When All Else Fails How To Pick Numbers With Cards, Cash and Dice

When all else fails, there is nothing like playing random against
random. Why shouldn't the same process that keeps us from
winning work equally well against itself?

These methods call upon Lady Luck to help us select winning
lottery numbers.  


How to use playing cards to select lottery numbers.
The simple method is to grab an old deck and with permanent 
marker write 0-9 three or four times for Pick-3/4. For larger
games mark the cards with the game numbers. Discard unused
cards.  Shuffle and deal draw size hands until the cards run 
out.

The more complicated method is to assign each card a value.

Clubs: Ace - 10 = 01 - 10
Diamonds: Ace - 10 = 11 - 20
Hearts: Ace - 10 = 21 - 30
Spades: Ace - 10 = 31 - 40
Clubs Face: J = 41, Q = 42, K = 43
Diamonds Face: J = 44, Q = 45, K = 46
Hearts Face: J = 47, Q = 48, K = 49
Spades Face: J = 50, Q = 51, K = 52,
Joker: = 53 

For larger games add hand marked cards to the deck as necessary.
Shuffle and deal draw size hands until cards run out.  

For the incomplete hand, return all other cards to the deck, shuffle 
and draw from them until the short hand is a complete combination.

This method works better than expected, because it puts all the 
numbers into play.  With Pick-5/6 only 5 or 6 lines or less may 
have winning numbers among them so we are automatically playing 
in a reduced odds game of  5/25 or 6/36.


How to use cash to select lottery numbers
Every bill has a unique serial number. Unless the bills are brand new
in original banded stacks, the order of serial numbers will have been
totally randomized by human events. 

Take bills randomly acquired since the previous draw and note their
serial numbers. Here's what I have today . . .

K74226595F
H63814337A
L93041384P
EA29203219B
GC48355930A

Looking at k 74226595 F I see a 7, a 4, a 42, a 22, a 26,
We can also take the 74, and reverse it to 47. Better to
move on to the next bill then use all the single digits
in a serial number otherwise we become overburdened with 
numbers between 01 and 09. Of course for Pick-3/4 we like
7-4-2, 7-4-2-2, 4-2-2, 4-2-2-6, 2-2-6, 2-2-6-5 and so on.


How to select lottery numbers using dice
There are several ways to select lottery numbers using
dice. 

The first and most obvious is to roll a single die, 
adding each number on to the previous and wheeling
the string. Therefore . . .

First roll will be between 01 and 06.
Second roll will be between 02 and 12.
Third roll will be between 03 and 18.
Fourth roll will be between 04 and 24.
Fifth roll will be between 05 and 30.
Sixth roll will be between 06 and 36.
Seventh roll will be between 07 and 42
Eighth roll will be between 08 and 48.
Ninth roll will be between 09 and 54.

Say the first roll is a 2. Second roll is a 5, this
means our first playable number is a 2 and our second
is 2 + 5 = 7 so we have 2 and 7 so far. Our third toss
is 4, so 7 + 4 = 11 we now have 2-7-11.  Fourth roll is
1 so 11 + 1 is 12 we have 2-7-11-12. Fifth roll is a 6
so 12 + 6 is 18 and so on until we have somewhere from
9 to 12 numbers to wheel.

Another method is to use one die for the first roll
and two or three dice for the remaining rolls. For
those who prefer numbers in the higher range use two
or three dice for each toss. As above, add the results
from the roll to the number from the previous roll.

For Pick-3/4 throw two dice per digit. We must use the
numbers 2-11 for 0-9.

 2 = 0
 3 = 1
 4 = 2
 5 = 3
 6 = 4
 7 = 5
 8 = 6
 9 = 7
10 = 8
11 = 9
12 = discard throw

Results will be somewhat skewed toward the central digits 
because there are more ways to make them. This isn't all 
bad because more formed Pick-3/4 numbers also come from 
the center range than the outer ranges for the same reason. 

Remember: For the 120 boxed all different Pick-3 numbers
only 10 are all low digits and only 10 are all high digits. 


How to use dominos to select lottery numbers
The dominos are placed face down on a table and swirled
about. As each is turned over it is added to the previous
to create the next number in turn, like the dice method. 
Likewise they can also be turned over in groups of two or 
three and added to the previous number to form the next.


How to use the lottery to select numbers
Write out all the numbers for the game. Working back 
through past draws, scratch off the numbers that have 
already been drawn.  When down to a reasonable number
of unscratched numbers, play them on a wheel. 

While it is relatively rare, for every time all the 
winning numbers are found among the last x number of 
draws, there is expected an equal number of times none 
of the winning numbers will be found in the same number 
of recent past draws, hence the method.  


How to use coins to select lottery numbers
While I've heard of systems of using coin flips to mark
each number in turn with a yes or no, I've never heard 
of anyone using such a system more than once. 

There have been reports of winners using cats, dogs, 
children, dart boards, dreams, fortune cookies, magic
candles, parrots, washers and dryers to pick numbers. 
I'm more ready to believe such claims are used to hide 
the real means of number selection by winners who think 
they've found the magic formula.


If all else fails, stand the game on its head
Carefully select your numbers for play, discard them and
pick from the remaining numbers.