Skip Powerball And Play This Instead, Expert Says

Expert Says: Don't play Powerball. Instead, try this instead

Powerball's jackpot of well over $1B seems like a good investment. However, a lottery expert advises that Powerball should be avoided by professional players who are able to spend more than five to six figures per round or who are part of large-money teams.

Other than high-odds jackpot wins, real money is made in pick-3, 4 and 5 games. You will find pro players who are firmly embedded with their charts graphs wheels and proven winning methods. Steve Player is a lottery expert and has won two major jackpots, New York Pick-6 Lotto as well as Florida Fantasy Five. He has held records for single-day payouts of pick-3 and pick-4 numbers in 27 states. He "predicts” winning numbers for his half-million subscribers and recommends regular betting.

Most probability experts will agree that fair systems cannot be gamed. They are skeptical of any scheme promising better odds of winning a fair system with random drawing. Each number has an equal chance to be drawn each time.

"Financially it is most certainly not a good idea to play the lotto." Kenneth Alexander, University of Southern California mathematics professor, says that most lottery players lose money. He calls anyone making money from selling winning numbers or advice as a charlatan. "The majority of people who make money by the lottery are those who want you to buy useless schemes to win. Hedge funds and Wall Street have been looking for financial strategies to beat the lottery long before there was. People who play the lottery should view it as entertainment. This is because they are spending money on movies and ice-cream cones. You might feel that the $2 you could win is worth it. However, you should know that this feeling is not the only thing you get for your money. Powerball is not for you!

Alexander points out the odds of each Powerball entry being drawn have a chance of 1 in 292,000,000. You cannot alter your chances of winning the jackpot. You can do that by choosing unpopular numbers, usually those greater than 31 because they aren't everyone's birthday," he said.

Player describes Powerball and its high-caliber cousins Mega Millions or pick-5 hybrid games as the "crown jewels of lottery game kingdom" and should only be pursued if serious players have "substantial wagering funds from other games that have taught them to win consistently."

For the big games to win, players must correctly pick five numbers from a selection of between 30 and 75 numbers. Next, the player must select the correct number from a separate field with between six and 35 numbers. He says that this is the "double whammy of all lottery game." "These games, which have multiple jackpots exceeding $500 million, are among the most dangerous places to gamble your winnings. These games are cash cows for lottery players, because they promise large jackpots and can promote them to sell more tickets.

Alexander says, "My favorite description about Powerball odds is that if 1,800 tickets were bought per week since Jesus' time then there's a better than even chance you wouldn’t have won."

It might just work.

Although there are no guaranteed strategies for winning lotteries - Alexander and Player both have their own ideas. pick 3 winning is easier than you think