Lottery Analysis ---------------- This file describes the installation and use of the Lottery Analysis program "Lott3a" V1.1 by Walter Wright. Shareware --------- "Lott3a" is shareware in the accepted sense of the word. Registration is œ10 and removes restrictions on the datafile size as well as the usual nag screens. Future versions, probably incorporating extra types of analysis, will be available to registered users. What is "Lott3a" ? ------------------- "Lott3a" analyses draw results using several established techniques, displaying information in order that you can identify any trends should they emerge. Currently, it can perform frequency analysis (displaying results in numeric or graphical form), positional information, hot and cold numbers, and spot clusters of 2 or more numbers which appear together more than once. As you enter the weekly data, it is VERY important that the numbers are entered in draw order, otherwise the positional and clustering information becomes meaningless. Further information on the use of these techniques can be found in "Playing Lotteries for the Big Money" by Sam Weren, available from Take That Ltd. , PO Box 200, Harrogate, North Yorks., HG1 4XB. "Lott3a" will NOT produce a list of suggested numbers for you to copy onto your lottery form. The information it displays is open to your interpretation and your beliefs in how random a draw can be. Lets face it, if there was a sure fire method of predicting the outcome, I would not be sitting here writing software for Psions. Having said that, if this program improves your chances of winning a jackpot from 14,000,000 to 1, to say, 13,999,999 to 1, then you at least have a better chance than almost everyone else. Please remember me when your cheque for œ8m arrives. Installation ------------ The release consists of the following files: LOTT3A.APP LOTTOVL1.BIN LOTTOVL2.BIN LOTT3A.DAT LOTT3A.TXT (this file) The programs can be installed on any drive, and the data on the same, or a different drive. The data file will grow by 11 bytes per draw (ie per week) so it should not become too large. It is probably inadvisable to use a Flash SSD for the data, as the file is written out in its entirety each time it is amended. This will soon fill a Flash SSD. Copy LOTT3A.APP to the \APP directory on a suitable drive. Create a subdirectory \APP\LOTT3A and copy LOTTOVL1.BIN and LOTTOVL2.BIN into this directory. Select Install from the System menu and install Lott3a.opa onto your front screen. The release file LOTT3A.DAT contains draw data up to 13th May 1995. If you wish to use this as your starting point, copy the file to the \OPD directory on your chosen data drive. If a file of this name does not exist when the program starts, it will be created for you. Running "Lott3a" ----------------- The first time you run "Lott3a" it will ask you which drive to use for data. Select "Internal", "A" or "B". If the software is unregistered (which of course it will be the first time you use it), a screen will be displayed showing you how to register. Once registered, this screen is not displayed. Press to continue past the nag screen. Depending on whether you installed LOTT3A.DAT, you will either have a blank screen, or a screen with 26 draw entries. Moving About ------------ The small window at the bottom of the screen shows which entry in the file you are currently pointing to as well as the total number of entries in the file. and arrows move the small cursor on the left-hand edge of the screen one line at a time. and move to the top or bottom of the screen, and then by one screenful thereafter. and move the cursor to the first or last entry. Inserting New Entries --------------------- Position the cursor to where the new entry should go and select or Insert from the menu. The screen lets you enter the date of the draw and the 7 numbers. Pressing on the date field lets you select the date using a calendar. Press to accept the new data or to abandon this entry. Updating Entries ---------------- Position the cursor on the entry to be updated and select or Update from the menu. The screen is as for Inserting New Data. Deleting Entries ---------------- Position the cursor on the entry to be deleted and select , or Delete from the menu. You will be asked to confirm. The Insert, Update and Delete selections can only be made from the front screen. You can return to this screen at any time in the application by pressing . ANALYSIS ======== Frequencies ----------- Select or Frequencies from the menu to display a table of frequencies in descending order. Each number N is shown with a subscript S, indicating that N has been drawn S times so far. Graph ----- Select or Graph to display a graph of the frequency data in numerical order. Select Graph again to sort the graph into frequency order. Selecting Graph (or ) now toggles between the two displays. Hot/Cold -------- Select or Hot/Cold to display the hot and cold numbers. A 'hot' number is one that has appeared more than X times in the last Y draws and is deemed to be "on a roll". By default, this is more than 2 times in the last 5 draws but X and Y can be set to your own preferred values in the Preferences screen. Up to 30 hot numbers will be displayed. If there are more than this then your selection criteria probably needs some adjustment. Cold numbers are ones which have appeared less than or equal to M times in the last N draws and can be thought of as being due out of the bag. By default this is <=0 times in the last 9 draws but M and N can be set in the Preferences screen. Up to 30 cold numbers will be displayed. Positional ---------- Select or Positional from the menu to display the top 8 numbers by position. Clusters -------- Select or Clusters to display any groups of numbers found in your data. The simplest cluster is two numbers which appear next to each other more than once. The most complex situation is two identical draws which will give rise to a cluster of 7 (as well as 6,5,4,3 and 2). The data is analysed and the largest cluster found is displayed, for example if a group 11,34 and 41 appears together in two or more draws, the Clusters of 3 page is displayed, (assuming there are no clusters of 4,5,6 or 7 anywhere). You can type any number from 2 to 7 to display the cluster page for that number. Obviously in the above example there will also exist clusters of 2 but not all sub-clusters are always displayed. 11 and 34 may not be seen as a separate cluster in this case although if these numbers existed in another draw, then they would be spotted in the above groups as well. Should a page of clusters be longer than a screenful, you can press to advance one line or to advance one screenful. To restart the display from the top, press the number of the cluster page (2-7). Press to exit from the cluster display to the front screen. Preferences ----------- Select or Preferences from the menu to go to the preferences screen. Here you can amend the criteria for Hot and Cold numbers to your own preferences (see Hot/Cold above). Press to reset to the original defaults. Additionally you can amend the scratch memory allocation for the cluster display. This is working memory used only when you are in the Clusters screens. You will need to increase this if you get the message "Insufficient Cluster Memory" in the Cluster screen. This will eventually happen as the number of clusters increases. Allocate another 256 bytes and it will be fine. Preferences are saved on exiting. Register -------- Select or Register from the menu to go to the Registration screen. Here you can enter your name and registration code to disable the nag screens on entry and exit. Additionally, the load and save limit of 50 entries is removed. A registration code can be obtained by sending œ10 to the address below. About ----- or About displays information about the current data drive, the software version and registration details. Exit ---- or Exit. Quit the program, saving the data first. For unregistered versions, only the first 50 entries are saved. Exit, Lose Changes ------------------ . Exit, leaving the original data file unchanged. Any alterations made during this session will be lost. You will be prompted for confirmation. Comments, suggestions for improvements or just plain old bug reports to the following address: Walter Wright, 1 Deanery Cottage, High Street Sonning, Berkshire, RG4 0UP