Pick 3 Numbers – How To Play And Win The Pick 3 Lottery

I recently received an email from a person who wanted to know about my Pick 3 Lottery System, but had never played the Pick 3 Lotto. So I thought I go over the basics of the Pick 3 Lotto for everybody who is not familiar with the rules of the Pick 3 lottery game.

The Pick 3 Lottery offers the player one thousand winning sets of 3-digit numbers ranging from 000 to 999. These numbers are drawn by a computer generated device or through three mechanical devices, one for each of the three digits. Each machine holds ten (10) separate balls each one numbered 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

As a Pick 3 Lotto player, each set of the three digit drawn Pick 3 number can be played to match the exact order, called “Straight” play or played to match the three digits in any order, namely “Box” play. There is also a play known as a Combination Ticket where the player plays his/her number both Straight and Box on the same Ticket. These are the most common plays offered by all Pick 3 lotteries.

If the player plays “123” for a Straight win, the winning drawn Pick 3 number must be “123” to have a winning Ticket. In most Lotteries the pay off is $500 for one $1 wager with a purchase of a Straight Ticket.

If the player plays a “Box “Ticket and if any of the following winning sets of Pick 3 numbers are drawn straight forms: 123, 132, 213, 231, 312, or 321, and the player played “123” with a “Box” Ticket, then he or she has a winning Box Ticket. In most Pick 3 Lotteries one $1 Box wager pays $80 for this type of Pick 3 number. Some Pick 3 lotteries offer a minimum ticket play for fifty cents on singular straight or singular box tickets with payouts of $250 and $40 respectively.

Each State Lottery sets up different rules and regulations for playing Pick 3 numbers that begins with the name of their Pick 3 Lottery Game, what kinds of wagering are permitted, what the payouts on each winning ticket are, how many drawings per day and times of each draw, and how much time is allowed to cash a winning ticket.

Each State sets the payouts independently of each other. Except for the pari-mutuel system that divides all the wager money equally among all the winning ticket holders much like the racetracks do. The majority of lotteries set a fixed payout that every winning ticket holder receives for all types of Pick 3 tickets: Straight, Box, and Combination based on the odds of the game.

Generally, for one $1 wager one Straight win pays $500. Some States may provide a higher payout, for example, Iowa and Nebraska pay $600. There are ten “triples” where all three digits match….111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 666, 777, 888, 999, and 000. These ten triples can only be played as a Straight ticket.

The Box ticket payout has two categories. The first category is when all three digits are different, referred as “6-way”….123, 345, 789, etc, with a payout of $80 for one $1 Box ticket. The second category is when two of the three digits match, referred as “3-way”….112, 343, 788, etc (known as a “double”). The payout for this category is $160 for one $1 Box ticket.

The other wagers are known as “Pair Bets” where you wager on the exact order of the first two digits (front pair) or the last two digits (back pair). Some states offer a “split pair” where you wager on the digits in the first and third positions exactly.

The “Sum Bet” wagers on the total of all three digits with payouts based on the totals coming out with these number combination. They range from “0” for “000” to “27” for “999”.

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