In every state in the US there are lottery drawings. Chances are you’ve bought a few tickets. Maybe a lot of them.

Ordinarily you will encounter the best luck with low-cash lottery drawings. These are drawings that have a low payout but a much better chance of winning because the odds are lower.

The two you have the most chance of winning are 3 and 4-digit drawings. In Florida (where PCMech is based) this is called  Ca$h 3 and Play 4.

On each respective web page, a complete list of the winning numbers for past drawings is listed that anyone can download. Here’s the example for Ca$h 3. This is data you can input into a spreadsheet.

A simple example of how you can use a spreadsheet with a 3-number drawing is like this:

First, input the last 30 days worth of winning numbers into the spreadsheet. Digit 1 has the first column, 2 the second and 3 the third.

Second, examine your data and see which number shows up the most often for each column. We’ll say for example that in the first column, 4 shows up the most, followed by 6 in the second and 8 in the third for a number combination of 468.

We know that 468 should statistically trigger a win. But the odds of those three digits showing up in that order aren’t too much better than random numbers.

You have two ways of playing these numbers out to stack the odds in your favor.

The first is to play what’s called  a "6-way box" (all numbers in any order).

The second is to use two tickets and play a front pair and a back pair. 4-6-x on the first ticket, x-6-8 on the second.

The payout is higher for the box because the odds are higher (1:333).

But the odds of winning for pairs are higher because the odds are lower (1:100).

So if you want to stack the odds in your favor with the highest chance of winning, put the past winning numbers in a spreadsheet, see which number occurs the most often for each digit and play front/back pairs.

I want to note that the payouts on 3-digit drawings aren’t that great. If you want the higher payouts, play the games with more numbers.

You might say, "There is no proof that this will guarantee a winning combination."

And you would be correct. However it’s uncanny how certain digits show up more than others. If you do the research and watch the drawings each day, you will find this to be true.

You won’t be able to retire on 3-digit lottery winnings, but if you knew you had a better chance of scoring an extra $25 to $50 a month from some simple research, you would at least try it, wouldn’t you?