Experts target “this number” for the “milestone” of “Numbers 4,” which finally reaches 7,000 times.

The “theoretical value” of a straight number is 900,000 yen.

The “Numbers 4” lottery, which started on October 7, 1994, will mark its 7,000th run on June 8.

With the number exceeding 70% of the winning odds (1 in 10,000), numbers that have yet to appear are beginning to be highlighted, and the number of new fans aiming for a one-shot win of one million yen is increasing.

The reason for the popularity of Numbers 4 is its casual “obi-seki” style. Lottery advisor Masahiro Nagatoshi explains.

It is a very simple lottery, and all you have to do is choose your favorite four-digit number from among the numbers 0000 to 9999. The odds of winning a straight ticket (hitting the jackpot in the correct order) are 1 in 10,000, and one unit costs 200 yen. In addition to lottery ticket offices, tickets can also be purchased online at the official lottery website, at ATMs of some banks, and at some convenience stores. The lottery is open almost year-round, except for four days during the year-end and New Year holidays (December 31-January 3), when sales and redemption are not available. There are five lottery draws every week, Monday through Friday, and I look forward to watching the live broadcast of the lottery draws (from 6:45 p.m. on the lottery’s official website) on my way home from work on weekdays.

The lottery goes on sale until 6:30 p.m. on the day of the lottery drawing, and there are three types of four numbers: “Straight,” in which winners are selected in the correct order; “Box,” in which winners are selected in any order; and “Set,” which consists of a straight 100 yen ticket plus a box 100 yen (refunds are available for “Straight,” “Box,” “Set Box” and “Set Box” tickets). (Refunds are available in four types: “Straight,” “Box,” “Straight,” “Set/Box,” and “Set/Box.

However, since the winning amount varies greatly depending on the number of winning units, the key point is to choose the right numbers.

The “theoretical value” of the winning amount is approximately 900,000 yen for a straight with a 1 in 10,000 chance of winning, and 37,500 yen for a box with 24 in 10,000 chances, such as “0123” (called a single), in which all four numbers are different. The box is called “single”. By the way, a double such as “0012” (two digits The expected value of a double (two identical digits) such as “0012” is 75,000 yen, a double-double (two identical sets) such as “0011” is 150,000 yen, and a triple (three digits identical) such as “0001” is 225,000 yen.)

For example, the highest ever straight dividend was 2,717,700 yen for the 8th “7507” on November 25, 1994. Conversely, the smallest payout was 156,600 yen for the 19th “1013” on January 24, 1995.

The smallest amount was the 19th “1013” on January 25, 1995, which brought in 156,600 yen. In May, the lottery won 1,596,700 yen (7 units) on the 1st, and 162,500 yen (532 units) on the 15th.

Surprisingly, the same number (10 ways) of “7777” is not expected to bring high dividends.

In the past, the number of zoromei that appeared was “0” = 1 time, “1” = 2 times, “2” = 1 time, “5” = 1 time, “7” = 2 times, and “8” = 1 time, for a total of 8 times. However, the highest price was 313,000 yen for “7” and the lowest was 184,400 yen for “8,” well below the theoretical value.

At this point, there are four unexploited zoromei: “3,” “4,” “6,” and “9,” but I personally would not buy them because it seems highly likely that regular fans are targeting them (laughs).

So, how do you aim for a zoro that exceeds the theoretical value?

8 times over 1 million yen in May

When we asked Mr. Nagatoshi, who has often hit the “straight box” target with “set” purchases in the past, about his style, he replied, “Until about four years ago, I was aiming for high dividends with triples (triple-digit identical),

He said, “Until about four years ago, I used to aim for a high payout with a triple (triple digits are the same). At first glance, this may seem low, but in reality, there are 360 ways (4 x 9 x 10), which is 9 times out of 250. However, there are still six triples (0002, 1110, 2226, 5554, 8884, and 9994) that have not appeared even in the box (in no particular order), and I am beginning to feel that it is tough to aim for high payouts with triples. In fact, last month, “9998” popped up on the 5th and “1411” on the 18th, but the straight dividends were 743,600 yen and 427,800 yen, respectively.

Many of the regular fans of Numbers 4 often make continuous purchases online or buy up to 10 times (for two weeks) at once, and as the number reaches the milestone of 7,000 times, it appears that the tendency to not expect even higher payouts for numbers that have not yet appeared on the Zoro or Triple lines is becoming even stronger.

I basically aim for a double (two of the same number in four) and buy at least one of the four worst numbers in a past survey of “favorite numbers” conducted by the lottery’s official website: “0, 4, 6, and 9. Incidentally, in May, I targeted “9289” with a double of “99” as the core. As a result, “99” appeared twice, but the opponents were “3 and 1” and “7 and 4,” and I was sunk (tears).

In May, there were eight straight one-million-yen overs, five of which were doubles (two of the same number).

Finally, we asked Mr. Nagatoshi what he was aiming for the 7,000th time.

He said, “Looking at the winning numbers of the past six lottery numbers, I’d say ‘6771’ with a double of ’77,’ and the June winning numbers of the past three years. And ‘2346,’ which I chose by totaling the June numbers for the past three years. I’d like to keep aiming for both of those during the month of June.”

There are several sites on the Internet where you can check whether or not a number has appeared in the past, so you may search for the four-digit number you want to aim for and check the past appearances before you buy it.