Hey guys, I've never actually bought a Lotto ticket, I know you can buy tickets with the 6/7 numbers on them already but in terms of choosing your own specific numbers before the draw, how does that work?
Where are you? In the US you mark the numbers on a card (like a ballot) and the clerk sticks the card in the lotto register, printing out your ticket with those numbers.
Same in Canada - there's a sort of bubble-sheet you fill out, give to the clerk, and they take it from there.
There is a bubble form for choosing your own or you can let the system pick your numbers randomly. There are six numbers in powerball. The numbers are non-repeating. So you can't have two or more of the same number.
Mark the card with the numbers you want. Hand it over to be put in the machine. Or just ask for random. Pay.
Also, understand that 'your' numbers have no more likely chance of being the winning numbers than the ones the computer picks for you, so please don't clog up the line at the convenience store marking multiple 'ballots'.
And also no more chance than if you were to choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Plus using your own numbers (rather than randomly generated numbers) means that you can never stop playing the game for fear that the week you do, your numbers will come up.
The main thing I wanted to know really was how checking off the numbers worked, as marking the numbers on the card could obviously be done after the numbers are drawn. Printing them seems to be the answer, thanks guys! I have no intention of taking up gambling, this is research for writing
There is a cut-off. I think it's something like 2-6 hours before the drawing they'll process any new requests for the drawing after. All the sequences are process and kept on record with the state lotto division so they can tell if there is a winner out there and where the numbers were given out, but they won't know who. That is why an official ticket is required. Still, it's happened where a winner had their ticket stolen. There was a case where a man, I think in New York, was a $1,000,000 winner but didn't know it. He took his ticket into a place to have the numbers run and the clerk told him he got nothing or something small, like $25. Later the winner found out he was lied to and the store owner offered him $2500 or so to drop it and let the owner keep the ticket.
This doesn't have anything to do with lotto numbers, but as it is a writing forum, I have to ask. What does the word "actually" add to this title? I admit that it is a pet-peeve of mine, and I'm very curious about the answer.
Choosing these numbers is not a good idea. Thousands of people play the lotto with them each week, thinking that they are the only one who is wise enough to know that the chance to win is the same as for any other combination. If those numbers ever win that will be the smallest payment/winner of all times
