Those Damn Yankees! Rhode Island Wins Jackpot...

The Powerball site is reporting that someone in Rhode Island won the $151 million jackpot this evening. We'll wait another couple of weeks for the jackpot to climb back to near $50 million levels before we participate again in the drawing. When that happens? We'll be ready with an extra injection of number picks from our winning $63 plus our previous banked earnings! (See post below for more details.) Thanks for your continued support! John

Pool Sets Record for 2007 Winning $63

We had an excellent evening tonight, winning the greatest amount we've yet to earn in a single drawing in 2007 - thanks to 6 number sets that had the powerball 38 alone correct or combined with one white ball. Total earnings this evening? $63. That represents our 4th highest earnings in our pool history.

I worked hard this evening on statistical pattens for the powerball and I think it payed off - even though 38 was the 21st pick out of the 21 powerball numbers I chose out of the total pool of 42 to choose from. I now use 6 different statistical factors that weigh which powerball numbers to choose.

Our banked earnings now jump to $105 which will give us a great boost for more picks should the jackpot continue to rise over the weekend. We'll know the results of this evenings jackpot status a little later this evening.

Payments and banked balances are up to date as of after this evening's drawing.

We beat the odds even more than we thought!

After looking over last weeks winning number picks for the group I made an interesting discovery. We won $28 because we had TWO sets of number picks that matched 3 whiteball numbers. Furthermore, the reason I missed this little anomoly was that not only did we beat the odds by getting that set when statistics show that only happen every 1 in 290 but we did that TWICE making those odds 1 in 580 that we'd hit those numbers! Not too bad when you consider we only did so in about 60 picks. Cross your fingers for tonight.....John

Powerplay Pays Off! Pool Wins $28.

The extra dollar we pay per pick paid off this past drawing, quadrupling a $7 pick to a powerplay of $28. We had a 1 in 290 odds chance of getting 3 of the 5 white balls right in any of our picks and we did that on one series of numbers. That raises our banked earnings back up to $55 giving us more picks for what will hopefully be the ever climbing jackpot next Wednesday which now sits at over $130 million since nobody won this past Wednesday. I anticipate that if nobody wins Saturday the pot will be approaching $150 million.

Banked balances and payments are all current in member payment records here.

We've got about $250 to earn before we'll tie our record from last year of earnings in 2006. Hopefully, we'll have a couple of good weeks before the year is out that will allow us to equal or eclipse that amount. Thanks for all your support of our pool! John

Jackpot Breaks $100 million

The pool blanked this evening as history was once again set with the drawing picks of five even and no odd numbers on the white balls. That in itself isn't so unusual, but is highly unusual for the previous five white balls to be five even and no odd too. In fact in over 1000 drawings? It's only happened once before. So that didn't help us this evening.

For the powerball, if you look at the past 60 drawings and do so for a number of drawings back? Less than 20% of that group of drawings ever have a powerball number that's been drawn 3 times in that group. So how do you hopefully increase your chances of getting the powerball right? By choosing those numbers that have not been picked or picked once for the next drawing. Brrzzznnt! Not this time. The number 6 was chosen for the third time.

The good news is we still have $50 left in our past winnings bank and we'll use that again to hopefully increase our odds of winning something with the next drawing assuming nobody wins the jackpot this eve' or on Saturday. Speaking of....yes, we do plan to participate in the drawing on Wednesday and I will plan on buying our tickets on TUESDAY. So all funds for that drawing - assuming once again, that the jackpot continues to climb - will be due Tuesday before we leave school rather than Wednesday. I'll be leaving town Wednesday and won't be able to purchase tickets that day.

All banked balances and payments are up to date.

Thanks for hanging in there! John

It's Back To Work...

Well people...we can't quit our jobs yet - especially after blanking on the numbers tonight. We had a couple of 2-number white ball hits on our picks but blanked on the power ball. That's a shame too, since the multiplier was 5x this evening, which means if there are some who did pick a few numbers right - they'll win some serious money if they chose the Powerplay option.

Banked payments and totals are up to date as of after this evening's drawing.

I performed some major tweaks on the spreadsheet today - but unfortunately tonight's draw wasn't a night where it might strut it's stuff. We've had a long run now of 3-2, 2-3 odd-even whiteball picks now, so I guessed that wouldn't continue. So most of our picks were of the 4-1, 1-4 odd-even flavor. So that didn't help much. In an effort to increase our odds for a win and whittle down the 5 out of 55 white balls we have to choose from I threw out 12 whiteball numbers from our picks based on various other statistical data. Unbelievably three of those numbers were part of the picks tonight. Ouch.

On the powerball side statistics show that a full 90% of the time for the past 3 years of drawings the difference between the currently picked powerball and the one previous is less than 29. Well, this evening it was a record-setting 40 in difference from the last! So that statistical oddity was against us too.

All in all, the number set had enough strangeness to it that the spreadsheet just didn't have the mathematical know how to get it right, based on past statistics. We'll try again next Wednesday if nobody wins the jackpot tonight or Saturday. If that occurs the pot will no doubt be over $100 million by then. Good luck to us all! John

It's Treats for the Pool On Halloween Night!

The lottery pool is back to its winning ways - albeit in M & M size - pulling in $12 on two successful pick groups last night. We got the powerball right in those two, but unfortunately didn't match any other numbers in those groups. The multiplier was a measly 2x so that didn't help our earnings either. Still that boosts our cash reserve back up to $92 and since nobody else the won the jackpot it now climbs to $62 million. We'll be greedy and hope nobody wins it again this Saturday and we'll be in Wednesday for a what will be a jackpot that will no doubt draw tantalizingly close to $100 million.

I continue to tweak the spreadsheet that analyzes the numbers. (If statistical analysis bores you? Skip to the last paragraph.) I'm working on a section that asks the question, "In how many instances does a particular number getting picked within a certain number of drawings?" I already throw out any 5 that have been picked in the previous drawing since statistically that rarely happens - in other words if 10 gets picked it gets picked again in the next drawing (yes I know both 10 AND 11 got picked back to back recently - but again, that rarely happens). Getting rid of just 5 of those, geometrically increases our odds from picking any of the standard 55 numbers. So the more numbers we can potentially eliminate - the better our odds. In other words it's easier to pick 5 right from 50 then it is 55. If I can use the spreadsheet to look back and see if particular numbers don't appear to repeat within 2 or more drawings? Then that's many more numbers I can throw out for our picks.

I was also pleased with the fact that the spreadsheet got the powerball right in two sets. I threw out a full 20 numbers so it definitely had a better chance of picking the right one among 22 then it did 42 numbers for the powerball - and it paid off.

Payments and banked balances are up to date as of yesterday. Thanks! John

Winning Streak Ends for Pool

Our good fortune and picking skills came to an end this evening - partially thanks to history being made on the drawing. For the last six drawings there was 3 even and 2 odd white balls picked - something that doesn't occur very often. Can you say maybe twice in the past 10 years of draws?

An event that NEVER occurred according to my records was for a seventh straight draw 3 even and 2 odd white balls being picked again. So it was a good bet statistically speaking to throw out any number picks that contained that spread. Sure enough for the first time since in nearly a decade and over 900 drawings the numbers were once again - 3 even and 2 odd. So that threw our picks way out of whack. The closest we got was getting 2 white balls correct on one pick - not enough to bring home any dough.

The powerball was off statistically too. Number 2 was picked and it was the third time in the past 55 drawings - chances are only about 1 in 4 of that happening - so to narrow the pool of 42 to choose from we threw that one out as well.

Banked balances are up to date as of the next anticipated drawing on October 31st.

No jackpot winners for tonight! If the same happens Saturday we'll be back in for the Wednesday draw.

Let's Go For Our 9th Straight Winning Night!

The jackpot continues to be reset and we haven't participated in almost a month so we're going to go ahead and jump back in next Wednesday, the 24th in the drawing. There's a total of 3 Wednesday's over the break from school that we'll participate in.

Please tender $6 or $15 before tomorrow (Oct.17th) if you plan to participate with us - or make sure that your banked balance reflects one of those two levels.

We also have $100 in the pool piggy bank that we'll continue to use to give us a few more picks each session. I will keep those extra picks at low additions and reserve the remainder until the jackpot does climb to more lucrative levels.

We'll be aiming for our 9th straight winning night as a pool - a record in our history. Perhaps before the year's over we'll also eclipse our 2006 total earnings of $748. We're about $300 away from doing that - so that's a tall order before this year is out. Cross your fingers!

John

8th Straight Winning Session for Pool!

The Powerball website is reporting someone won the jackpot last night - so we'll try again in about 3 weeks.

Due to a lousy low 2x multiplier this evening we only won $28. But that was on three successful number pick sets - one containing two correct white balls plus the correct power ball. Odds of doing just that right are 1 in 745 and we still had two more winning sets - making the odds close to 1 in 1000 total that we'd pick those winning numbers right by chance! Yet we did it in 52 picks!

I only threw in an extra $5 from our continuing to grow lottery pool winning bank - now at a total of $100 - so as the jackpot climbs? So will our chances at winning more cash because we'll be selecting more pick sets as it grows higher. And if the spreadsheet continues to consistently generate at least a few right numbers together....who knows, we might get our first big win of the year! Keep your fingers crossed!

Banked balances and payments are up to date and reflect paid status for the drawing on or around October 17th.

John

Nobody Wins Jackpot Over the Weekend.....

....so the pool is IN for this Wednesday's (Sept. 26th) draw. Cash out on the jackpot is about $28 million.

Let's go for an 8th straight winning night and hopefully a big one!

Pool financial are up to date and represent paid status for the drawing on the 26th.

Thanks.

John

It's A Lucky 7th Win!

The Kendall-Whittier Lottery Pool continues to build its cash reserve by pulling in a 7th straight winning night. We won $30 this evening on two winning number sets - getting the powerball 15 right on both. Our total number sets were 48.

Because the jackpot was in the lower range - I only used an extra $4 this evening from our earning reserve. As the jackpot continues to grow this will give us an extra boost of number picks. We have $77 in the bank to use towards future picks and if our winning ways continue - perhaps that figure will even grow higher.

Member banked balances and payments are up to date as of this evening's drawing and represents paid status for next Wednesday's drawing.

Watch this space for updates on jackpot status. Thanks! John

A Record Winning Streak for the Pool - Jackpot Won In Indiana

The pool won $42 tonight. Our sixth straight winning evening - a pool record! With 83 picks submitted we once again got three of the five whiteballs right in one set winning $21 there. Odds of doing that would normally require the purchase of 290 computer pick tickets at a cost of $580. ( Our bill this evening was $166.) Plus we matched the powerball in two other sets - one with a whiteball giving us the rest of our earnings. Combined odds of that are about 1 in 190. So though it wasn't what we'd hoped for we are definitely demonstrating some consistency from drawing to drawing and beating the odds.

Payments and banked balances have been updated to reflect payments for this evenings and the next anticipated drawing. The Powerball website is reporting someone in Indiana got all 6 numbers right so we'll rejoin the drawings when the jackpot reaches $50 million - or close to it - which usually occurs in about 3 weeks assuming the jackpot isn't reset again.

NEWSFLASH! JACKPOT LEAPS TO $300 MILLION! Let's play SATURDAY!

The Powerball website is reporting - relatively early by past standards - that apparently nobody won the jackpot prize which now leaps to $300 million with a cash payout of $140 million! The jackpot is now approaching near record levels and if nobody wins Saturday it will no doubt arrive at that level. The previous record was the $365 million jackpot won by the ConAgra food plant workers in Nebraska.

Due to the unusually large size of the jackpot I will be preparing tickets for the drawing on Saturday. If you are interested in playing with us on Saturday money is due Friday before we leave school - unless you are already paid up.

Banked balances and payments are up to date and represent who is paid (or not) for the next upcoming drawing on SATURDAY!

We Win AGAIN!

For the fifth straight drawing we once again had a winning night! We got back over a third of what we collectively put into the pool by earning $56 tonight on two high-odds number sets. We matched two sets of three whiteball numbers with the odds of doing that by chance on each set being 1 in 290 for overall odds of 2 in 580. That's an awesome performance considering we had 72 chances to win. Tonights earnings represent our highest total in the last 5 Wednesdays we've played!

We blanked on the powerball this evening - which is unusual - otherwise our earnings certainly could have been higher. On THIRTY other number sets - which represents nearly half of our picks - we had one or two whiteballs right. Had we chosen the right powerball and it had joined one of those sets - which it had a one in two shot of doing - then our earnings for each of those sets would have been $12 and $28 respectively. Had it hit our three number whiteball set? Our earnings would have been $400. Still...the powerplay helped this time boosting our $14 play to the $56 level since it was 4x.

Thanks for your continued support and keep dreaming! John

Nobody Jackpots Saturday!

The jackpot is now reaching tantalizing levels as it hits $245 million for this upcoming Wednesday night's draw. This jackpot is now the third highest in Powerball history and is only $10 million away from being the second highest powerball jackpot. In January 2007 the Wilson family of Missouri won $254,000,000 and in February of 2006 the Nebraska meat packers group won the standing record of $365,000,000.

All payments - banked and otherwise - are up to date as of this weekend.

Good luck to us all! John

Fourth Straight Win!

No, we can't quit our jobs yet, but the pool strutted its winning ways once again with three successful pick sets that odds say had a combined chance of one in about 450 chance of occurring! Not bad considering we had a total of 60 picks this evening. We won $28 total and once again, would have scored significantly more had the multiplier not been a wimpy 2x. Those wins came across three diverse pick sets. One powerball with one white ball, one powerball alone and then three white ball numbers picked correctly together. (Odds of doing that alone are 1 in 290! )

So clearly the spreadsheet is doing a particularly good job of picking numbers and with each successful drawing - allowing us a greater pool of number pick sets - which, in turn increases our odds of getting a correct number set right, earning us more money for the next draw and more pick sets. You get the picture. (I hope!) In the event that we have a weird drawing where the spreadsheet totally misses (and we know those days happen) I'm not blowing all our extra dough on one drawing - giving us another chance to win with a more "predictable" set of numbers.

Banked balances and payments have been adjusted to reflect the next anticipated drawing date on the 22nd of August. If nobody wins the jackpot this evening or Saturday? The jackpot should be well over $200 million! Cross your fingers! John

P.S. I appreciate the vote of confidence in my accounting abilities by your participation in the present drawing. I also received no "Boy...aren't you a math screw up!" comments as a result of the hiccup with the banked totals I described in an earlier post. Thanks.

Jackpot Stretches for Record Numbers

The jackpot approaches the $200 million mark with nobody winning the Big One on Saturday. The pool is in for this Wednesday's draws. Banked balances and payments should be up to date. Good luck to us all! John

Record Winning Streak Continues!

Too bad the multiplier wasn't what it's been in the previous two drawings otherwise we would have won close to $100 tonight - but instead we won $26 because of the wimpy 2x multiplier. However, we had FOUR winning number pick sets - which again cleanly beat the odds if we'd randomly chosen numbers. And congratulations to the pool! We just busted the $1,000 in total winnings over the life of our group. Of course we have nothing to show for it but a heckuva lot of extra number picks buy hey, when we're millionaires in the future? It will be all worth it, right?

Sometimes Math Just STINKS!

I'm not sure whether the spreadsheet just didn't save my previous updates or what - but I found the posted member balance were again out of whack. Fortunately, I was able to reconstruct the record based on my most recent notes from when banked balances were posted (to the far right of your name) and the blog record of when we participated in the draw - then subtract the proper dues to get the ending balance.

For those who think Ole' John might be running a scam here and pocketing the difference - here's the the math involved. We'll use Mrs. Higgins as an example. You'll see that I noted that she banked $35 on June 13th. Since that time we've participated in 7 drawings in that amount of time (including this evening's drawing) and the blog below documents those dates: 6-13, 6-20, 6-27, 7-18, 7-25, 8-1, and 8-8. The previous bank showed Mrs. Higgins had a balance of $5 - which is incorrect - because 7 drawings x $5 a draw is $35 - so all her banked funds were used up as of this evening. To correct the error in the overall balance I went through and deducted another $2 or $5 from everyone's individual balance. Now we are squared away.

Also please note that if you previously had for example a balance of $10 and you were a $5 member - your balance is now zero because I deducted the missing draw AND included you in the next upcoming drawing on the 15th (assuming nobody wins the jackpot this evening or Saturday.) So in essence, your bank is zero - but you are PAID for the next drawing.

If you were a $5 member and had a previous balance of $5, your balance is now zero and you DO NOT have funds posted for the next drawing.

Those who paid on a per draw basis were unaffected since they didn't have a balance to show anyway.

Confused? Not surprised. Try doing the juggling of payments for 20+ members every week!

Sorry about that mistake folks - but inevitably errors will crop up which is why I ask that you guys help keep track of your own individual payments. Overall, though - in the past year and a half - I'd say things have been pretty accurate and well documented here. But if you note any errors, EITHER direction in the future - please bring them to my attention!

Thanks, hang in there with us, and cross your fingers! We're on a record winning streak!

We beat the odds again!

As the jackpot approaches towards the $100 million dollar mark, the KW Lottery Pool beat the odds again winning $35 this evening - thanks to the help of the powerplay option quintupling our $7 win. We got the powerball right in one set but then matched two other numbers with it. Doesn't sound like a big deal until you consider the odds of doing that are about 1 in 290! So out of every 290 tickets you'd randomly generate numbers you might get a matching number set like that. We did it with only 48 picks. Not too shabby!

As before, I will take a portion of our combined earnings and continually increase our total number picks as the jackpot rises with each drawing.

We now are only $3 short of a total pool history earnings of $1000!

Be sure and read the post below this one, it contains some information about an accounting error that affected the posted banked balances of members.

Balance Adjustments

I failed to debit banked pool member's accounts for one past drawing, so balances now reflect that difference and adjustment. Because two members previously showed that they would have been paid for this drawing from their final balances and rightfully should be in for this drawing - I paid their dues out of part of the proceeds from our last winning draw.

I apologize for that accounting hiccup. John

Back in the Saddle!

The pool had a very successful night this evening winning $55 - our fourth highest gain out of approximately 20 winning drawings! Our total earnings since we started the pool last year is now approaching $1,000.

We got the powerball right on 3 separate number pulls and two of those were with a single white ball as well. The powerplay option helped us here too since it was the 5x multiplier this evening.

Since this win represents a lesser return per individual then what we put in, it will got back into the pool to buy more tickets for the next drawing.

UPDATE! No jackpot winners this past Saturday we are IN for the $100 million+ drawing for this Wednesday, Aug. 1st.

Congratulations to the pool! John

No Winning Numbers Tonight

We blanked on the lottery numbers tonight. Bummer. Hopefully we'll get to play again next Wednesday. Watch this space for updates. Pool financials are up to date and represent who is paid for the next drawing. Note a few of you have zero balances after that drawing next Wednesday. Good luck to us all! John

Back in the Saddle

Jackpot is back up to $50 million now, another drawing is coming Saturday - so if nobody wins we'll be participating again in the lottery this next coming Wednesday! The "Pool Financials" link to the right should be up to date. Good luck to us all! I hope you are having a great summer!

John

It's an Okie Winner but NOT us......

Yep, the Powerball website is announcing somebody from Oklahoma won the jackpot - but unfortunately, it wasn't our lucky numbers that got pulled.

In fact, we blanked on the draw this evening. I'm going to blame a statistically weird number set for that result. Because we had 2 previous draws with 1 even number and 4 odd on the white balls, the spreadsheet strongly suggested that we would not have that spread again - and of course, we did. To give you an idea of how rare such an event like that happens, the last time such a three-peat occurred was in November of 2005! The sum of the first five was also way off the the norm - coming in at a very low 87. We haven't had a sum lower than 100 in the past 20 draws. Finally, we just got completely unlucky on the powerball. It was in the mix of picks but didn't get pulled by the spreadsheet amongst our 45 picks. So with that combination of bad luck and bad statistics - as I've mentioned before - the spreadsheet just doesn't do well.

Your banked dues will be used in about 3 weeks when the jackpot climbs to our target level again.

21 is our lucky number!

We won $21 again this evening in identical fashion that we won the same amount the week before - two powerball number correct picks with one of those paired with a good guess on the white ball. Considering we only had 42 picks we once again clearly beat the odds on this draw.

Nobody won the jackpot either this evening which now climbs to $89 million. If nobody wins Saturday it will certainly bust a $100 million with a potential cash payout approaching half of that amount.

Pool financials are up to date as of this evening. Thanks and good luck to us all! John

Back to our Winning Ways!

The Pool pulled in $21 this Wednesday evening getting the Powerball right twice - once by it's lonesome and the other with one other white ball.

Current results for the jackpot are pending. Watch this space for updates!

Banked balances have been updated to reflect payment for the next upcoming Wednesday drawing on June 20th.

Ugh!

Singer songwriter Jerry Reed once declared in the 70s, "When You Hot, You Hot..." and as the song goes on to tell the tale of bad luck, "When you not, you not..." That song would be an appropriate anthem for the pool the past few weeks... We blanked again on tonight's drawing. It's really a bummer because if you look back at the past drawings these number sets would have won us something on a TON of past drawings...except THIS one of course!

More bad news...someone in New Mexico won the jackpot. So just about the time school let's out, the pot should be back within our suggested range of participation. Interested? Let me know and we'll plan accordingly.

Pool financials link to the right has been updated.

John

Click On A Link, Earn Money For The Pool

By clicking on the sponsored links to the right, you can earn money for the pool to buy more number picks. You are, of course, under no obligation to donate or purchase from the sponsors after clicking. Please note that you will be unable to go to the megamillions link from the school as Websense blocks it - so you'll have to click on that one at home.

Thanks for your support. John

Double *Ouch* Night

We blanked on tonight's draw only getting a couple of pairs of white ball numbers right in a set - but missing on any match of the powerball. That equals...no dice. The sum of the first five was under our lower limit, plus there was 4 even and 1 odd whiteball - that didn't help either since we went with the past majority 3/2 or 2/3 even / odd spread on the whiteballs.

Unfortunately, I have more bad news. We didn't win anything on the April 25th draw as I had originally reported. Here's what I think happened. The software that allows me to check our numbers - also allows you to compare your picks with previous drawings. I must have had our April 25th picks set for a different date - and they happened to come up winners for that particular date. When I went to check our tickets today to see which ones I would bring to the QT to cash in our $28 I couldn't find any winners - so that's what lead me to trace down the error. Sorry about that folks.

There is some good news however....the powerball site is already reporting nobody else won the jackpot either - so it's at the $53 million dollar mark now. If nobody wins Saturday we'll be ready to give er' another shot!

All member payments and bank balances are up to date. Click on the "Pool Financials" link to the right. Note that if the column after your name says "Paid" - you're good to go for the drawing date at the TOP of that column. The next column shows whether you are a $2 or a $5 member. The column after that shows what you did pay for the upcoming drawing. The next column is your banked balance AFTER subtracting any payment for the next drawing.

New Hampshire Wins Jackpot

See you in about 3 weeks.....

Jackpot Continues to Climb, Summer Pool?

No one won the jackpot this past Saturday which now climbs to an estimated $26 million cash payout - so the lottery pool is in for this Wednesday's draw.

Member payments and banked balances are up to date. Click on the "Pool Financials" link to the right for more information.

We have $45 left over from past earnings. I will continue the incremental increased contribution of those funds to each drawing to buy extra picks for the pool. The pool is currently having it's best winning streak in it's history. We've won in 5 of the last 6 of our participation drawings and added over $100 to our future pick purchases. I'm extremely pleased with this performance since it clearly beats the odds if each one of us participated individually in the pool with the same amount of money.

Start thinking about possible summer participation in the pool. Our family doesn't plan to take a major trip this year so I'll probably continue running the pool during that time if there are enough of us willing to make it worth our while. 6 weeks of participation would cost approximately $30 banked for $5 members and $12 banked for $2 members. We'll look at exact costs when that time gets closer.

Back to Our Winning Ways!

The pool won $33 this Wednesday evening matching the powerball twice. One set had one whiteball as a match and the other set had two whiteball numbers matching. The multiplier helped us out on this draw since it was 3x. (Too bad we didn't catch the 10x that came up this past Saturday.)

I'm terribly pleased that we won what we did this evening because the sum of the first 5 was WAY out of our accepted range plus the numbers came up 4 even and 1 odd. The spreadsheet predicted a high likelyhood of a 2 even, 3 odd combination. So once again, the spreadsheet is doing a decent job a picking the right combination of numbers and once again, we beat the odds.

We still had $12 left over from our last win - I was adding a little more to each draw as the jackpot climbed higher - and now we have a total of $45 to add to that amount. Not bad!

Watch this space for updates to see if anyone won the jackpot this evening or if anyone does this Saturday. If not, then we'll be in for next Wednesday's draw which should eclipse the $50 million dollar mark.

Nobody Wins Big Saturday, Pool is IN for Wednesday.

Nobody won the jackpot this weekend which now climbs to $36 million. The pool is in for the drawing this Wednesday, April 18th. Banked balances and payments under the "Pool Financials" link to the right are up to date as of Monday morning. All participation funds are due Wednesday before we leave school. Good luck to us all! Jackpot John

Winning Streak Ends for Pool

Our record of four straight winning draws was ended tonight. No one won the jackpot which now rises to $27 million. Our next planned participation day will be next Wednesday, April 18th. All balances and payment records should be current. If you think there's a discrepancy? Please let me know. The link is "Pool Financials" to the right.

I only used $5 of our past $24 earnings to buy extra picks. I'll use $7 for the next drawing then increase it to $12 for the one after that as the jackpot presumably climbs.

Let's Get Back IN This Thing!

The Lottery is running a special promotion where the powerball could come up to be a 10x multiplier - which could mean big bucks - even if you don't win the jackpot. It's been nearly a month since we've played - so I'm making an executive decision to restart the pool this coming Wednesday the 11th- even though the jackpot isn't up to our normal target of $50 million.

You don't have to participate of course or your could do so at a reduced level if you are a $5 member and contribute $2 instead.

The "Pool Financials" link to the right is up to date and should represent all payments I've received since yesterday (Monday). Remember, the fifth column shows your balance AFTER any payments for the next upcoming draw. So if it shows $2 or $5? You're paid up for this Wednesday's drawing. If it shows a greater amount? You're good for this drawing plus more. If it shows nothing? You are NOT paid for this coming drawing and if you wish to participate you need to tender funds.

Jackpot Reset Yet Again, Jack's Tragic Story

The jackpot has been won about 3 times in the last month, once again someone won the initial $15 million prize this past Wednesday - but no one did Saturday so the jackpot sits now at around $20 million.

While we all dream about winning the jackpot and what we would do with the money - the reality of such a life changing event certainly can be tragic. The story of Jack Whitaker is a perfect example. A successful construction business owner, Whitaker won $315 million in the lottery and has said recently, "He wished he'd never won..." due to the mountain of troubles it's brought his family. His business has been sued over 400 times since he won, his grand daughter died under suspicious circumstances, and he faces a constant barrage of requests for money from every Tom, Dick, and Harry all over the world. You can read more about Jack's story here:

It may seem self-destructive for our cause to relay Jack's story but my hope is that we can all learn from it in the event we do have a lucky day and win big. And if we don't? Perhaps it's better that we pursue the riches that life already has to offer. Take care. John

Jackpot Won Over Weekend, See You in 3 Weeks

Somebody won the jackpot this past Saturday so it gets reset to $15 million again. When the jackpot approaches the $50 million mark in about 3 weeks, the pool will be in for that drawing. Good luck to everyone who is participating outside of the pool! John "O."

Planned Pool Participation for Wednesday, Apr.4th

If no one wins the jackpot this weekend, the pool will be back in for the drawing on Wednesday, April 4th as the jackpot prize will by that time surpass our target of $50 million.

Many people paid or banked funds for the Spring Break period, but an Oregonian won the jackpot the Saturday before our planned participation date Wednesday following that weekend so we didn't get the chance to play at all during the break. So if you paid before Spring Break? You're covered for this Wednesday's drawing. Clink the link to the right "Pool Financials" to check your current status. If you think there is a discrepancy between what's listed there and what you paid? Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Jackpot Won By Oregonian

Someone in Oregon got the jackpot numbers right Saturday night so it gets reset to $15 million. All your participation funds will be held in safekeeping until the jackpot level reaches on or near the $50 million dollar mark again - which usually occurs in about 3 weeks. So about a week after we return from spring break, we should be ready to rock and roll again - unless of course some lucky chap wins the jackpot and it gets reset once more. John

Our Fourth Straight Win!

The pool won $24 this evening getting the powerball right on 4 different picks - our fourth straight positive draw - a record for the pool. (The odds of winning $24 are about 1 in 280.) Too bad the multiplier was only 2x this evening otherwise our earnings would have been a little more attractive. We didn't do too shabby on the whiteballs either - getting a pair of two right on two different picks - but it takes 3 to win any money at all on just white balls. Maybe next time we'll match em' up with the powerballs we get right.

Don't forget you need to tender either $4 or $10 if you plan to participate with us over the break. Since we're anticipating nobody will win this weekend and we will hit the jackpot that following Wednesday - we'll just add your extra payment to your big check.... Sound like a plan? John

Miss A Payment For A Draw?

I realize that we all lead busy lives and sometimes paying your lottery dues just doesn't make it to the top your agenda. Sometimes, as what occurred this week - I had to leave Wednesday and even if you wanted to pay your dues on that day - you couldn't. Or, you might be absent as well. So I've decided to offer an option - other than banking your dues - to participate with us in the event Wednesday arrives and you realize you haven't contributed your $2 or $5. Here's my plan:

If you haven't paid your dues and you do wish to participate with us it's YOUR responsibility to call me or Anna the night of the drawing (or before) to make arrangements for your participation. (For security reasons I'm not giving our cell numbers here but on request you can have them.) For that drawing only - I'll cover your $2 or $5. Your allowed participation in future drawings will hinge on the promptness of your repayment of this IOU and I reserve the route to disallow your participation for future drawings if this becomes a chronic problem. Please note: IF I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU AND WE DON'T MAKE ARRANGEMENTS BEFORE THE DRAWING THEN YOU WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN ANY POTENTIAL WINDFALLS IF WE DO WIN! NO EXCEPTIONS!

I will not accept payments AFTER a drawing win IF you did not make a concerted effort to let me know you wished to participate in that drawing.

This option will be added as an addendum to our existing agreements - if you don't accept this change or have concerns - please talk to me before you participate further in our pool.

Please also remember, you always have the option of paying in advance or banking funds and ultimately this makes it easier on everyone when it comes to managing our pool money. This new after-the-draw payment option will create a little more money juggling on my part but I don't mind doing it because it does benefit the pool to have the maximum amount of participants possible for every drawing which subsequently increases our odds of winning. So in that regard, everyone wins.

What Are the Odds? How Is The Pool Doing?

One of the ways I gauge if the spreadsheet is picking numbers better than if we just did all at-the-store computer picks is looking at the odds. If you click on the Pool Financials link - to the right and check out the fourth tab at the top of the sheet - with a little comparison from the earnings tab - you'll be able to see how we're doing too. The last tab, called "Odds" contains a table. Lottery odds are highlighted in green. You'll also see some potentially more important odds data. For example, what are the odds you will kick the bucket from (fill in the blank.) Wow....look at that - almost a 1 in 3 chance of heart disease cutting your life short - time to start thinking more about diet and exercise, yes?

The odds say we only have a 1 in 69 chance of winning a measly $3 on any draw. So that means for every 69 picks you buy you'll average a $3 win. The odds of winning only $7 jumps to 1 in 290 picks - which fits the odds on our draw last week. So we're doing pretty well - statistically speaking.

Then there was our $100 win (tripled to $300 by the powerball) last October. You can see the odds of winning that much were 1 in 70,000!!!

The odds are enormous that we'll win anything above $100 but then I think that the spreadsheet is demonstrating that it might be giving us a little edge over those odds. So who knows....

No Jackpot Winners Over the Weekend

The jackpot inches ever closer to the $200 million mark as there were no big winners over the weekend. The pool will participate in this Wednesday's draw. I don't believe we've ever won four straight weeks in a row, so it will be interesting to see how we do this Wednesday. We'll have $35 extra to buy additional tickets to hopefully head is in the right direction.

We also plan to participate over the time we are out of school if the jackpot keeps rising, so if you wish to join us, be sure and tender funds for that time.

There are two Wednesday's during the break, the 21st and the 28th - so you will need to tender or bank either $4 or $10 before we leave Friday of this week if you wish to participate with the pool for those drawings. Pool bank should be up to date according to my records. If you differ, please let me know.

Earnings History Tab Added

As part of the Pool Financials link on the right, check the third tab on the spreadsheet. It will tell you what our earnings have been for the past year +. The tab can be found at the top of the sheet.

The records are as best as I was able to resurrect. I didn't think about keeping such records until much later into our existence so I had to did through files and recreate what we'd earned. Some earnings may have been left out in the process - but overall, this figure is probably pretty accurate. Hopefully, we'll be able to add a lot more zeros the that total this year!

Three Straight Wins!

We won $35 last night with a decent run of getting 3 of the 5 white balls right on one pick. The mathematicians tell us that you only have a 1 in 290 chance of getting that right - so out of 64 picks - that was a good jab at the big bucks. If we'd happen to get the powerball right on those numbers as well - it would have meant a $500 win. But with three straight wins I'm confident the spreadsheet is on the right track at picking numbers. We just need Lady Luck to help us out a little.

Nobody else won the jackpot either so it climbs to a $142 million and by next Wednesday (if no one wins Saturday) we're looking at a pot approaching $175 million. Keep your fingers crossed!

Payout Calculator Added (Updated)

"Hey John, if we do win the jackpot, how much would each member get?" I get asked that question a lot and now you have an answer at your fingertips. UPDATE: The Payout Calculator is now a tab at the top of the member fund balance spreadsheet. Click on that link (Member Balances) to the right and look at the top of the spreadsheet and you'll see a tab that says, "Hypothetical Payout Calculator" - click on that tab and you'll get facts and figures for each member group if we did win the jackpot - including what an estimated "take home pay" would be for you based on a 28% tax calculation. Please note this is ESTIMATED only and may not reflect exact dollars you would receive if we won big.

The calculator is now directly linked to the payment spreadsheet so should update itself as those numbers change.

Remember, the calculator bases percentages on how much that member's contribution relates to the WHOLE of money collected then divides it by the number of members in their subgroup ($2 or $5.) That's not the same as saying a five dollar member should get two and a half more times more money as a two dollar member. Any questions? Feel free to ask.

No Winners Saturday, Draw is on for Wednesday

There were no jackpot winners over the weekend so the pool will participate in this upcoming Wednesday's drawing. $2 or $5 funds are due (unless you've banked) before we leave the building Wednesday afternoon. Good luck to us all!

The Secret?

I ran into an documentary on Google Video last weekend that I wanted to share with the pool. I was fortunate to catch the full length version - but apparently that has since been yanked. Here is a link to the first 20 minutes of it called: The Secret

What impressed me was that the documentary contained a virtual Who's Who of motivational speakers and authors. All of them pretty much agreed what The Secret was. The concept is really not new and I don't think I'll be spoiling the clip by revealing the premise of The Secret: Your thoughts, your actions, your attitude can have profound effects on what occurs in the Real World. Just about all of us can think of seemingly insignificant or profound instances in our lives where an event has occurred and the first thought that pops into one's mind is, "I was just thinking about that or thought about that a few days ago..." The friend who you haven't seen in years that suddenly calls. The determination to accomplish a task that perhaps friends or family said couldn't be done - yet you do it. The need for anything that apparently pops out of nowhere. What the speakers emphasized is that most of the time these seemingly random events occur through our unconscious thoughts and actions - but what's more powerful is what can occur by deliberately focusing on what we would like to come to pass. Of course this brings up all sorts of possible discussions on the role of Divine Intervention, the will of others, happenstance, and other Forces at Work here - but the reason I mention The Secret is that I think that it can (and does) have an influence on our chances of winning something....

I'm not asking for a collective meeting where we all sit around waving faux million dollar checks and sing John Lennon songs - but what I am suggesting is the idea that the overall general positive attitude I get from members of the pool here and the discussions I've had about what we would do with our proceeds if we do win are a GOOD thing! So KEEP IT UP....you just never know! And watch The Secret. Let me know what you think.... John

John's Birthday Luck

As much as I would have liked to wake up knowing I'm a millionaire (or even a thousandaire!) on my birthday it was nice to know that at least we didn't blank out on the drawing. We won $21 as a group last night. No one else won the jackpot either which now climbs to over $100 million. We also just eclipsed $800 for how much money we've won collectively as a pool in just over the past year. I think that's a pretty decent record- but hopefully this year will blow that figure out of the water!

If no one wins Saturday we'll try again next Wednesday! (I think I could handle being a Spring Break Millionaire too.)

I appreciate the verbal positive comments I've been receiving about the website here. It's nice to know that it IS actually a useful and enjoyable information resource for the pool - because I enjoy putting it together. However, time is the commodity of this age and I gotta tell ya - if I didn't receive that feedback? There wasn't really any point in providing information to the pool in this way. So again...THANKS!

(Skip the next paragraph if you are not a numbers nerd....)

I tried something a little different with the numbers this time. Statistically speaking the first five numbers about 78 percent of the time show up as either 2 odd and 3 even or the other way around. You don't get many 1 even 4 odd, 5 even 1 odd - or the opposite. But normally I throw a few of those in the mix anyway. Usually amounts to about 10 more picks. I decided since the odds are so long those mixes will show up anyway and IF they did come up even longer odds to get the numbers right within that mix that I'd just throw those out and go with all 2 even, 3 odd and the reverse. This would give us a greater number mix of those two groups. It was a good decision I think because that's exactly what happened. The draw was indeed 2 even and 3 odd last night. The spreadsheet also correctly predicted the sum range of the first five based on past draws. Finally, I also think that I'm more happy with the way it's picking powerballs too. If you don't get the powerball right you've really got long odds to get 3 whiteballs right alone to win anything at all. Again, remember all this works ONLY when the draw shows a predictable pattern within those past parameters - when it doesn't? We're likely to win nothing. But when it does and if Lady Luck is also in our corner? We have the potential to win some big money as we demonstrated this past October.

Wednesday Draw is a Launch

With nobody winning the jackpot Saturday it continues to rise towards the $100 million mark so the pool is in for this Wednesday's draw. Check whether or not I've recorded your payment on the member link to the right. Good luck to us all!

Tag that money!

If you give me money for a drawing PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE either attach it with a note with your name on it or verify that I've done similar either on the computer or otherwise! This will help me keep track of who has paid what and how much. Thanks! John

Pool Wins $30

We matched the Powerball three times this evening - one of those matches had a whiteball right - so that one earned us $12. The other two were single powerball picks for $9 each.

The first five numbers were: 2-8-22-39-37 which did represent the second majority set of our even-odd ratio with 17 picks. (The first set was the 3 odd and 2 even at 18 picks.) The sum was lower than our accepted range so that hurt our potential earnings.

Hopefully, we'll get another chance next Wednesday. Good luck to us all!

Is Anybody Reading This Blog?

Do you find this blog / website useful? If so, please leave a comment for this post. This site serves as an information clearing house for our pool and is an easier and more environmentally friendly method for me to distribute information to the pool members. But time is valuable and if people are not utilizing the resource? Then honestly there's no sense in me putting as much time as I do into updating it.

I'm not asking for responses to any or all posts here - I just need to know if you are actually reading and viewing what's written - because that's what the main purpose of the blog / website is and since there's no "hit counter" here - those no way for me know if anyone is accessing the blog besides leaving a comment here. Thanks for your cooperation!

Pool Wins $9, Jackpot Gets Reset, see you in about 3 weeks!

'nuff said.

John

Payments due / Lottery Pool Bank Balances

One of the members had an excellent idea and I had a variation of that idea in the works for the site here. A link here that would show whether or not you've paid or banked funds for an upcoming draw. If you have an objection to your name being posted here for that purpose? Then please let me know. If you'd still like to know your balance here anonomously? Then we can associate a number instead of your name for that purpose. Email me with any objections to kwlotterypool@cox.net. Thanks!

Jackpot Gets Crazy, Pool is IN for Wednesday!

The jackpot is approaching near record levels again at $240 million with a cash payout of $114 million. There were no winners recorded for this past Saturday so the pool will be collecting participation dues for the Wednesday draw on the Jan. 24th. If you're not sure if you are payed up - check with me.

We didn't participate in any draws during the snow days even though we did have a few members bank funds. Since I was unable to collect dues from other members - I thought it prudent to wait until I could. It looks like that was a wise move with the current jackpot level!

Good luck to us all!

Pool Wins A Whopping $6!

Sorry folks, we can't retire yet - but at least we didn't completely blank out this time!

Drawing results are still pending - so watch this space for updates. If nobody wins? It's going to start getting crazy with the jackpot skyrocketing as more and more people try to get a piece of the action. The jackpot will probably be in the $150 million range before the evening is out and if no one wins Saturday? We'll be heading towards $200 million....

Jackpot Breaks $100 million, no winners for KWLP

It's rather disheartening to see that two tickets won $600,000 this morning knowing that we were one number away from doing the same on October 18th, 2006. Nobody across that nation got the jackpot numbers right last night so the jackpot once again inches towards record levels.

Several things were working against us last night. The powerball was the last number on the list the spreadsheet would have picked and we got quite a few two whiteballs right in sets, but not a third that would have meant a payout. We didn't have as many participants as well so that didn't help our winning odds either. The odds are only 1 in 36 that you'll win any prize. We only had 42 picks....you do the math. It also didn't help that I was rushing to prepare the numbers and made it to buy tickets with about 5 minutes to spare!

I am currently working on a major tweak to the lottery spreadsheet so maybe that we'll help us fare better next Wednesday. If nobody wins Saturday the cash payout will probably be up to the $70 million range!

Happy New Year! Jackpot continues to grow....

Nobody won the jackpot this past Saturday so now the pot grows to a $42.6 million dollar cash payout for the top winner.

The pool is in for this Wednesday's draw and unless you are among the few who have some banked funds left - either $2 or $5 is due before we leave school TODAY (Wednesday.)

Hopefully, our luck will improve and the lottery spreadsheet will guess numbers better then what we experienced at the end of 2006. Good luck to us all!