The point of the H1B lottery is that these are supposed to be highly specialized positions that are hard to fill with US workers. The main point of the H1B program is to discourage companies from importing workers to the disadvantage of US workers. If you want to see what can happen, one very large US company is allegedly in the process of hiring in H1Bs to replace current US employees - which needless to say, is actually illegal, you aren't supposed to REPLACE a US worker with an H1B.

The number available is Congressionally mandated at 85K - 20K with advanced degrees and 65K in the general category, and without actually looking, the number of applications is around 230K. There are certain positions that are cap-exempt. If OP was working for a non-profit, government, or certain other research places, then he could file to be exempt.

There is a max of 6 years on an H1B before they have to file for a change of status or leave the US to reset the clock on the visa.

Now, this is as opposed to the H2B category, which is supposed to be a seasonal non-agricultural workers hard to fill in the US, often found at season theme parks or restaurants. This is capped at 66K workers, and it's often a point of contention that companies don't try to fill them locally first (they are supposed to show that they've tried) The amusement park near me has a group of Irish workers that come every year.