The invention is the "Darkhorse" method of selecting the winning number in a multiple number selection lottery contest, (a so-called "numbers game"). Instead of randomly selecting the winning number at the close of play by use of a random number generating device, the winning number is declared to be, by rule of the game, that number upon which the least amount of money will be wagered during the course of the game. In case of a tie, the lowest number played least is declared to be the winning number. As the game proceeds, numbers, as they are played, are entered into the memory of a digital computer programmed to sort the numbers, tally the amounts wagered on each number, and feed back to the lottery wager-entry terminals the identity of the lowest number played least and such other information as the contest operator may choose to disclose to wagerers as the game progresses. (The contest operator may choose to conduct the game "blind," that is without any feedback of any information to the wagerers during the course of the game.) At the close of play the contest operator immediately discloses the lowest number played least during the contest. Using this winning number selection method a lottery operator will never have to pay out in winnings any more money than the operator took in as wagers. As a variation of this method of number selection, wagerers may be offered the option of "unplaying" a number, thus reducing that number's score in the game and enhancing that number's chance of being the winning number. Each "unplay" of a number costs the "unplayer" an amount of money established by rule of the game, at least equal to the amount of a positive wager placed on that number, but it does not give the "unplayer" an additional chance at winning. Using the "unplay" option enhances interest in the contest by making it more interactive, but it also exposes the lottery operator to the possibility that it will have to pay out in winnings an amount of money in excess of the amount taken in as wagers.