Mega Millions: 290 million reasons to use these apps

The Mega Millions jackpot is still up for grabs at $290 million and counting, one of the biggest jackpots ever. You may have the numbers you’re loyal to, but some of us are fairly random about it. As with everything, there’s an app for that.

If you’re in one of the 42 states -- yes, California is one -- then you can take a chance.

The game is simple, as Rene Lynch at the Nation Now blog explains: “Players pick six numbers from two different pools: The first five are numbers from 1 to 56, and the sixth is chosen from numbers 1 to 46. You win by matching all six numbers.”

But how to pick the numbers? Here are a few apps that can help with that.

LottoPicks: This free app allows you to set your country to either Canada or the United States and then pick your state. You can find the latest results for your state’s lotteries, which also include the jackpot total, the date of the next draw as well as the winning numbers. You can set it to store your lucky numbers and pick the remaining ones randomly or have them all turn up randomly. It lets you save up to your latest 10 picks.The app is available for Android and iPhone/iPad.

Lotto Pro: This app also generates quick picks. The site says the app can identify ball number trends -- such as frequently chosen or overdue numbers -- and generates quick picks based on those trends. It also does the work of matching your winning numbers and auto-calculating your winnings. But work doesn’t come for free. It comes in both Android and iPhone (99 cents) flavors. (The free iPhone version only gives results.)

Mega Millions: If you’re in the mood again to spend that dollar that could have gone toward your chance at millions on an app, here’s another for you. It gives you the current information for the Mega Millions lottery as well as the historical data. Either shake it or tap “Go!” and it’ll spin up a random set of numbers for you to play. And it lets you plug in your numbers so you can see how your fared after the draw. This one is for iPhones.

The only thing these apps won’t do is go out and buy the ticket for you. Friday is the next draw for the Mega Millions jackpot.

Your chances of hitting all six numbers? Oh, about 1 in 175,711,536. Good luck with that.

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Original source: Mega Millions: 290 million reasons to use these apps