Let's delve into Pick-4 combinatorics.

This site is a reference guide to all combination components of a Pick-4 system with a number set 0 to 9. Strategies are not discussed here since there are so many great strategies available on the web, from software to people sharing. What it will do, is provide a detailed reference guide to all things Pick-4. If you're interested in learning more about the combinatorial strategies used in Pick-4 games, THE PICK-4 REFERENCE GUIDE: The Combinatorial Structure book offers in-depth insights and could be a great resource to further explore.

Lotteries provide odds of winning and in most cases, only an overall view of the prize tiers which is what most people focus on. In a Pick-4 system, there is only 1:10,000 to win using a “Straight” bet type and 1:715 to win using a “Boxed” bet type. There is so much more to this and the goal here is to play smarter.

The Combinatorics of Pick-4 games are a finite set of 10,000 possible combinations from 0000 to 9999. This site breaks down the following:

• The most probable Sums, Sum occurrences and percentage of total.


• Most probable Odd (O) vs Even (E) combinations. Odd numbers are any number that cannot be evenly divided by 2 leaving a remainder and even numbers are evenly divisible by 2 leaving no remainder. Odd numbers are: 1,3,5,7,9 and Even numbers are 0,2,4,6,8. These formats will be presented as OOEE=Odd Odd High High. A good example of this is 5326, where 5 and 3 are odd numbers and 2 and 6 are even numbers.


• Most probable Low (L) vs high (H) combinations. Low numbers are 0 to 4 and high numbers are 5 to 9, which will be presented as LLHH=Low low High High. A good example of this is 3298, where 3 and 2 are low numbers and 9 and 8 are high numbers.


• Most probable number characteristic Curly (c) vs Line (L) combinations. Curl/curled numbers are numbers without any straight lines (0,3,6,8,9) and line/lined numbers are numbers with straight lines.


• Knowing how many versions of one combination produces can help decide whether to play a Straight, Boxed or Combo bet type. A combination like 2224 produces an additional three versions: 2242, 2422, and 4222.

The goal is to provide a reference and a decision-making tool, that is easy to use, to read and to understand when deciding on combinations to play.

The pie charts on the right show occurrences for each format. Clicking on them displays the actual number of occurrences.