Do people win the lottery more often when picking their own numbers? Or is a random quick-pick ticket just the same?
Quick-pick tickets are certainly a popular and convenient way to play the lottery. But surely your chances must be better if you carefully select the numbers yourself. Aren't they?
Some definitely believe there is an art to picking lottery numbers. While others would swear that using numbers that came to them in a dream or some other esoteric way are clearly going to be winners.
It's certainly true that using your 'chosen numbers', however they were selected, gives a certain sense of control over the lottery. And it will definitely create a reassuring feeling that you were right if your 'system' wins even a smaller prize. But the true picture requires a step back to see events more clearly.
States and countries around the world spend a lot of money on their lottery machines and staff. They go a long way to ensure that the draw is fair to all players. And that means they make every possible effort to ensure the draw is random.
But on top of this effort, also consider that the numbers we choose are actually just markings on a ball (for most lotteries).
So will the ball with the number 7 on it be drawn more often because lots of people think of 7 as a lucky number? No. Because it's actually the little balls that come out of the draw machine, not numbers. The numbers themselves have no way of affecting the draw result at all.
The fact is, a quick-pick ticket actually has exactly the same chance of winning as a ticket made up of carefully selected lucky numbers. Just like a ticket created by a 'clever' computer program. Or a ticket created by any other means.
It may not be as much fun, but if you're in a hurry a quick-pick will not hurt your chances of winning the lottery.
