Fortunately, it is not true. There is skill involved in 4D and best of all, it is not hard to learn!

To the inexperienced, it seems impossible. Choosing four numbers (0000-9999) would give you a 1 in 10000 chance of winning, whichever number you choose. So where is the skill since each number stands as high a chance as the next of being the winning number?

Let me illustrate with an anecdote …

Imagine many years ago, Mrs. K gave birth to a charming baby on the 12th of February. Her husband went to buy 4D a while later and guess what number he bought? Correct, 1202- 12th of February. When the 4D draw came, the first prize winning number was 1202. The price money was a million dollars. The K family was of course elated. One million dollars and a healthy son! Talk about double happiness …

However when Mr. K went to collect his million, he was shocked to find that there was a huge crowd, about a hundred, milling at the price collection counter. When his turn finally arrived, he was told that his prize money was a mere ten thousand dollars. A quick calculation revealed that one hundred people had also chosen the same combination as he.

While milling with the crowd, he found out who some of the other winners were. The majority belonged to those whose babies had been born on the same day as his son. Others included people whose addresses had #12-02. A few had witnessed a car accident and noted that the number of the damaged vehicle was 1202. He did not have the time to ask the rest as he was anxious to hurry home to his wife and inform her of the million that never was.

Got the moral of the story?

Yes, never buy a common number.

That is the basis of the skill involved in 4D. Given that every number stands an equal chance of winning, you should choose a number that is unlikely to be chosen by the rest of the 4D players so that you will get more money should your number win.

So what are these numbers?

Here, we go into the realm of deduction, mathematics and human psychology
From the story, you will realize that there are certain numbers to avoid. Most common are dates. 1202, 1505 and 2912 are all numbers that could have been dates. However, 3348, 1644 and 9111 have no such problems. Thus, choosing the latter set of numbers will be superior to choosing the former as if you do win, you won't have to share your booty with people who had momentous occasions on some date.

Next, from the story, was residence. In Singapore, the highest flats and condominiums are about 30 stories. Thus, having your first two digits greater than 31 should ensure that you do not share your prize money with any lucky residents. (This rule has the added benefit of there being at most 31 days in a month and thus ruling out contenders who buy 4D based on dates)

Then, was the car accident. Since car numbers range from to 9999, only by buying 0000 can you be sure to avoid these contenders. Since it is near impossible or impractical for you to know all the numbers of vehicles involved in car accidents, just avoiding buying the number of a crashed vehicle you saw would be sufficient or else you might have to share your prize with everyone who passed by the vehicle that day. Also, low numbers from 1 to 100 usually belong to the wealthy who most likely would not spend their afternoon queuing for 4D.

Next, I will introduce a certain group called psychological numbers.

Psychological numbers are numbers that certain humans, races, groups have an affinity too for no particular reason.

First are the superstitious numbers. Certain races have numbers that have positive or negative connotation. For example, Chinese like 8 and dislike 4. Westerners like 7 but disdain 13. From queuing at 4D, you should have realized that there are a lot more Chinese than Westerners playing 4D so buying numbers with 4 and avoiding 8 is a better strategy than buying 13 and avoiding 7. Always bear in mind who your contenders might be and that every number stands an equal chance of winning.

Besides single digits being lucky or unlucky, the Chinese have combinations that can translate to good or bad. For example, the combination 168 seems fairly innocuous. However, in some Chinese dialect, it actually means "one road to prosperity". Another combination is 118. Translated, it could become "everyday prosper". There are others but my Chinese and dialect is too poor to give you more. Ask your mom, she should know. Also, remember, Chinese are very superstitious so it would be worth your research!

I'm not sure of the lucky numbers of the other races and religions. This is where your research comes in. You could ask friends or do some counting yourself (i.e. the number of hands Krishna has, the number that was revealed in Revelations etc.)

The next group of psychological numbers is palindromes. Palindromes are characters that are the same frontwards and back. For example, take this phrase, "A man, A plan, A canal - Panama" and read it backwards letter for letter. Voila! It's exactly the same. Similarly for numbers, 1001, 2112 and 9889 are palindromic.

Humans have an affinity for symmetry. Best epitomized by William Blake's "Tyger Tyger burning bright/ In the forest of the night/ What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry". Look at the all the supermodels; almost perfect symmetry is one of their defining features. The tendency for humans to choose numbers that look "good", "nice" is rather strong and there is a high chance that a palindromic number might catch their fancy. Surely you don't want to share your prize with such aestheticists!

The final group is the weirdo group. If you said that you bought 0000, chances are you will be greeted with an amused chuckle. That is all the assurance you need that that guy is not your contender. I reiterate any number, no matter how weird, stands an equal chance of being selected by the unshakable mathematics law of probability. There are probably other weird groups of numbers that you will never buy (stuff like 6666). In fact, those are just the numbers you should be buying!

So now you know the basic strategy involved. To further your knowledge on what numbers to avoid, try, if it is not too offensive, asking other 4D buyers what numbers they bought and more importantly why. This way you can compile a list of popular numbers to avoid. This article is definitely not exhaustive!

Now, that I am near the end of dispensing my advice, you probably want to know my credentials. Well, I've never lost in 4D before… but that's because I've never played 4D before! This article is based on deduction, mathematics and psychology. Thus, you should follow the advise only at your own risk! I will definitely not be responsible for any numbers that might have won but was changed because you read this article. However, if you would like to treat me because you made a pile following the advice… hey, why not?


-the end-