Is there any reason, in playing the lottery, that choosing numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, would have any less chance of winning than any other combination? Common sense tells me that this set of numbers is as good as any other, but am I missing something? In a random system like the lottery, does the fact that they are sequential numbers have any bearing whatsoever on the odds?
Is the question you are asking whether it would be a bad strategy to pick those because they are sequential or because they are low.
If the question is whether it is because they are sequential, I can’t see why it would make a damn bit of difference.
If it is because they are low, that’s another story. Picking low numbers is bad in a lottery, though not because the chance that the lottery will draw those numbers is any different, but rather because people are more likely to play them as “lucky” numbers, resulting in a greater chance you’ll share your jackpot.
Because people tend to pick numbers related to themselves (birthdays, ages, addresses, etc.) and these numbers tend to be on the lower range of possible lottery numbers, there is a greater chance that your combination will also be selected by another person and you’ll have to split your winnings.
So a good strategy (relatively, of course) would be to pick six sequential numbers from near or at the end of the sequence (i.e., if the random numbers are from 1-60, pick 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60).
That combination is just as (un)likely to win as any other, but, if it *does win, you’re much less likely to have to split the pot with another winner. The players who use the random number generator would be just as likely to get that sequence as any other, but those who chose their numbers deliberately would be extremely unlikely to play that sequence.
…but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
I don’t know about that. I think any set of six numbers with a clear pattern is apt to be shared by many ticket holders. If you pick any six numbers in a row, even/odd numbers in a row, prime numbers in a row, Fibonacci numbers in a row, I would think there’s a decent chance of having to share the prize if you win. I think the best strategy would be to go “random”, whether it’s computer generated, personal numbers like birthdays, or whatever. No obvious mathematical patterns, though.