Pick 4 Lotto Games

Pick 4 lottery games are very popular with lottery players and although the jackpots don't come close to those offered by Powerball or Mega Millions Pick 4 lotto games offer players significantly better odds than most lottery games. Pick 4 lottery games are easy to play-players select four numbers from 1 through 9. There are three ways players can play their pick 4 lotto numbers-

Straight-Match All four numbers in exact order

Box-Match all four numbers in any order

Straight/Box-Match all four numbers in exact or any order.

Players can select their own pick 4 numbers or can use the 'quick pick' option available at lottery retailers. Players who use the quick pick option will have their numbers selected by a random number generator. Most state lotteries allow players to play several pick 4 lotto games on one ticket. The number of games allowed varies from state to state. In most states pick 4 lottery tickets are only $1 dollar and there are approximately 10,000 possible combinations. Some states use a pari-mutuel system for their pick 4 lotto games. Under a pari mutual system the jackpot is based on the amount of money bet on a pick 4 drawing. Some of these pari mutual pick 4 draw jackpots can be quite large.

Most lottery experts advise pick 4 players to play as many combinations as possible. For example using 1234 as the numbers, players should also play 2341, 1243, 4321 and so on. This will greatly enhance the player's chances of winning the pick 4 draw. Although the largest prizes go to those tickets with the numbers in exact order smaller [prizes can be as much as $500 which is not bad for a $1 dollar lotto ticket. Many states allow players to play pick 4 lotto games for $.50 cents. Payoffs for $.50 cent tickets are half the one dollar ticket payoff rates. States offering the $.50 cent option include Illinois, New York, Florida Texas and several other states.

There are several free pick 4 lottery systems available online. Although lotteries are random and pure games of chance many systems track winning numbers and so called 'hot' numbers in an attempt to give players an advantage in picking probable pick 4 numbers. Pick 4 lotto games offer players the chance to win a substantial amount of money for a very small investment. Who couldn't use a couple of thousand dollars in difficult economic times?