We'll get to the trivia question for the weekend in a minute.
This week, the CA lottery Mega Millions jackpot passed $200,000,000 (it looks more impressive written out that way). Whenever the jackpot for a lottery drawing reaches a ridiculous number (like this one), all red-blooded Americans are obligated to buy a ticket. Why? Because it's easier to make money this way than it is to earn it the hard way - by working hard. I sometimes think the Founding Fathers edited the last draft of the Declaration of Independence, the original sentence was "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, with as minimal effort as one can get away with."
So I picked out 6 numbers, did 5 quick picks, and entered the Tuesday drawing. I didn't win. Then, I began to think (which isn't necessarily a good thing) - what if I ran a statistical analysis fo the recent drawings, to see if a pattern existed? Wouldn't that improve my chances at winning? Of course it would! I'm a smart guy, I can GAME THE GAME.
This consumed me for the better part of 3 days.
After looking at the facts, and examining the clues, I arrived at what I thought were, for sure, the mortal lock numbers to win this jackpot (now at $275M). I also picked 4 lesser (but still good) combinations, and, as insurance against Lady Luck's fickle mind, I went with 5 'QuickPicks' (numbers chosen at random).
The result?
Well, the jackpot is projected to be $340M for next Tuesday's drawing. I had as many numbers (2) that hit as the QuickPicks did; and none of the 4 that hit were on the same line.
I'll be applying lessons learned and picking again for Tuesday's drawing.
Trivia Time. Answer to Thursday's question: Bill Madlock won 4 NL batting titles during his career.
Weekend question: Who lost more games than any other pitcher in the 20th century? HINT: He's in the Hall of Fame.
Update 3/3/07 1245: Nova leads Syracuse by 7 late. Go Cats!
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