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Welcome to The Winning Edge Lotto! You can read this manual by using the arrow keys and the [pgup] and [pgdn] keys at the right side of the keyboard. Press the [esc] key at any time to quit. ____________________________________________________________________ To start The Winning Edge Program: Enter [LOTTO1] at the DOS prompt. To do so, you must first exit this program by pressing the [esc] key. ____________________________________________________________________ ATTENTION! Would you like to avoid the time, effort, and potential errors associated with filling out your game cards manually? Well Fusion Software, Inc. is about to release a new program to solve this problem. It will read the tickets you select while running Winning Edge Lotto and print them directly onto your game cards. If interested in this program, ask for free details when registering your Winning Edge Lotto program. If the Winning Edge Lotto does not have all of the features that you desire, please feel free to contact us and describe what you would like to see added! THE WINNING EDGE LOTTERY PROGRAM Program Documentation For Shareware Version 3.3 Developed By: Fusion Software, Inc. SUITE C-201 8101 Camino Real Miami, Florida 33143 DISCLAIMER All FUSION SOFTWARE products are distributed on an "as is" basis. FUSION SOFTWARE makes no warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will FUSION SOFTWARE be liable for consequential damages even if FUSION SOFTWARE has been advised of the possibility of such damages. TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION NO. TITLE PAGE NO. ----------- -------------------------------- -------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1-1 1.1 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS 1-1 1.2 GETTING STARTED 1-1 1.3 WHAT THE PROGRAM DOES 1-2 1.4 HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM 1-5 2.0 SELECTION OF LOTTERY NUMBERS 2-1 2.1 AVOIDING DUPLICATION OF LOTTERY TICKETS 2-1 2.2 NUMBERS MOST LIKELY TO BE DRAWN 2-3 3.0 METHODS ASSUMING RANDOMNESS 3-1 3.1 RANDOM THEORY 3-1 3.2 DEFENSIVE RANDOM THEORY 3-2 4.0 SELECTION METHODS ASSUMING NON-RANDOMNESS 4-1 4.1 THE HOT NUMBERS THEORY 4-1 4.2 THE COLD NUMBERS THEORY ("DUE NUMBERS") 4-2 4.3 HOT & COLD NUMBERS THEORY 4-4 4.4 TREND ANALYSIS THEORY 4-4 4.5 NUMEROLOGY THEORY 4-5 4.6 THE NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS THEORY 4-5 5.0 USING THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS 5-1 6.0 WHEELING THEORY 6-1 APPENDIX A PROBABILITY EQUATIONS A-1 APPENDIX B PROGRAM PROFILE B-1 APPENDIX C TROUBLE SHOOTING C-1 PREFACE This documentation is for the shareware version of THE WINNING EDGE LOTTERY PROGRAM. This version contains most of the elements of the commercial version of the program, except for the NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS METHOD, the COMPRESSED WHEELING FUNCTION, MULTIPLE GAME FUNCTIONS, and some of the statistical tools. In addition, the commercial version can store up to 500 of the past drawings and can work with up to 500 tickets. Larger storage capacity versions are available. The NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS METHOD is a state of the art scientific method of lottery number selection. This method uses statistical tools to test for the presence of non-randomness in previous drawings, and takes advantage of it. This method also reduces the possibility of producing lottery tickets duplicated by other lottery players, including other users of this program. The NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS METHOD will perform as well as any other lottery number selection method available, no matter what the cost, or whatever claims are made of the other methods. You may obtain the latest update of THE WINNING EDGE, including the NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS METHOD, the COMPRESSED WHEELING FUNCTION, full statistical tools, and printed documentation, by sending a check or money order in the amount of $35.00 to: Fusion Software, Inc. Suite C-201 8101 Camino Real Miami, Florida 33143 THE WINNING EDGE by FUSION SOFTWARE SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION The WINNING EDGE was designed to be easy to operate. Most users will be able to operate the program without having to refer back to this document. This document contains general lottery strategy information that could benefit all lottery players. Users are encouraged to read this document fully at least once. The program is menu driven. When a menu is displayed, the program user is given a list of all the program commands available. The user is asked to enter the item number for the desired program command. Alternately, the user may use the arrow keys to highlight the desired command, then press the enter key. The user may enter H for help if the user is not sure of what each command in the menu does. When H is entered, the program displays a description of each command. 1.1 Minimum Requirements 1.1.1 Hardware Required To Operate The Program The program should operate properly on any IBM compatible with 256K of free RAM or more. The program can be run from either a floppy disk or hard drive. All of the files that come on the program disk must be in the current directory when the program is run. 1.1.2 Software Required PC-DOS or MS-DOS versions 2.0 or later are required. The program also requires that ANSI.SYS be loaded. If you have trouble with the colors in the menus, it is probably because ANSI.SYS has not been loaded. The procedures for loading ANSI.SYS are given in Appendix C of this manual. 1.2 Getting Started The first step is to make a backup diskette of the program disk. The original disk should be kept in a safe place in case it is ever needed in the future. If a hard drive is present, make a new subdirectory and copy the entire program disk into it. The program must be run from the new subdirectory. The program is started by entering LOTTO1 at the DOS prompt. The Main Menu is displayed whenever the program is started. The program user then must enter the item number of the desired command, or use the arrow keys to highlight the desired command, then press [enter]. The program user may instead enter the letter H to display a help screen. 1.3 What The Program Does The WINNING EDGE is designed to be a system of lottery functions to aid the lottery player. The program will carry out the following: 1. Select lottery numbers for the program user to buy, 2. Make up different lottery tickets from the selected numbers (also known as "wheeling"), 3. Store the lottery tickets bought by program user, 4. Store numbers drawn by the state in the lottery, 5. Check the lottery tickets bought for winning numbers, 6. Provide statistical tools for the user to analyze lottery data if the user desires. 1.3.1 Selection of Lottery Numbers The primary function of the program is to assist the user in the selection of lottery numbers. The program includes several methods of lottery number selection. Commands for all of the methods are found in the "Computer Picks Menu." This menu is accessed by selecting Item #1 in the Main Menu. The methods included in this program are: 1. Non-Random Analysis Theory, 2. Hot Numbers Theory, 3. Cold Numbers Theory, 4. Trend Analysis Theory, 5. Random Numbers Theory, 6. Defensive Random Theory, 7. Numerology Theory, and 8. Wheel Your Numbers. The Non-Random Analysis Theory is an original method of lottery number selection that uses state-of-the-art statistical methods. Program users are recommended to use the Non-Random Analysis Theory for all of their lottery number selections. The Non-Random Method analyses the lottery for non-randomness, and if non-randomness is found, will take advantage of it. Additional numbers are selected in the Non-Random Analysis Method that will provide lottery numbers least likely to duplicate tickets purchased by other lottery players. 1.3.2 Generating Tickets From the Selected Numbers Whenever any of the methods of number selection are used in the program, the numbers selected are automatically wheeled to produce the desired amount of lottery tickets. A special wheeling method developed for this program is used for the automatic wheeling function. This special method wheels the fifteen "best" numbers (for the selection method chosen) into the desired amount of tickets while giving the widest possible distribution of the selected numbers. There are two other wheeling methods available in this program. They are available in the "Wheel Your Numbers" command in the Picks Menu. See Section 6 of this manual for more information on the wheeling methods available in this program. 1.3.3 Recording The Lottery Tickets Bought Immediately after generating tickets the program will ask if the user wants to record the new tickets. If the answer is yes, the selected tickets will automatically be recorded, and after the lottery drawing takes place, the tickets can easily be checked for matches. All tickets worth money will be highlighted. The program also provides a command to record the lottery tickets generated outside of the program. That command can be found in the Main Menu. The purpose of recording the tickets bought is to allow the program to check the tickets bought for winning numbers after the next lottery drawing. It is not necessary to record the tickets bought if you do not wish to have the computer check your tickets for winners. 1.3.4 Recording The Numbers Drawn By The State Many of the lottery number selection methods require a historic record of the numbers drawn in the past several lotteries. This record will be is termed "Historic Data" throughout this document. When the program is shipped to the user, the Historic Data contains a record of the numbers drawn in the Florida Lottery. Florida Lotto players must regularly record the numbers drawn in subsequent lottery drawings to keep the Historic Data current. The program provides a command to store the numbers drawn. That command can be found in the Main Menu. Failure to regularly record the numbers drawn by the state will prevent several of the number selection methods from functioning properly. The number selection methods that would not function properly are: 1. Non-Random Analysis Theory, 2. Hot Numbers Theory, 3. Cold Numbers Theory, 4. Trend Analysis Theory. All players of lotteries other than the Florida Lotto can initialize the Historic Data by recording the winning numbers from their lottery for the past 20 drawings. If that data is not available, then the data should be recorded for each drawing until 20 drawings have occurred. In the meantime, the program user can use one of the number selection methods that do not rely on the historic data to function. These number selection methods include; 1. Random Theory, 2. Defensive Theory, and 3. Numerology Theory. Whenever you enter the Historic Data from more than one drawing, the data should be entered in chronological order. The data from the oldest drawing is entered first. The data from the most recent drawing is entered last. 1.3.5 Checking The Tickets Bought For Winners The program can check the recorded bought lottery tickets after the latest numbers drawn by the state are recorded. The command to check for winners is found in the Main Menu. All tickets with the minimum amount of matches to win any money will be displayed highlighted, and can be readily picked out from the losing tickets. The matched numbers in each ticket are also shown. 1.3.6 Statistical Tools The user may review and statistically analyze the Historic Data. Access to these commands is obtained by selecting the "Statistics" command in the Main Menu. Doing so will display the Statistics Menu. The Statistics Menu has the following commands: 1. Historic Data, 2. Most Frequent Numbers, 3. Statistical Analysis, and 4. Statistical Utilities. The Historic Data command will display the recorded winning tickets drawn in the past 52 drawings. The winning tickets are numbered 1 through 52. The most recently drawn ticket is ticket #52, and the oldest is ticket #1. The Most Frequent Numbers command displays the amount of times drawn for all lottery numbers. The Statistical Analysis command does a statistical analysis of all lottery numbers. The probability of each number's frequency is computed. 1.3.7 Lottery Configuration The program can be adjusted by the user to work for any lottery from a pick 4 of 35 to pick 8 of 80. Players wishing to change the existing lottery type can do so by reconfiguring the program. The reconfiguration process is simple, and can be done by selecting the "Lottery Reconfiguration" command from the Main Menu. 1.3.8 Playing More Than One Game The Shareware version of The Winning Edge can only be used for one game configuration at a time. The commercial version of The Winning Edge can play an unlimited amount of different games at the same time. 1.4 How To Use The Program The following steps are recommended to use this program most effectively: 1. Use one or more of the number selection methods to produce the desired quantity of lottery tickets *, 2. Record the tickets bought, 3. Buy the selected tickets, 4. Record the numbers drawn by the state after the next drawing, and 5. Have the computer check the tickets bought for winners. * If the program user wishes to use his own lucky numbers instead, he can use the "Wheel Your Numbers" function (found in the Main Menu). That function can wheel up to 30 different numbers and produce up to 5,000,000 different tickets. SECTION 2 - Selection Of Lottery Numbers There are two objectives to be considered when selecting lottery numbers: 1. Select the numbers with the greatest probability of being drawn, and 2. Select lottery tickets with the least probability of being duplicated by other lottery players. The latter objective is always overlooked by lottery players, yet is often more important. For that reason, we will discuss the latter objective first. 2.1 Avoiding Duplication Of Lottery Tickets With Other Players Most lottery players do not realize just how important it is to avoid duplication. Before you decide not to read this section, ask yourself a question. Would you be so interested in playing the lottery if the jackpot was only around 500 dollars? If your answer is no, you should definitely read this section! A study of the lottery numbers bought by players of the Florida Lotto game was released in Stephen K. Doig's "Lucky Numbers" column in the Miami Herald. The study analyzed lottery ticket duplication in one lotto game with a total sale of 26,650,115 tickets. The findings of that study are astounding, and should effect the number selection methods of all prudent lottery players. The findings indicate that most lottery players buy tickets that will be duplicated by others. In fact over 86% of the tickets sold were duplicated by at least one other ticket. Most players would not mind sharing the 25 million dollar jackpot with a few others, but how about sharing it with 25,096 other players? The most popular ticket was sold 25,096 times. That very popular ticket was the 1-2-3-4-5-6 ticket. The 1-2-3-4-5-6 ticket was not an isolated case of such extreme duplication. There were over 600,000 different tickets that were duplicated at least 1,800 times each! How can so many different people select the same lottery tickets? Most people think that their own "secret formula" for selecting their numbers is unique because they created the formula by themselves. After reviewing the patterns of the heavily duplicated tickets in the Florida Lottery, it is obvious that most people think alike. Secret formulas are rarely unique. The number selection patterns, causing the most duplication, involved numbers drawn in the most recent lottery drawings. In fact, the second most duplicated ticket was the 2-18-20-32-38-42 ticket. That was the same ticket that won the previous drawing. That ticket was bought by 23,869 lottery players. The jackpot would have paid one payment of only $523. to each ticket holder. The heavy duplication was not limited to the lottery numbers drawn in the latest drawing. Tickets made up of winning numbers from the most recent several drawings were highly duplicated. The average duplication of combinations of recent winning numbers was around 10,600 tickets each. It is obvious that a great many people believe recent winning numbers will win again. They buy tickets made up entirely of recent winning numbers. It is also obvious that this is a poor scheme of lottery number selection. Such tickets will not produce jackpots that the ticket holders can retire on. Another number selection scheme, that leads to heavy duplication, is tickets that combine the lottery numbers drawn least often in past drawings. Many people believe that all lottery numbers will be drawn equally often over the long run, and that those numbers drawn least often so far must be drawn more often that the rest, in order to catch up. The ticket made up of the least often drawn numbers was duplicated 6,106 times. The number "lucky seven" was also popular. The ticket 7-14-21- 28-35-42 was duplicated 20,530 times. The numbers on the ticket are all multiples of the number seven. Another number selection scheme that leads to heavy duplication involves the layout of the numbers on the game form. The game form is the form that has to be filled out when purchasing tickets. A large number of lottery players think that filling in numbers that all lie on a column, row, or a diagonal is their own secret formula. It is not secret. If you select your numbers using this scheme, expect to share the jackpot with about 10,000 others. The above discussion has shown the types number combinations to avoid. The Florida Lottery study also indicated those individual numbers selected most often by lottery players.The most popular numbers (in order of popularity ) were; 3, 13, 1, 15, 7, 2, 6, 5, 18, 4, 8, 23, 17, and 20. Several numbers in the above list were only popular for the one week of the study because they were recently drawn numbers. To get a list of the lottery numbers that will popular continuously, we will delete the recently drawn lottery numbers from the above list. The list of most popular lottery numbers that will remain relatively constant is; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Try to avoid using numbers one through eight in your lottery tickets! The least popular lottery numbers were; 46, 32, 16, 14, 47, 29, 37, 10, 34, 36, 40, 45, 44, 41, and 39. Of the fifteen least popular lottery numbers listed above, 11 of them were numbers larger than 31. There are several reasons why the lowest numbers are most popular, and the largest numbers least popular. Many lottery players do not select their numbers until they start filling in the game form. They start at the top of the form where the smaller numbers are, and look for numbers that sound good to them. They pick all six numbers before they get down to the larger numbers. Another reason why numbers larger than 31 are unpopular is because people use dates important to themselves to supply the numbers. The months are numbered 1 through 12, and the days of the month 1 through 31. Years can give numbers above 31, but only years 1932 through 1949. Dates after 1949 yield numbers above 49. Therefore, not many numbers taken from dates will be above 32. In summary, the following rules should be followed to reduce the probability of duplication; 1. Do not buy tickets made up mostly of lottery numbers drawn in recent drawings, 2. Do not buy tickets made up mostly of lottery numbers rarely (or never) drawn in recent drawings, 3. Do not buy tickets made up of lottery numbers lying on a row, column, or diagonal on the game form, 4. Avoid using low numbers, particularly numbers below nine, and 5. Try to include several numbers above 31 on each ticket. 2.2 Selection Of Numbers Most Likely To Be Drawn All lottery drawings are intended to be "random drawings." A random drawing is a drawing in which each lottery number has an equal probability of being drawn. Lottery officials take great care to provide randomness in their drawings. Non-random drawings provide the opportunity for cheating, or at least the suspicion of cheating. There are no methods of number selection that can predict winning numbers for truly random drawings. All methods of prediction require that some of the numbers have a greater probability of being drawn than the other numbers. Lottery number selection methods can be categorized into two groups; those that assume that the drawings are random, and those that assume that the drawings have some degree of non-randomness. Number selection methods that assume random drawings have the sole objective of avoiding duplication of lottery tickets with those of other players. Number selection methods that assume some degree of non-randomness in the drawings place a higher emphasis on selecting the numbers more likely to be drawn. No consideration is usually given to the high degree of ticket duplication that can result. 2.2.1 Can Randomness Occur In Lottery Drawings? Most lottery drawings use a game machine to mix ping pong balls which are painted with the lottery numbers. The balls are mixed with jets of air within the machine. Numbers are drawn by opening one of the six ducts within the machine, and one of the balls is blown up each duct. Most statisticians will argue that the above method will provide perfectly random results. Before we accept their argument, let us look at the actual physics of the process. At the time that one of the ducts is opened, several balls will be near the entrance to the duct. If one of the nearby balls was lighter and/or had more drag (an aerodynamic characteristic), that ball would be more likely to beat the other balls to the duct. Therefore, that ball would have a higher probability of being drawn. The weight of each ball can effect its probability of being drawn. The lighter balls will accelerate faster than heavier balls when a duct is opened. The weight of each ball is always monitored by the lottery officials. The balls are weighed, and must be within a prescribed weight range, or the ball will not be used in the drawing. Usually the balls are weighed before they are painted with the lottery numbers. Because each lottery number will require a different amount paint, the weights of the balls will vary more than expected by the officials. The aerodynamic characteristics are not controlled by the lottery officials. A ball with more "drag" than the others will accelerate faster than the others and, thus have a higher probability of being drawn. The amount of drag a ball has depends on the shape and smoothness of the balls surface. Each ping pong ball is made up of two molded halves that are glued together. The smoothness of each seam varies from ball to ball. This type of construction also allows for slight variations in shape from ball to ball. Such variations can lead to sig- nificant differences in drag among the balls. There are two types of flow regimes in aerodynamics; turbulent and laminar. Laminar flow can create up to 10 times more drag than will turbulent under the same conditions. There are certain factors that will determine whether turbulent or laminar flow will occur under the same circumstances. The roughness of an object's surface will determine which flow regime will occur. A ball with a rough seam, and a shape slightly out of round, would tend to rotate and form turbulent flow over the ball's surface. Such a ball will have less drag and thus, a lower probability of being drawn. Another factor that will determine the probability of being drawn is the degree of bounce of each ball has. A ball with more bounce than the others will get away from the game machine walls and floor faster than the others, and will more often be in a position near the entrance to a duct. The bounce can vary significantly among ping pong balls. The degree of bounce depends upon; the thickness of the ball's skin, the pressure when the ball was sealed, and how airtight the ball is. The above discussion indicates that although lottery drawings usually achieve a high degree of randomness, that it is unlikely that any drawing is exactly random. The probability of each ball being drawn is determined by three major factors, two of which are not monitored or controlled in most lotteries. The three major factors that determine the probability that a ball will be drawn are; 1. The weight of each ball, 2. The aerodynamics of each ball, and 3. The degree of bounce in each ball. The above discussion is not intended to prove that significant non-randomness will occur, but only points out the possibility that some lottery numbers could have a significantly higher probability of being drawn than the others. The above factors will usually cancel each other out; a ball that has one or two of the characteristics improving its probability of being drawn will be cancelled out because the other factor is not present. Occasionally, a ball will have all of the favorable factors, and then may have a significant probability of being drawn. SECTION 3 - Number Selection Methods Assuming Random Drawings This section of this document describes those number selection methods included in the program that assume that the lottery drawings are random. All lottery numbers have equal an probability of being drawn in each random drawing, thus no methods can exist to improve your odds of winning the jackpot. The emphasis of all random lottery number selection methods should be to avoid any duplication of tickets with other players. The random theory states that all lottery tickets have an equal chance of being drawn. Many so-called lottery experts make all sorts of inaccurate claims that you can improve your odds of winning. One such claim is that all of your tickets should include an equal amount of odd and even numbers. This is not true. A ticket with all odd numbers has the same probability of winning as any other ticket, no matter how many even numbers the other ticket might have. Another inaccurate claim has been that each of your tickets should have an even mixture of high and low numbers. Again, this is not true. A ticket with all high numbers has the same probability of being drawn as any other ticket. 3.1 Random Theory The Random Method is very simple. The computer randomly selects lottery numbers and assembles them into the desired amount of tickets. It is recommended that you let your computer select the numbers, rather than doing it yourself. Humans tend to have subconscious biases toward numbers that could lead to heavy duplication. You will recall from Section 2.1 that there is a definite tendency for people to select some lottery numbers over others. 3.2 Defensive Random Theory The Defensive Random Method is similar to the Random Method. This method however, takes into account the popularity of each of the lottery numbers. This method will not select those numbers that are most often used by people, and it has a built-in bias toward selecting those numbers that were least often selected by people. This method has an advantage over the Random Method in that lottery tickets are produced that are least likely to be duplicated by other lottery players. SECTION 4 - Number Selection Methods Assuming Non-randomness This section will describe those number selection include in the program that assume some degree of non-randomness in the drawings. 4.1 the Hot Numbers Theory The Hot Numbers method of lottery number selection theorizes that those numbers, that have been drawn most often in the past, were drawn most often because they have a higher probability of being drawn. Lottery numbers with higher probabilities are termed "Hot Numbers." This method of number selection is relatively simple: count how many times each lottery number has been drawn recently, and use those drawn most often to make up as many lottery tickets as desired. The Hot Numbers Method fails to recognize that, even in a drawing with some degree of non-randomness, that most of the Hot Numbers were drawn often due to chance, rather than due to having a higher probability. The Hot Numbers Method blindly selects all numbers drawn most often. Section 2.1 of this document pointed out that a great many lottery players use this method. Making up lottery tickets from recently drawn numbers typically results in tickets being duplicated as many as 26,000 times. Because this method has not produced unusually good results, and because the enormous amount of lottery ticket duplication, this is probably the worst method that one can use to select lottery numbers. 4.2 Cold Numbers Theory (also called "Due Numbers Theory") A postulate of the Theory Of Probability is the basis of the Cold Numbers Theory. The Theory Of Probability, when applied to a random lottery, states that the "relative frequency" of each lottery number will approach approximate equality as the number of drawings increases. The term "relative frequency" is defined in the equation: Relative Frequency = (times number was drawn) / (amount of drawings) The Cold Numbers Theory concludes that those lottery numbers drawn less often in the past, must be drawn more often in the future, if The Theory of Probability is to hold true. The Cold Numbers Theory may seem logical, but it is based on a misconception. The Theory of Probability would predict, in random drawings, that all lottery numbers will be drawn equally often (not more often) in the future, no matter how often each number was drawn in the past. The following example can explain how the relative frequencies of two lottery numbers can approach equality, while at the same time, the numbers are drawn equally often: EXAMPLE Assume that after 10 drawings, the lottery number 1 was drawn once. And assume that the lottery number 2 was drawn five times. Compute the relative frequencies: Relative Frequency of Lottery No. 1 = 1 / 10 = 0.100000000 ----------- Relative Frequency of Lottery No. 2 = 5 / 10 = 0.500000000 ----------- The Cold Numbers Theory predicts that Lottery Number No. 1 must be drawn more often than No. 2, if the relative frequencies of the two numbers are to approach equality. However, this example demonstrates that the two relative frequencies will approach equality, if the two numbers are drawn equally often in subsequent drawings. Now assume that, after another 1,000,000 drawings, both lottery numbers were drawn equally often, say 100,000 times. Now compute the relative frequencies: Relative Frequency of Lottery No. 1 = (1+100,000)/(10+1,000,000) = 0.100000000 ----------- Relative Frequency of Lottery No. 2 = ( 5+100,000)/(10+1,000,000) = 0.100004000 ----------- Observe that the relative frequencies of the two lottery numbers in the above example became almost equal after 1,000,000 drawings, even though the relative frequencies differed considerably after the first ten drawings. The Cold Numbers Method is relatively simple: count the amount of times each lottery number was drawn recently, and use those numbers drawn least often, to make up as many tickets as desired. The Cold Numbers Theory has no validity, and suffers from a severe problem with duplication of lottery tickets. In addition, if there is significant non-randomness in the lottery drawings, this method will select those numbers least likely to be drawn. In summary, do not use this method! 4.3 Hot & Cold Numbers Theory This method of lottery number selection is a mixture of The Hot Numbers Theory and The Cold Numbers Theory. Each lottery ticket includes some "Hot" numbers and some "Cold" numbers. The one advantage that this method may have over the Hot Numbers Method is that there will be less duplication of lottery tickets with the other lottery players. Program users wishing to use this method can do so by using the "Wheel Your Numbers" function in the Generate Numbers menu. The "Wheel Your Numbers" function lists the fifteen hottest and fifteen coldest numbers based on the recent drawings. The user can use these as a guide for choosing numbers to wheel. 4.4 Trend Analysis Theory Veteran lottery players have noted that several lottery numbers will seem "hot" for a while, then they seem to cool off. Then a new set of "hot" numbers will appear. The Trend Analysis Method recognizes that phenomenon, and tries to find the new set of "hot" numbers sooner than the Hot Numbers Method can. The Trend Analysis Method selects lottery numbers by comparing the numbers drawn in the latest eight drawings to the numbers drawn in the previous eight drawings. Those lottery numbers, whose frequency of being drawn increased the most, are selected. 4.5 Numerology Theory Many people believe that numbers rule their lives. They feel that everyone has numbers associated with their name, and birthdate, and that their personality and fortunes have been determined by those numbers since birth. Although this theory does not have a large following, this Method has been included in The Winning Edge as a source of novelty and amusement. Five different lottery tickets will be produced for each name entered. Each ticket is assembled from the person's name, birth number, and month number. When entering your name, enter your entire name exactly as it appears on your birth certificate. 4.6 The Non-Random Analysis Theory This method overcomes a major problem that other non-random methods do not even recognize: High probability lottery numbers have been drawn frequently in past lottery drawings, and making up lottery tickets from the numbers most frequently drawn in the past, leads to lottery tickets duplicated by an average of over 10,000 other lottery players. Most of the lottery numbers that were frequently drawn in past drawings, were drawn frequently by chance, rather than because the numbers had higher probabilities of being drawn. The lottery numbers drawn frequently drawn in the past due to chance, should not be incorporated into your lottery tickets. Such numbers will not improve your odds of winning the jackpot. However, they will significantly improve your odds of duplicating the lottery tickets of many other lottery players. The NON-RANDOM ANALYSIS METHOD uses a statistical analysis to distinguish between those lottery numbers drawn frequently due to chance from those drawn frequently due to having higher probabilities of being drawn. The method first assumes the drawings to be random, then analyses the frequency of each lottery number for non-randomness. The probability, that a lottery number will be drawn a given amount of times (or more) in a specified amount of drawings, is computed from the equations in Appendix A of this document. If it is found, that a lottery number was drawn so often, that it is too improbable that it could have been drawn so often by chance, such lottery number is assumed to have a probability of being drawn that is greater than average. Lottery numbers are assumed to non-random if the probability of their frequency by chance is 2.5% or less. Such lottery numbers are selected by this method. Each lottery ticket produced by this method will include several lottery numbers selected using the Defensive Random Method. This is done to reduce the likelihood that any of the tickets will duplicate the lottery tickets of other lottery players. This method will also protect the program user from duplicating the lottery tickets of other players using this same program. No other computer program for lotteries provides the program user the same protection. SECTION 5 - USING THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS This section is provided to give the program user an understanding of the statistical analysis command. The command is invoked by selecting Item No. 3 from the Statistics Menu. After selecting the command, the program asks the user for the amount of drawings to be analyzed. The drawings analyzed are always the most recent drawings stored in the Historic Lottery Data. You must regularly record the lottery numbers drawn after each lottery drawing to keep the Historic Lottery Data up to date. The statistical analysis performed by the program computes the likelihood that each lottery number has been random. The results are displayed on the screen, and may also be printed. Of all the statistical data displayed, the user need only be concerned with the odds against each number being random. The far right column on the screen, titled "ODDS" contains the odds for each lottery number. Lottery numbers with ODDS against greater than 19 to 1 are considered to be non-random numbers by this program. Such numbers should be played on your lottery tickets. This statistical method is similar to those used in most scientific studies throughout the world. The method does not prove that the selected numbers were non-random, but does show a strong likeliness that they could be. The program user does not need to use this command in the Statistics Menu to use the Non-Random Analysis Method. The user can have the calculations done automatically each time numbers are selected by the program using the Non-Random Analysis selection from the Picks Menu. SECTION 6 - WHEELING THEORY The process of wheeling numbers is simply defined as "making tickets from the lottery numbers that the lottery player has better-than-average odds of being drawn." There are numerous methods of wheeling. The shareware version of The Winning Edge includes two different methods of wheeling. The commercial version includes one additional method. Many so-called lottery experts claim that their "own" wheeling systems will increase your odds of winning money. In a truly random lottery, no method of wheeling can increase your odds. If there is any degree of non-randomness in the lottery, wheeling methods can improve the odds of winning. The degree of improvement depends upon the degree of non-randomness in the lottery. The easiest wheeling method to understand is the "Full Wheel." This method makes a ticket for every possible combination of the lottery numbers being wheeled. The problem with using this wheeling method is that a small amount of numbers being wheeled will generate an extremely large quantity of tickets. As an example, in a pick 6 of 49 lottery, by wheeling only 9 numbers, 84 tickets will be generated. If you think that there are only a few lottery numbers with higher odds of being drawn, you should use this method. If too many tickets are generated, do not buy all of them. The "Full Wheel" method can be found in the "Wheel Your Numbers" command in the Picks Menu of this program. This program can wheel up to 30 different lottery numbers, and generate up to 5,000,000 different tickets by using the "Full Wheel" method. The second wheeling method provided in this program is the "Fixed Amount" wheel. This method will generate the widest possible distribution of your lottery numbers into the quantity of tickets selected by you. This method is used for all automatic wheeling provided in this program. This method should be used when you want to wheel a lot of lottery numbers, but do not want a humongous quantity of tickets. A third wheeling method provided in the commercial version of this program is called the "Compressed Wheel." This method can wheel up to 30 lottery numbers, but will not generate near as many tickets as the "Full Wheel." The "Compressed Wheel" will generate the minimum amount of tickets required to cover all possible matches of less than that required to win the jackpot. The method of wheeling chosen will have a large effect on how often the program user will see matches on his tickets. The more different lottery numbers wheeled, the greater will be the odds that some of the lottery numbers will match the drawing. APPENDIX A PROBABILITY EQUATIONS EQUATION 1 The probability of drawing any specific lottery number in a single drawing is p, where: p = (amount of numbers drawn) /(total numbers in lottery) P (for a pick six of 49 lottery) = 6/49 = 0.1224489796 EQUATION 2 The probability of drawing a specific lottery number exactly "y" times in "n" drawings: y (n-y) Probability = (n!/((y!)(n-y)!)) x p x q where: p = same as above q = 1-p n = total amount of drawings y = amount of times specific lottery number was drawn The probability of drawing a specific lottery number "y" times or more is computed using the above EQUATION 2. The probability is computed as the sum of the probabilities for for each frequency of y times through n times. APPENDIX B PROGRAM PROFILE WINNING EDGE - LOTTO Version 3.1 PROGRAM SUMMARY: WINNING EDGE - LOTTO is a complete system of lottery game management. The program is extremely easy to learn and use. The program provides the eight most popular methods of lottery number selection, and explains the theory for each method in the 35 pages of program documentation. The program provides the following functions; 1. Can select lottery numbers using any of the eight most popular methods, 2. Records the lottery tickets bought, 3. Records the lottery numbers drawn in the past 52 drawings, 4. Checks the tickets bought for winning numbers after each drawing, 5. Provides the lottery players with statistical tools to analyze past lottery drawing data, and 6. Provides automatic or manual wheeling system. USAGE: Can be used for all lotteries ranging from PICK FOUR of 35 to PICK EIGHT of 80. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 256K of free RAM, one disk drive, monochrome/color FEATURES: Fully menu driven with on-screen help HOW TO START: Enter "LOTTO1" at the DOS prompt to run program. Type "BROWSE README.DOC" to read program documentation. SUGGESTED SHAREWARE DONATION: $35.00, includes printed manual. FILE DESCRIPTIONS: LOTTO1 EXE Main Program LOTTO BGT Stored bought tickets LOTTO ACT Stored data from past 52 lottery drawings LOTTO CNF Stored program configuration README DOC Text file containing program documentation TMSRMN FON Utility file APPENDIX C LOADING ANSI.SYS ANSI.SYS is a program that is part of the DOS system. You can find this program on the Supplemental Programs disk of DOS. If you have a color monitor, the ANSI.SYS program must be loaded before running The Winning Edge. If you do not have a color monitor, you do not need to load ANSI.SYS. If you run The Winning Edge with a color monitor without ANSI.SYS loaded, you will have problems selecting from the menus because the color highlighting will not be operating properly. You could make do by selecting menu items by entering the item number of the desired command, however it would much more desireable to set up your computer to automatically load ANSI.SYS whenever your computer boots. To set up your computer to automatically load ANSI.SYS do the following: 1. Locate your DOS disk with ANSI.SYS on it, 2. Look in your root directory to see if you have a file called "Config.sys" and if you do not have such a file, create it with any word processor program, 3. Add the command "device=ansi.sys" to the config.sys file (do not type the quote marks), 4. Make sure the Config.sys file is put in the root directory, 5. Reboot the computer. Do not expect The Winning Edge to operate until after you reboot.