Do Easy Picks Have A Better Chance?

One of the questions that often comes our way focuses on the issue of easy picks (also called computer picks) vs. numbers you choose yourself in our lotto games. Specifically, which has a better chance of winning?

The short answer is that neither does, but some additional background will help spell it out.

You’re probably already familiar with this, but if not: In lotto games like Powerball and Hot Lotto, you have the option of choosing your own numbers or letting the computer generate numbers for you.

You can choose your own numbers by marking them on a play slip or asking the clerk to enter the numbers you want. Or, you can let the computer generate numbers for you in an easy pick play, either by asking the clerk for it or marking “easy pick” on a play slip.

Either way, the set of numbers you end up with has the same chance of winning as any other play in the game. Look at the odds in Hot Lotto. You only saw one set of odds there, right? There’s not one set of odds for easy picks and another set for the numbers you choose. That’s because the odds of winning are exactly the same for each ticket sold in the game.

There is a difference, however, in the percentage of the types of plays being made. Somewhere between 70 percent and 80 percent of tickets purchased are easy picks. It stands to reason then that about 70 percent to 80 percent of winners would be easy-pick plays, and that is the case.

It doesn’t mean that easy-pick plays have better odds of winning, it simply means that people are making more of them.