Lotto checker not working.

Blitzkrieger

Anybody else notice the lotto number checker on the lotto.ie site doesn't work? I put in last wednesday's winning numbers and it came up with zilch. I'd hate to be the poor fecker who throws away a winning ticket because of that thing

Flukey

If you know anything about programming, write your own Lotto checker program. That is what I did.

Lenny

Who do you do? put in your line of numbers and the date and it checks them?
I don't like using those lottocheckers in te spars either, doesn't feel like its properly being check, bestway anual.

Flukey

On a Wednesday and Saturday night I sit at my PC, which has a portable TV near it. On my PC I have a database with my list of chosen numbers. When the Lotto comes on I run my program and all my lines are displayed onscreen. As each number is called out I type it into the program. It then checks all the lines and if it finds a matching number it changes its colour and background and over at the end of the line the number of matched numbers so far on that line are displayed. If enough numbers on the line are matched that number will also change colour to highlight that it is now a winning line. As soon as the last number is typed in I know immediately if I have won anything or not, without having to check my ticket, while other people might spend ages trying to check their numbers manually. It accepts the Bonus Number, but if a line does not have at least 3 numbers matched it does not even check for a matching number in the line, as it is irrelevant. If a line is eligible and it matches the bonus the bonus number in the line is highlighted in a different colour.

When each of the second and third draws are started the numbers are again listed as normal with all in their original colour and the counter for each line set back to 0. When all the draws are over it lists any wins that I have, if any. Most of the prizes are either fixed or within a range, so I also get it to tell me what type of win it is e.g. "Match 4 + Bonus" and the prize range it is in, so I have an idea of what I can expect to get. It checks for all the draws and knows the difference between them. Some people don't realise that the Lotto Plus 1 draw gives you a win for 3 numbers only, but the other two draws don't. My program is designed to differentiate between the different draws so it will pick up that fact and signal a win for 3 numbers in that draw only.

As I type the numbers in, it checks to ensure they are between 1 and 42 inclusive and won't let me type in a number outside that range. It won't let me type in the same number twice either. As the numbers are typed in they are also displayed in two lines on the screen. One shows them in the order they come out and one in ascending order. At the very end all 3 winning sets are displayed again, so that I can write them down if someone else is checking their tickets or just to have them or whatever.

I originally wrote the programme years ago, as I ran a syndicate at work and it was better to check them this way than having to do it manually, as first of all we had a lot of lines and of course there was always a chance that I might miss something. I know my program will correctly check the numbers for me and I can have it work for lots of lines, as it did when I rang the syndicate, or just for a few lines for myself as it does now. Over the years I have modified it on a number of occasions. Sometimes this was because the Lotto changed, like when they added in the extra draws. Sometimes I changed it just to add extra features, like showing me the prize categories, which I only did last year.

Each time I buy a ticket I just have to change the numbers in my database, though apart from a few Quick Pick lines, I use the same numbers each week, so it is a simple job. I don't have it set up to keep a record of drawn numbers over a period of time. I also wrote another little program to generate 6 random numbers like the Quick Pick does, but I don't have one that can predict the winning numbers. I have another one that can check all the lines in my database and tell me how many times I have each number, so it might tell me that I have 17 on two lines or that I don't have 35 at all or whatever. I never really use that as I only have a few lines, but it was a nice little task to set myself.

Before you ask, my Lotto Checking program is for my own use only and I am not going to give you a copy. It would be a nice challenge for any of you budding programmers out there to try and write your own. It uses a dBase database and is written in a language called Clipper, neither of which are very common now. If I ever win the Jackpot, don't call me either.

Flukey

Here is a sample screenshot of my program: