A lottery pick advising system includes a user-operable computing device having a screen, camera, processor, and memory comprising code of an application computer program, the code configured to: (a) as part of an identity authentication session of the program, operate the computing device to, during the authentication session, capture, for identity authentication: an image of a fingerprint of the user, an image of the user's face with the camera such that the user's face is facing the screen, or both types of images; (b) offer, onscreen, the user a full-price upfront option of paying in full upfront in exchange for receiving from a lottery pick advising service a suggestion as to, from among a set of lottery numbers possibly drawable in a particular upcoming lottery drawing, what one or more subsets of the lottery numbers to play as respective one or more picks in the drawing and (c) offer as an onscreen alternative a contingency fee arrangement of at a reduced price upfront and/or free-of-charge upfront receiving the suggestion for which compensation is owed if he wins. The captured images may aid in tracking and/or identifying the user to assure fulfillment of the contingency fee arrangement.