Written by Ion Saliu on June 5, 2004; later updates.
• FileLines.EXE version 4.0 ~ September 2007 – Free scientific software for registered members.
• SortFilterReports.EXE ~ 2011 – Free lotto, lottery software for registered members.
• Sorting.EXE 17.0, February 2011 – Free scientific software for registered members.
1. The necessity of combining lotto, lottery strategy files
FileLines.EXE writes to disk the lines of specified indexes in a file, usually a strategy file created by the strategy checking functions. This represents one situation when working with LotWon and also MDIEditor And Lotto WE. For example: You created the WS files in the DOS LotWon (command prompt lottery software, such as Bright software packages). You also generated the statistical reports in MDIEditor & Lotto. You then created the lottery strategy file for the stats in MDIEditor And Lotto WE (GUI lottery and lotto software). You can't have one strategy file across the two platforms. You want to see the same line numbers in the WS files for a more comprehensive lottery strategy. That's when FileLines.EXE steps in.
The program cross-references strategy files, data files, any text files, for that matter. The user can decide what lines to cross-reference. It could be a prompt input, or a file input. The file input is the most convenient method. The input file consists of a series of numbers representing what lines to cross-reference in the source files. The source files can be the WS lotto filter files, and/or lottery data files (draws history).
Creating the input file is as easy as typing numbers: one by line, or several numbers per line. If a line has several numbers, commas or blank space(s) must separate the numbers. A line must always end with [Enter]. The last number of the line must not be followed by a comma or blank space(s). The file must not have any blank lines. These are, in fact, the requirements of the data files in LotWon (command prompt lottery software) and MDIEditor And Lotto WE.
The main purpose of FileLines.EXE is the cross-referencing of all filter files to create cross-platform lotto strategy files. Every lottery strategy file in LotWon and MDIEditor & Lotto has a column named 'Line Number'. It refers to the corresponding line in the data file at the time the WS filter files were created. We need a way to save the numbers in the 'Line No.' column to a text file (the input to FileLines.EXE).
2. Resources in combining lotto, lottery strategy files and generating strategies
Most LotWon users already know the shareware editor QEdit. It is a great program, albeit limited by the 16-bit DOS platform. The column-selecting feature is under the 'Block' menu ('mark column'). The shortcut is {Alt}K. Move the prompt in front of the column to select. If you know that the column is 4 digits wide but the first entry is only 2 digits wide, move the prompt two positions to the left. Press simultaneously {Alt}K and move the prompt to the end of the column (4 positions wide, this example). Do not select +/- at the end of the column. Press {Ctrl}J to 'go to line'. Type a number large enough to go to the last row of the column. The entire column was selected. Press {Alt}W to 'write' the selected block to a disk file. Save the new file. I add 'INP' to its name, to remember easier that it is an input file to FileLines.EXE.
I introduce now a great freeware application. It is meant primarily as a programmer's editor, but it can serve as a good text editor and file viewer for LotWon users. The free program's name is PSPad. It is the creation of a Czech programmer who lives in Plzen. Plzen makes, arguably, the best beer in the world! The program is available as a free download from the author's web site:
pspad.com text and HTML editor.
The column-selecting in PSPad is a little trickier. It only works if the word wrap is off. The feature is under the 'Edit' menu ('Selection Type', then 'Column Selection'. The shortcut is {Shift}{Ctrl}C. Move the insertion point at the beginning of the column so that you'll cover the column entirely. Hold the {Alt} key and left mouse button while moving the insertion point to the last row of the column. Press {Ctrl}C to copy the selection to clipboard. Open a new text file and press {Ctrl}V to paste the selection. Save the new input file to disk.
FileLines.EXE requires also source files. These are the filter files (WS in LotWon lottery software or the statistical reports in MDIEditor & Lotto). The entire operation can be very tricky, especially in the beginning. First of all, the length of the reports must be equal both in LotWon and MDIEditor & Lotto. If you did the statistical report in MDIEditor & Lotto for 500 drawings, then all four WS files in LotWon must be done for the same data file and for 500 draws.
Download also a sample input file: INP-FILE.TXT. It has 10 numbers, one per line; the largest number is 59. There is a duplicate number: 8. It is valid to write multiple copies of the same line.
FileLines.EXE needs to know in advance the number of lottery filter files to open. For example, you created the input file from an MDIEditor & Lotto strategy file for lotto-6. The 32-bit Bright6.exe creates 4 W6 files. The next step is very important. FileLines.EXE needs to know in advance the number of lines the header consists of. The source files (WS or filter files, in this example) can have headers. The headers represent all the lines before the first bit of filter analysis appears.
Here you have some header lengths in the FILTER files:
WS (32-bit DOS) = 13 lines in headers (18 lines in W3.7);
Strategy.? (MDIEditor & Lotto WE) = 10 lines in headers;
Skip?.1 = 13 lines in headers;
DATA* = 0 lines in headers (NO header, NOT filter files).
You can always open a report in a text editor and count the lines in the header, including blank lines.
The lottery strategy file in MDIEditor & Lotto WE with 10 lines in the header was created manually. The filter file automatically saved by MDIEditor & Lotto has no header. I do the statistical report. Go all the way down to the filter section. I select the entire section, including the header. I copy and paste to a new text file. I save it as the source file for FileLines.EXE.
You can open any number of filter (source) files to select lines from. Make sure that all filter files were generated for the same number of past lottery draws as the largest index in the input file. The source files must have headers of equal lengths. You ran, say, the program for the 4 W6 filter files created by SuperPower632.EXE lotto software. You generated one report file, e.g. ALL-STR6.1. You can run FileLines.EXE again using the data file as source. You want to know the actual lottery drawings corresponding to the lines in the strategy file. Parameters for FileLines.EXE: 'Number of source files': 1; 'Length of header': 0; report file: ALL-STR6.2. You can combine all report files in one, using a text editor.
You can type the corresponding indexes at the prompt. It is quick-and-easy if you already know the drawings in the strategy file. Otherwise, the best method is creating an input file.
FileLines.EXE can print selectively or randomly line numbers from any text files. You can generate random numbers using PermuteCombine.EXE. Generate, say, one number per line. If the text file you want to print lines from has 1000 lines, then the largest combination number is 1000; numbers per combination = 1. How many combinations to generate: a number between 1 and 1000. Save the input file.
I repeat, FileLines.EXE can be very tricky. It works with files very different from one another. I've been working with this lottery program for some time now. It gave me tons of errors. This program uses the most extensive error trapping in all my lotto and lottery software. Unexpected errors are still possible. The key is to know exactly the structure of the text files fed to FileLines.EXE. The files must be in text format. The source (lottery filter) files opened in one step must have headers of equal length and an equal number of lines. The largest number in the input file must be equal or less than the largest number of lines in the source files.
3. Advanced tips on creating lotto, lottery strategy files, strategies
The two text editors mentioned above can work well at creating pivot strategies. A pivot strategy consists of one filter as the key restriction. You can then add other filters to the pivot for a more restrictive strategy. Use the editors to select an entire column (including +/-) representing the pivot filter. Both editors have also a 'sort' feature. QEdit: 'Block', then 'Sort'; shortcut: F3. PSPad: “Edit', then 'Sort'.
• Important update February 2011
I wrote specialized software to automate the process of sorting the filters (or columns, or blocks of text). The program name is SortFilterReports.EXE.EXE. The lotto software sorts the W5, MD5, GR5, DE5, FE5, SK5 reports by column, helping the user see more easily the filters -- e.g. filters of wacky values. The sorting is done by type of winning reports. The lotto program also offers the correct choices (correct names) for filters to sort. Similar programs handle other lotto formats, especially the 6-number lotto game — components of the Bright.exe software suites.
Indubitably, the best sorting software in the world is Sorting.exe. It can sort text files and also numeric files by column. Options: F = Sort Files as Text Lines and C = Sort Columns (Numeric & Text).
If you sort in ascending order, the pivot filter will start at 0 (usually) and end with the largest value the filter has taken. If you want to use the filter as the 'maximum', select a range of values starting at 0. If there are more than 2 zeroes in 100 draws, then a pivot strategy would be Max_Filter=1.
If you want to use the lottery filter as the 'minimum', select a range of values starting at the bottom of the column. If there are more than 2 higher in 100 draws, then a pivot strategy would be Min_Filter = High_Value.
If you want to use BOTH the 'minimum' and the 'maximum' levels of a lottery filter, go somewhere to the median zone of the sorted column. For example, a value in that area that repeats: 50. Set min_Filter = 50 AND Max_Filter = 51. It is a very tight filter setting. IF such filter setting does not yield any lotto combinations, look for another one; e.g. 51.
You can be more restrictive and select values that only occurred once in 1000 drawings. That's for the patient type. Such restrictive pivot strategies may not generate a combination in many runs.
The pivot strategy will show how many other filters fared in the same lottery drawings. Several filters can be added to the key filter. The combined strategy will be much more powerful.
People do not want to share their lotto strategies. You don't, either. I have received numerous lottery strategies by email. I have been given permission to publish only the weak strategies, in most cases. If the author believes that the lottery strategies are really good, they are for my eyes only! Some people send me good lottery strategies because I am a fair guy. I reward the authors of good lottery / gambling strategies, or ideas of good strategies. I made FileLines.EXE freeware in part because of requests, in part as a reward. I am aware how valuable tool this program is!
The main goal of those who appear willing to share lottery strategies is to get something much better in exchange. Usually, the detection of triggers is the most sought after item. That's the best guarded secret!
I do not publish strategies any more. In 2001, I made public my strategies, including trifectas, one day before the Belmont Stakes. What I did was, actually, playing against myself! Read more: Generosity and Stupidity: Strategy, Systems, Gambling, Lottery, Lotto.
4. Ion Saliu's Paradox and Lotto, Lottery Strategy Selection
My lottery and gambling software is based on mathematics. I don't believe in anything IF it doesn't have a formula. IF something doesn't have an obvious formula, then data must show relative but clear movement. This was my rule right from start. I didn't fool myself — and I didn't fool you, O wise gamer. You can see how the gambling strategies are founded in the above presentation.
There is a formula now. It proves that certain patterns appear more frequently in data series, while other patterns go through a delay. It's self evident that the pick 3 lottery numbers show discrepancy in their frequency. Some lottery numbers repeat several times in a segment of the history, while other numbers are no-shows. Just an example. If the individual probability is expressed as p=1/N and we repeat the event a number of trials N, it is proven that the degree of certainty tends to 1-1/e when N tends to infinity. This is now known as Ion Saliu's Paradox of N Trials. The probability paradox is presented mathematically on these pages:
"Theory of Probability: Best introduction, formulae, algorithms, software" and
"The Mathematical Foundation of the Fundamental Formula of Gambling".
If I play 1 pick-3 straight combination for 1000 drawings, my chance (degree of certainty) to hit the winning combination is approximately 0.632 (63.2%). On the other hand, if I play all 1000 pick-3 numbers in one draw, the chance is 100% that I'll hit the winning number. Of course, I still lose money because of the (monstrous) house edge. Things look very different now. The gain is 100 – 63.2 = approximately 37% when playing all the combinations in one drawing as opposed to playing one combination in 1000 draws.
Let's say one persistent pick-3 lottery player plays 10 tickets (straight combinations) each and every day of the year. The individual probability is now p=10/1000 = 1/100. The total cost amounts to 3650. What is the probability to hit at least one winning combination in one year (365 trials)? You can run my freeware SuperFormula.EXE, option 'L – At Least M Successes in N Trials'. The degree of certainty is 97.4%. It's not 100% yet! It's for real that none of 10 numbers you select hits on a particular day. But let's consider the degree of certainty 100% — therefore one success. Meanwhile, if I play 1000 lottery tickets a draw in 3 drawings, I'll be assured of 3 successes.
There is a clear advantage of playing selectively. There is a mathematical advantage of playing lottery strategies as outlined at this web site. There is an indisputable advantage in skipping lottery draws and saving the money for playing selectively relatively few drawings. This is the worst type of gambling in general: Spread one's bankroll over relatively long sessions. Casino gambling, in general, doesn't allow playing selectively. If you are at the table, you must play every roulette spin, the player is warned. But the player is allowed to increase the bet — the smart gamblers do so at rare but optimal moments.
The lotto and lottery strategies that can be applied with my software follow Ion Saliu's Paradox of N Trials. The player waits for special moments when a strategy has a higher probability to come to life. The player does not play every drawing. Money is saved; the increased bankroll is spent more efficiently on occasions that prove to have a mathematical advantage.
I do not imply that every player will win every time he/she applies my gambling strategies or runs my lottery software! Only the fanatics believe in absolute certainty. There is no 100% guarantee in the Universe. But I do make a strong case of using strategies: Vive la diférence! Humans have always looked for the most advantageous moments to take action. To those who experience frustration using my lottery software I can say this: “You have been deceived by those who sold you “ease of use”. They sold you a placebo. Lottery and gambling are very complicated phenomena. One can't predict the weather by simply looking at the sky and tell the audience in seconds The weather will be nice! Furthermore, I don't think any other piece of software is more logically thought-out and organized than my lottery, lotto, gambling software.
There is one change in the process of creating lottery strategies. I advised on using the median as the measure. I advise now on using the Saliusian cycle as the foundation. The cycle is N as in p = 1 / N. The WS reports in my software calculate the median, but not the N in p=1/N. You can approximate N as 1.5 times the median in the WS reports. I am looking, for example, at the 'Total” filter in the pick-3 lottery. I see a median of 690; I can approximate 1/N as 1/1000. Next, I select a strategy with the pivot 'Total” equal to a high value: 3000 or 3500. The values approximate a filter value of 4 to 5 times the median. It's better to select at least two lottery strategies that show current streaks under the respective medians.
The probability is much lower that both strategies will go simultaneously through long losing streaks. I only care to be successful with just one lottery strategy. What if both hit at the same time? In general, that doesn't happen, because I purge the output file. I avoid playing the same lotto combination more than once.
Resources in Lotto, Lottery Software, Wheeling.
See a comprehensive directory of the pages and materials on the subject of lottery, lotto, software, systems, and wheels. The link is displayed in a new window. If the page content is of interest to you, copy-and-paste to that lottery page of yours: SaliuLottery.txt or something similar. Copy as much as you can in that text file. By editing that page in your own words will result in a very effective lottery manual.
Remember to check the software download site:
Socrates Home 
Search Site 
Help on Lottery Software 
Random Generator, Odds Calculator 
New Writings, Pages 
Sitemap, Content