Lottery Forecasting

[Tarantula]

I'm writing a program that forecasts the lottery (any lottery - I am activley forecasting around 20 different format lotteries at this time and will be adding more soon).

Currently my program goes out and gets the data from the appropriate lottery web site, then performs some analysis based on trends in that specific lottery and the format of that lottery, generates predictions for numbers to be drawn, then places those numbers into wheel systems approprate for that lottery. The program also allows me to print playslips and adjust the parameters for each lotteries forecast.

I'm not going to debate the ability to "forecast" lotteries, I will however point out that this year I've picked 5/5 tickets in 2 different US lotteries (Pennsylvania Cash 5 and Virginia Cash 5) - I didn't actually play them because I can't get tickets for all lotteries, and I can't afford to play every ticket I generate - I've adopted the attitude that I can't do any worse than the weatherman about forecasting.

I've setup a simple website to allow people to see my forecasts, and past results at http://weblotto.org

I would like to ask for a few volunteers to look at my site and provide me with some feedback - I could ask my computer geek friends, but I'm looking for feedback from lottery players. I searched for "lottery players" and this was the top link.

Please don't consider this a solicitation, I will probably never sell my program (or even give it away, it will always be a work in progress - at least that's my plan at this time), and have no plans for marketing the website - I just need feedback from an outside source to make sure that I'm presenting the forecast and result data in a easy to use, understandable manner.

Thanks in advance to everyone who reads this, and especially anyone who provides feedback (use the form on the site, send me email, or post a reply here - I'll take it any way I can get it).

My apology to the moderator and powers that be here if you consider this off-topic just kill it and consider me warned, I assure you this was a one time post and won't happen again.

 

[peter]

Since you don't list Canadian lotteries, you won't get much feedback from here.

 

[Tarantula]

Good point.

I'm not familiar with the Canadian lotteries - here in the states each state can have it's own lotteries and there are a few multi-state lotteries.

Could you point me to a couple of popular Canadian lotteries, as long as they show the results on the internet - I will happily add them to my site.

Does Canada have a lot of lotteries like the US, or just a few?

Thanks.

 

[Karnac]

Tarantula

Include CAN649, ( one of the longest running databases ) , ONT49, AND SUPER 7 for feedback on your system.

lottery.sympatico.ca

 

[Beaker]

Good point.

I'm not familiar with the Canadian lotteries - here in the states each state can have it's own lotteries and there are a few multi-state lotteries.

Could you point me to a couple of popular Canadian lotteries, as long as they show the results on the internet - I will happily add them to my site.

Does Canada have a lot of lotteries like the US, or just a few?

Thanks.

we have flush toilets in Canada now - running water too

In Canada, each province has their own lottos and we have 2 National lottos run by the National Lotto Corp -IpLC - 6/49 which is 6+Bonus from 49 and Super7 which is 7+Bonus from 47 numbers.

I go here for 6/49 results

All other lottos are listed on the side.

Good luck with the forecasting

 

[Dennis Bassboss]

we have flush toilets in Canada now - running water too

I go her for 6/49 results

All other lottos are listed on the side.

Good luck with the forecasting

 

[Beaker]

Hey Tarantula,

get your forecasts for our Super7 lotto - very BIG for us this Friday $24,000,000 tax free

 

[peter]

we have flush toilets in Canada now - running water too

mind you, unless your igloo is heated, they have a tendancy to freeze up in the cold dark winter months.

 

[peter]

I absoloutly hate it, when the sled dogs drink out of the bowl, and then pee on the side of the igloo.

 

[Beaker]

mind you, unless your igloo is heated, they have a tendancy to freeze up in the cold dark winter months.

my igloo has a heated water line - right to the river

got to go and chop some wood for the fire

 

[peter]

Wow! your one of the lucky ones, I just drilled 3 new holes, in the floor of my igloo.
One for fresh water, one so I can fish, and one more to pee in.
Any more holes, and I'll have to move my igloo.

 

[Tarantula]

30,000 comedians out of work in the US - they must have went to Canada!

Just an FYI, my uncle has property up there. When I was a small child we went up there one summer and built a cabin with a chain saw, no phone, no power, no running water. I grew up in Michigan, so trips to Canada were frequent. I think I enjoyed that a lot more than I do having global connectivity on my hip.

Ok, I want to start with the national lotteries - I'm getting things setup now however I would like to retrieve the results from the lottery's "official" web site - can someone point me there. I've found a number of sites showing the results, but nothing that appears to be the "official" lottery homepage.

Thanks again for all of the responses.

 

[Dennis Bassboss]

For some lottos...start here

 

[Tarantula]

Ok neighbors, I've included the canadian national 6/49 and super 7 lotteries in my forecasts (I'm getting my data from bclc.com).

I'll be adjusting the parameters for these lotteries over the next few drawings, also please note this is my first pick 7 so please bear with me.

I don't have detailed super 7 forecasts yet because I don't have any pick 7 wheels yet. If anyone knows a good source for pick 7 wheels, let me know.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Beaker]

30,000 comedians out of work in the US - they must have went to Canada!

Just an FYI, my uncle has property up there. When I was a small child we went up there one summer and built a cabin with a chain saw, no phone, no power, no running water. I grew up in Michigan, so trips to Canada were frequent. I think I enjoyed that a lot more than I do having global connectivity on my hip.

Ok, I want to start with the national lotteries - I'm getting things setup now however I would like to retrieve the results from the lottery's "official" web site - can someone point me there. I've found a number of sites showing the results, but nothing that appears to be the "official" lottery homepage.

Thanks again for all of the responses.

Glad you have a sense of humour (humor)

Alright, you want players, you've come to the right place.

I'll take a look at what you have but need some direction.

What kind of feedback are you looking for?? website layout? ideas about forecasting?

Your feedback should be the value of your predictions - bad predictions means more work for you.

What is your definition of successful predictions? A win every draw? most wins in fewest numbers? 6/10 draws a winner?

 

[BushHappy]

Tarantula,

I see that you have not included the South Africa Lottery - 6/49 + Bonus Ball same as UK and Canada National Lotto.

How are you doing the forecasting? On the Canada National Lotto, I see that you are forecasting with all 49 numbers. Of course you will always get 6 out of 49.

In addition to the Tickets Column on the right side of the Wheel Column, I suggest you add a column for the number of numbers used in the wheel and a another column for the guarantee eg 3if6, or 4if5 etc. This will make it more user friendly.

Cheers,
BushHappy

 

[Tarantula]

BushHappy,
Eventually, I plan to include all pick 5 and pick 6 lotteries. If you are really interested in the South African and UK lotteries I can include them now, but need to know where I can get the data. With the lotteries currently on the site, my database is about 50 mb. I'm hoping to get everything working with the lotteries I have, and then add others.

My forecast will always show all of the available numbers for a given lottery. The forecast is actually a ranked list of the numbers - the numbers are listed in the order my program thinks they are likely to be drawn (if you are playing a wheel with only 8 numbers use the first 8 listed, if you are playing a wheel with 20 numbers use the first 20 listed). I consider a successful forecast (at this time anyway) to have 5 or 6 numbers in the first 25% of the numbers for that forecast (assuming a 6/49 structure, if I have 5 or 6 numbers in the first 12 or 13 numbers of my forecast). With a reasonalbe wheel to use this should result in a good prize and an overall win even without an actual jackpot. Bonus draws, and draws from seperate pools are ignored.

More wheel details will be included (I just haven't put the time into the web interface yet for that) - some of the wheels I use are not straight foreward wheels, some use key numbers, some include pairs of numbers, others include groups of numbers (some are even my own unique creation based on some of my past analysis of lotteries).

Please tell me your handle has nothing to do with anyone famous!

Beaker,
Can't work with computers and not have a sense of humor, it would be way too stressful.
I'll take any feedback I can get, what I'm really looking for is:

I want a lotto player to be able to come to my website, easily find and understand the forecast for their lottery, and view and understand my past results for their lottery. My thought is that if a lotto player wants to use my forecast they can either take the numbers from my forecast and generate their own wheels for their tickets, or use one of the wheels that I have generated (using the numbers from my forecast) to determine what tickets they will play.

If you have ideas on forecasting, feel free to let me know - I may already be using some of those ideas. I've searched the internet, and read many books by self proclaimed experts, some with good info, some without, I also have my own insights into things that I've included. Basically each number gets assigned a weight based mostly on short term trends, some on overall history. My program works with any lottery and each lottery has it's own configurable set of parameters to determine the weights assigned to numbers for various things, including how many drawings is considered short term. There are even several things I haven't had the time to include in my analysis yet.

Thanks, I'll post more later - I have to run now.

 

[peter]

Anybody that has a sense of humor, can't be all that bad in my books Welcome Tarantula!

 

[Tarantula]

First Super 7 forecast results:

For the 11 Feb Super 7 my forecast was as follows:

5, 9, 1, 3, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 7, 8, 20, 18, 22, 12, 10, 6, 4, 16, 14, 2, 25, 27, 37, 45, 24, 33, 35, 29, 39, 41, 43, 31, 47, 42, 32, 40, 34, 38, 46, 36, 26, 30, 44, 28

If you played a system with less than 9 or more than 14 numbers (Per instructions on my site) you would have taken the first n numbers from the start. If you play a system that uses 9 - 14 numbers you should alternate selections from each end of the forecast.

So....

If you played a system with less than 9 numbers you would have had 2 winning numbers selected.

If you played a system using 9 - 14 numbers you would have had 4 correct, plus the bonus.

If you had played a system using 15 - 20 numbers you woul have had 2 correct.

If you had played a system using 21 numbers you would have had 3 correct.

If you had played a system using 22 numbers you would have had 4 correct.

When I play try to use systems with 11 or 14 numbers, so I would have had winning tickets (although I'm not sure what the payout would be)

Keep in mind that this is the first forecast, using a limited amount of data (only a few months worth instead of the entire history), and using parameters based on my experience with pick 5 and pick 6 systems. Not having any pick 7 wheels, I didn't actually generate any tickets - just the forecast.

Is 4 + bonus good, or just mediocre? Comments?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Tarantula]

BushHappy,
I've added the data for the South African Lotto, the forecast should be generated shortly. Let me know what you think.

Thanks.