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Lottery Strategies
The strategies you'll read about in this section are based on mathematics or logic. They are commonly referred to as reality-based systems. By learning such techniques as tracking, wheeling and pooling, you may be able to improve your odds.

Proponents of these methods are well aware of the odds they are dealing with. They know, for instance, that in Florida's Lotto (6/53)there are 22,957,480 possible combinations for the 53 numbers. That's just another way of saying if you buy one play, the odds are 22,957,480 to one of winning. But the odds are much better in the Little Lottos or the Dailies. Consequently, these "realists" often avoid the games with larger payoffs -- and with similarly larger odds.

When they do play the big games, these players -- realizingwhat they're up against -- do everything they possibly can to better their chances. And just what might that be? Most people who specialize in lottery-number selection methods and strategies and repeat winners agree that the following three methods -- tracking, wheeling and pooling -- are musts for serious players.

Tracking
This popular system is often referred to as frequency analysis. In short,it involves keeping track of the individual numbers that are drawn over a period of time. You might compare it to handicapping a racehorse; rating his past performance to determine what his chances of winning are in the future.

Numbers that appear often in a certain game are called hot numbers. Some players will play these hot numbers exclusively on the assumption that since they have appearedoften in the past, they should appear again in the future. But it's not as simple as that. Other players believe such numbers may be on their way out. Thus, they track the cold numbers -- the overdue ones that haven't hit yet. Most specialists, however, play a combination of these hot and cold numbers. Some people even play a combination of hot, cold, and personal numbers, such as birth dates.And in spite of the appearance of trends in a game, most lottery organizers go to great lengths to make sure the numbers drawn are truly random -- so patterns are likely coincidences.

Experts have a wide variety of opinions on tracking methods, so there's no exact formula for tracking. Once you understand the idea of frequency analysis, you can develop your own tracking formula. The winner of thevery first Lotto Texas jackpot--over $21 million -- was a tracker. Janie Kallus of Schulenburg, Texas, was forced to use a rather unique method. Since there had been very few Texas numbers to track in the short history of the Texas Lotto, she tracked numbers from other states' drawings. It's easy to find lists of previous winning numbers. Most states' Web sites list them. Also, on the Web you'llfind specialty publications that list them, often including charts, diagrams, and forecasting graphs.

Wheeling
This frustrating experience may have happened to you: You buy several tickets and discover that you picked all six winning numbers; unfortunately, they weren't all on the same play. Experts claim that wheeling can help lock in all your favorite numbers and dramatically increase yourodds of winning.

Wheeling isn't a system of selecting numbers, but a strategy for using all the numbers you have (however you obtained them). Wheeling consists of making up a master list of your best picks, then, using a coded system, playing them in different combinations in a sort of round-robin. Some wheels even carry specific win guarantees. That is, if the numbers on your master listinclude all the winning numbers--or some of them, such as four out of six -- you are guaranteed to win a certain prize. None of them, of course, can guarantee you a jackpot.

As you might suspect, wheeling can involve some expense. Before beginning to wheel, first set up a budget and stick to it. Then determine how many numbers will go on your master list. You can buy your wheels from specialists....