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What's The Best Lottery Software?

Lottery software comes in many shapes and forms. From software tools for managing your syndicate to wheeling system software and analysis tools. So what works, and what's best?

Here are the different types of lottery software, and what to look out for:-

Syndicate Management Software

This is software to make managing your own syndicate as pain free as possible.

Basic features include being able to enter all your syndicate members and their chosen numbers into the database. Plus the facility to input winnings and have the software work out who is due what share of the pot.

But also look out for the ways to manage what money members have paid, and what is due. This is, after all, the painful part of running a syndicate.

If the software can automatically generate payment requests - paper or even better emails - then so much the better. Adding new members and closing off members that leave should be simple.

Ideally you want a tool that will print your syndicates numbers directly onto playslips for minimal admin effort. But even an easily readable report of all numbers to play is better than nothing.

Obvious perhaps, but do make sure the software covers the type of lottery game you want to play (i.e. if you're playing a Pick 7 game, can it cope with that).

Some Options

• Some may fondly remember LSMC (Lottery Syndicate Manager Complete) from Darwinian Software, but this tool sadly disappeared in 2009.
• You may wish to try Syndicate Tool. This actually provides a lot of options, including collecting payments and buying tickets for you. It's also currently free. Just bear in mind they may charge in time for add-on services, and that this is a 100% web based option.
• There is also Lottery Helper. This is another web based option, but has been taken over by the 'Syndicate Tool' people, and it's future isn't clear.
• And Lottery Pool Manager. But this is dedicated to pools for Mega Millions and Powerball only, and does a look a bit old fashioned and possibly abandoned.
• If there is enough interest we may resurrect our own syndicate manager tool project. Let us know here.

Entry Management Software

Similar to syndicate management software, but for the lone player who takes their lottery entries seriously, and wants to manage their own entries only. Syndicate software would probably do the trick but may be a little over the top in some areas.

Look for strong reporting features so you can easily analyse how you have been doing - charts and graphs are nice here to give a quick visual guide, but make sure you can also get hard figures if that's what you need.

You also want ease of managing your entries - inputting your chosen lines, amending them, and outputting them for purchase of tickets.

Some Options

• If you're playing the UK Lotto you might find the Just Maybe site useful. You can create an account to automatically check batches of combinations. Just for UK Lotto though.
• You could try UltraLott (no longer available). The website is pretty horrible but the software does look OK - I can't vouch for the wheels included though as we haven't tried this one.
• Or possibly Lotto Mania. Again, it's not great but it might do the trick for you. Just ignore the prediction and recommended numbers bit. And the silly fake 'Early Bird Discount' price - it doesn't ever expire and has been there for years...

Lottery Analysis Software

The total red herring in the lottery software world. Analysis software can be addictive and fascinating. But it gives you nothing more than interesting facts and figures.

If that's what you want, great. But don't use past results to attempt to predict future draws - it's a waste of time! No matter how expensive it is, it won't make any difference to your chances of winning the lottery.

After all, if it really worked, why would the publisher be selling it instead of just using it..?

Still not convinced - take a look at this list of lottery system reviews. It's the most honest list you'll ever find online - you can tell because 99% of the systems reviewed are rated as garbage.

Make sure you also get our (now FREE) book 'What Really Works' for more information about what does, and what doesn't work.

Lottery Wheeling Software

Software to easily generate combinations or perms (permutations) of lottery numbers.

That is, you tell it what numbers you want to cover, and it gives you every possible combination of those numbers.

More advanced software will provide 'abbreviated wheels' and 'win guarantees'.

You can read more about what wheeling really is here. It's often mis-sold.

Be careful not to get the impression that wheeling somehow magically increases your jackpot chances. It doesn't. Generally people who use wheeling play more tickets - that's why they have a better chance of winning. The same number of lines played totally at random have the same chance of hitting the jackpot.

The reason to consider wheeling software is in the small prizes. You can arrange combinations so that they give no kind of win guarantee at all, or so that they give some degree of guarantee. So it's simply a better than nothing approach.

Some Options

• Do take a look at WinLottoSystems - it's the most honest and sensible wheeling system I've ever come across. It's based around winning more of the smaller prizes whilst waiting for the bigger win to come along.
• Although it's not software, also consider the book Combinatorial Lottery Systems by Iliya Bluskov. You can find it on Amazon here. The author is a world expert on this topic, so these systems are highly optimised and often cheaper to play.

Number Generation Software

Random number generation is a science! It really isn't as easy it it sounds. Poor programming, and even use of certain programming languages can lead to number generation with a distinct bias.

Some lottery draws are now computer based, and no longer use the 'balls in a tumbler' approach. If you're generating random numbers for a real lottery draw you absolutely have to know that the software you are using is genuinely random. So they use all sorts of clever hardware based solutions which may include the use of various quantum effects such as thermal noise or the photoelectric effect to produce proper randomness.

In reality it probably doesn't really matter to most people just wanting to pick their own numbers to buy tickets. It's more important the actual draw is random of course!

If you're buying quick picks, you are probably getting properly random selections anyway. The lottery companies DO think if these things!

But if you're of a slightly more paranoid nature, you may want to get your random selections elsewhere, just in case there is a software based bias towards certain numbers. It if did happen, there is a small chance it could lead to more quick picks sharing a jackpot. And sharing a jackpot is not quite so nice when if it means sharing with hundreds of winners.

Some Options

• Our own online lottery number generator uses the current time to generate a new 'seed' every time it creates a random number. This pseudo-random number approach wouldn't be good enough for a lottery draw, but it suits the purpose here - that of generating numbers more randomly than when we try and pick our own.
• You can also try the Quick Picker from Random.org. You can then enjoy numbers with the added randomness of atmospheric noise!