But remember with Hot Picks there are NO other prizes for matching less balls.

So while Pick 5 is nearly 3 times easier to win the big prize than Daily Play, and the prize is more than 4 times bigger – it’s Match all 5 or you get nothing at all.

So What Can You Do..?

All of which means – choose the game with the best odds, that offers a jackpot that’s big enough for YOU. Don’t simply go for the game with the biggest jackpot.

To help you figure out which game gives you the best chances of winning use my new lottery compare tool.

And, get in touch if you have any questions about the lottery.

Related posts:

1. Are My Chances Of Winning Worse With Lottery Quick Picks?
2. Chances of Winning Mega Millions?
3. Are My Chances Of Winning Better If I Play Less Often..?

[A] There are lots of interesting things you can do with old lottery results. You can apply all sorts of analysis on past results, and come up with lots of intriguing things.

Even the lottery companies do it themselves. Many official lottery sites have things like lottery frequency checker tools on them, so you can see how often each ball has been drawn.

But the problem with this kind of analysis, is that it’s entirely useless in predicting what’s going to happen next.

Here’s why…

Lottery Randomness Looks Weird

I know this sounds a bit Douglas Adams but the big problem with randomness is that it can often look so very unrandom.

For something to be truly random, all results have to be possible.

So for there to be any significance in some numbers appearing more often than others, there must by definition be something wrong with the draw process. In others words it isn’t random.

Yes, that’s theoretically possible – but bear in mind lottery companies put an awful lot of effort into ensuring their draws are random.

By all means fire up your Excel spreadsheet, plug in all the past results, and make charts of hit frequency. If you find that kind of stuff fun.

(No offence intended – I’m a maths and probability geek!)

But please don’t be fooled into thinking this kind of analysis will increase your chances of winning the lottery.

It won’t do your chances of winning any harm to play this way, it just won’t improve them any either.

For more help with winning and real stuff you can do to improve your odds, get my free lottery tips course.

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I think we’ve given enough publicity and space over to Mr Brown.

And apart from which Derren fans will shortly all be moving on to talking about how he made them feel stuck to their sofa..! (Control The Nation hits tonight… and I very much suspect he hasn’t just bought a job lot of superglue)

The Trick Explained

So, here’s a great little video that demonstrates the secrets of how the whole split screen camera trick thing works. For anyone still not sure, yes, it was just a trick:-

Watch Closely, See The Trick Revealed…

And if you found that a bit of a let down after all the build up of the ‘predicting lottery numbers’ malarkey, then this alternative explanation should give you some minor chuckle relief:-

[P.S. If you want to know how Derren does his crazy mind trick voodoo check out this video]

Related posts:

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He entertained as usual – the guy is a great showman – but he didn’t actually tell us how the trick was done. All was NOT revealed. Which is fine. Except that is exactly what we were promised!

He did of course misdirect and entertain, which is the nature and fun of the show.

Derren tells a small group of people they can predict lottery numbers, and they become genuinely impressed at being ‘one out’. Being one out is also known as being wrong of course. Nobody wins a prize for nearly matching a number! (But even letting them get ‘close’ is pure Derren at work of course)

The important facts to remember are:-

1. Derren is not a psychic or mystic (he actually debunks people who claim to be!)
2. Derren cannot predict lottery results, it’s simply not possible.
3. It’s a trick, that’s what he does.

Derren ended the show as ‘whatever you choose to believe is up to you’, but we were cheated on the promise of him giving us the real answer. And that was an unusually flat and diasappointing ending to the illusion.

There was no ‘reveal’ and then further twist to leave us confounded and impressed.

Instead we’re simply left with the reality of ‘oh, so it was just a cheap camera trick then’.

Shame.

[P.S. If you want to know more about how Derren does his crazy mind voodoo check out this video]

Related posts:

1. Derren Brown – How To Win The Lottery?
2. Derren Brown Lottery Explained
3. Derren Brown Reveals Secret Of Lottery System Scams

He got all 6 correct.

Or did he…

Derren is a brilliant entertainer, and worth seeing live on stage if ever you get the chance.

But remember, he is an illusionist and entertainer. He doesn’t really have magic powers, any more than David Blaine, Uri Geller or Paul Daniels.

All will be revealed on Friday night.

So how do you think he did it?

[P.S. If you want to know more about how Derren does his crazy mind voodoo check out this video]

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1. Derren Brown Lottery – How It Was Really Done
2. Derren Brown Lottery Explained
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A friend recommended it to them, but they wanted to get an expert opinion before spending any money… so can you guess my opinion yet..? 

They say it’s a lottery pool. Well, actually they don’t say that, but their members tend to!

The site actually says:-

create a lottery pool that reaches across the street or around the world

Note the vital use of the word ‘create’…

Xzotto Misses The Point By Impressive Margins!

I think somewhere in the design stage sombebody lost the plot.

Here’s what I mean.

As a lottery player I want to win the lottery.

As an enlightened lottery player, I know those junk systems based on analysing past results are a waste of money.

So I’m really looking for a better chance of winning. Cool, that’s the idea of a lottery pool.

So what does Xzotto offer?

You join for free. You buy your lottery tickets through them at normal price. You don’t get any pooling of tickets. You only get to keep 50% of your winnings.

Huh?

Seriously. No increase to your chances of winning, and you lose half your winnings.

That is what you really get, I’ve checked with them!

But that’s not a lotto pool?

Yeah, I know!

It’s also WORSE than buying a ticket at your local store.

YEAH, I KNOW!

So What’s All This Monthly Subscription Stuff About Then?

In short – it’s one of those business opportunity things. You pay US$25 per month for the ‘Team Management Software’.

Yes, US$300 per year. Forever.

And yes, this sounds an awful lot like just the software needed to run the business opportunity itself…

You still don’t get any lottery tickets or pooling for that. But you do get US$5 a month for all the other people you get to subscribe to the software.

And if the people you introduce, and the people they introduce also buy tickets – note the ‘IF’ – then you get to keep some of their winnings.

But That Sucks Too, Doesn’t It!?

Pretty much.

Suck Reason 1
US$25 per month (forever) is a lot to pay for ANY software. Even Microsoft failed to sell subscriptions to it’s full blown Office software at only US$69 per YEAR. And if you really want software to manage a lottery pool, use a spreadsheet, free!

Suck Reason 2
It’s still not a lottery pool. You have to build your own pool by introducing other people. If you wanted to do that, why bother with Xzotto?

So Why Join?

Xzotto has generated a few thousand members. No, I don’t how either.

I suspect they have all been sucked in by the premise of ‘making a quick buck’, so the lottery side is totally irrelevant to them. They could be subscribing to a Zac Efron fan club for all they care.

But if any Xzotto players can explain why Suck Reasons 1 and 2 are wrong, please do comment below.

Seriously. Open debate. But please don’t just say “I hate you, you don’t understand” like a sullen teenager.

Do you think you get value for money? Is the software genuinely of value, and worth that much? Or is it just acceptable losses until you find enough other people you want to put in the same position… (house of cards style)!?

Related posts:

1. Xzotto Launches Floating 5 (Still Sucks…)
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