Discussions about lottery winning numbers often involve stories of frustration. These frustrations lead people to believe that lottery games are manipulated in some ways. The truth is that lottery games are truly random, and no one can manipulate the outcome of a lottery draw.
This article addresses the curiosity of many lottery participants regarding whether there is a conscious decision-making process behind selecting the winning numbers during a lottery draw.
Let me start this discussion with a letter.
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A Letter From a Frustrated Lottery Player
Good day, Edvin.
After observing the results, I see that the lottery draws completely defy every rule. The winning combinations often have more odd or even numbers at a time and many consecutive numbers. In other words, the winning numbers follow the composition with the least chance of winning. I hypothesize that the lottery operator selects the lottery winning numbers, and the draws are not purely random. I don’t know the mechanical process used to pull this off, but I am no longer convinced that the events are random. As part of its business model, the lottery will decide which combination of numbers to pick, in addition to best practices in combinatorics. I believe they will select the combination of numbers that is less repeated or has not been played whether they wish for the lottery to be won or not in a given draw. They determine this by compiling all the played combinations, running them by a computer, and deciding which combination of numbers will win. The luck factor for us players is maintained, albeit slightly different. It is no longer a matter of what combination of numbers we play according to the statistical and combinatorial rules but rather whether the combination we play has been selected to win based on other factors, such as the number of players playing the same combination and financial and business considerations. Let’s not forget that a lottery game is a business. They also profit from players’ emotional responses. When the prizes get higher, more people play, thus generating more revenues for the Lottery, and practically, the prizes pay themselves. I just wanted to throw that Hypothesis towards you for “academic” reasons, let’s say, to consider, albeit I do not have any direct proof of any of it except based on my observations. It may be worth playing some combinations from the opposite spectrum that yield fewer chances to win because we never know if the lottery business will select such a combination to win.
Lottery Winning Numbers: Do Operators Influence the Picks?
Game operators cannot manipulate lottery draws. The profitability of the lottery business is based on the game’s expected value, which is always mathematically positive for the house and negative for the players.
For example, if you buy a ticket for $2, you can expect to get a $1.50 prize value and, therefore, lose $0.50 on average. Consequently, the operator expects to profit $0.50 from your ticket in the long run. So, the operator doesn’t worry about giving out huge jackpot prizes because they know that the math is favorable to them despite players occasionally matching the lottery winning numbers.
That’s how favorable the lottery is for the operator, but unfortunately, it is unfavorable for the players. Sadly, lottery participants get even more frustrated with lottery operators who prefer computer-based drawing instead of drawing lottery balls from an urn.
I prefer to see balls drawn from an urn, as this lets you see real randomness in action on live television.
But regardless of the drawing method, the odds are always unfavorable for the players. The chance that someone wins the jackpot is more likely than you. That’s the odds that you must accept.
Lottery Winning Numbers Balanced Out Over Time
Now, regarding the lottery not following the dictate of probability theory, as some players observe that lottery draws often have more consecutive numbers or odd numbers than usual, this observation is not unusual, especially if we deal with a small dataset.
Many players are making observations based on a limited dataset. For example, if you only make observations from 10 or 20 draws, your conclusion lacks accuracy due to insufficient data.1
Look at this pie graph of the first 30 draws of the Canada Lotto 6/49 game. Notice how some numbers dominate while others lag. This variation occurs because you cannot expect limited data to reflect the game’s long-term trend at this stage.

You need more data to accurately describe the game’s behavior and be consistent with the law of large numbers.2 For example, the pie charts below show that all 49 numbers eventually even out after 3,688 draws. The data are taken from the actual draws of the Canada Lotto 6/49 game from 1982 to 2018. Read The Winning Lottery Formula Using Math

From a statistical point of view, you can only make accurate conclusions with enough datasets. This view is consistent with the law of large numbers. In other words, you must gather winning numbers from many draws to arrive at meaningful and accurate conclusions.
Lottery Games are Fair and Fun for Everybody
Truth be told, the lottery operators make a profit without manipulating the draw. They don’t need to disturb the game’s randomness to profit. The lottery’s randomness ensures that the game is fair and fun for everybody. In fact, every lotto player should be happy that the lottery is truly random. This randomness ensures any mathematical calculations we make can truly describe the actual behavior of a lottery game.
Even though all numbers and combinations of numbers are equally likely, we reveal the secret that combinations are not created equally because of varying compositions. Each composition has a varying frequency ratio, which lottery players should use to make informed choices and get the best shot possible.
A Lotterycodex calculator uses combinatorial and probability theory to analyze combinatorial groups. We separate those that dominate the game according to the law of large numbers. Read How to Win the Lottery According to Math

Use the calculator below to foresee your favorite lottery game’s behavior over time.
Unlock Lottery Success with Proven Math-Based and Data-Driven Insights
Access Lotterycodex now!A lottery game is truly random. In short, we cannot predict its outcome or manipulate the underlying probability. Fortunately, this randomness allows you to make informed choices when playing with the help of the frequency ratio as your guide.
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In the current economic environment, where people are struggling to make ends meet, huge jackpots are adding more misery to their lives. As every week they out of sheet greed they end up losing more and more money towards buying lottery tickets in a hope that this time they will win and that will bring an end to their financial hardship. Those who win may not necessarily put that money into the economy that may benefit businesses locally. Rather that money be spent overseas into some exotic purchases. The government has to step in and stop this money grabbing practice. Rather, it needs to bring in a game which not only drastically improves the chance of winning but also, make it possible that more and more individuals benefit from this lottery and help them retire the huge debt they may have. I have a few ideas that I want to suggest the concerned authorities with a hope that it will be accepted and implemented. The sole purpose here is to offer a lottery mechanism that will be lucrative enough and financially benefit a large number of people every draw
Tanweer Abbas, many ideas exist, but at the end of the day, the question is whether the house gets the positive expected value; otherwise, lottery games will not exist. The possible option includes a “Rolldown draw” policy where the jackpot prize is distributed to lower division prizes. However, historically speaking, people with prodigious mathematical skills have taken advantage of this policy, such as the case of the MIT students who profited from the Massachusetts Cash Winfall game for eight years. Another example of a rolldown draw is the “Must be Won Draw” of the UK 6/59 lotto. This rolldown draw occurs after the jackpot has yet to be won for five consecutive draws, preventing the jackpot prize from growing and allowing more people to win bigger prizes on the sixth draw by matching two or more numbers. Again, any idea is welcome, but at the end of the day, the house must have a positive expected value for the lottery game to continue. In short, a lottery game must remain a gambling concept, or it will fail. Charity works, school projects and federal projects will suffer, so the government will find new ways to raise funds. The lesson is that participating in a lottery game is just for fun, not a path to financial success. Suppose you allow a lottery game to be lucrative for players. In that case, this will distract many of us from more reliable financial strategies for success, like saving, frugal living, investing in business, or developing new skills to increase earning potential. But mathematically speaking, you can’t make a lottery game lucrative for players. It’s just not possible.