Iowa Lottery Pick 3 Boxes(numbers in any order) Data

The Chance of Winning with a Iowa Lottery Pick 3 box (any order).

Since there are 220 possible outcomes, one may be tempted to conclude that the chance winning in a Pick 3 box is 1 in 220. This is not exactly true since not all boxes have equal chances of winning; numbers with non-repeating digits have a better chance of winning than numbers with one digit repeated. For example, the number 123 has a better chance of winning than the number 122. The reason is that 123 covers six possible combinations (123, 132, 213, 231, 312, 321), while 122 covers only three (122, 212, 221).

Consequently, we shall classify all the Pick 3 numbers into three categories, namely, Non-repeating numbers, Doubles (one-repeat) numbers, and Triples. Very often, non-repeat and one-repeat boxes are referred to as 6-way and 3-way boxes (or combos), respectively.

Of the 1000 Pick 3 numbers 720 are non-repeat, 270 one-repeat, and 10 triples. This means that out of 100 draws, we should theoretically expect 72 non-repeat numbers (72%), 27 one-repeats (27%), and 1 triple (1%). The chance of winning with a non-repeat box (or combo), such as the number 123, is about 1 in 167; while the chance of winning with a one-repeat box, such as 122, is about 1 in 333. The chance of winning with a triple is the same as the chance of winning with any other straight number - that is, 1 in 1000.

Iowa Lottery Pick 3 Box Analysis Results and Summary by Category

There are 120 distinct non-repeat Pick 3 boxes and 90 one-repeat. All the possible boxes of the Iowa Lottery Pick 3 game are listed below by category together with the number of times drawn (ND) and the number of draws since last appearance (NDSLA). But, prior that we shall list some analysis results to show how the actual data are close to the theoretical expectations cited above.

Although we cannot comment on how close the actual data are to the theoretical data right at this moment (since all figures are updated after every draw), we were amazed to see a perfect harmony between the two at the time of writing of these pages.

See Iowa Lottery Pick 3 Boxes (Combos) Analysis for a more elaborate analysis of boxes.

Non-repeat Numbers (Total 120)ND = Number of times Drawn, NDSLA = Number of Draws Since Last Appearance

Doubles (Total 90)ND = Number of times Drawn, NDSLA = Number of Draws Since Last Appearance

Triples (Total 10)ND = Number of times Drawn, NDSLA = Number of Draws Since Last Appearance