Lucky numbers: Choice strategies in the Pennsylvania Daily Number game

Abstract

We examined the amount of money bet during a week of Pennsylvania’s Daily Number game. In this game, players receive a predetermined payoff for picking the 3-digit number (000 to 999) drawn on that day. The betting distribution was distinctly nonuniform, and we identified several betting patterns, such as picking triples and avoiding double 9s. In addition, we asked separate groups of subjects to rate selected numbers for randomness, luckiness, and perceived history of winning; to categorize numbers; and to free associate to numbers. We propose that people seem to choose highly patterned, available, and/or “lucky” numbers. People apparently do not bet numbers that reflect the random process of the game (they do not utilize a representativeness heuristic). © 1989, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.