How to Improve Your Odds of Winning the Lottery
Players are always looking for new ways to improve their odds of winning a lottery jackpot, but while there is no guaranteed way to land the top prize (other than buying every possible combination) there are a number of tactics that might prove useful. Follow these eight handy tips if you would like to find out how to increase your chances of winning the lottery.
1) Play Lottery Games with Shorter Odds
Playing a lottery with shorter odds of winning the jackpot will certainly help boost your chances of success. While the likelihood of securing the Powerball jackpot stands at over 292 million to one, opting to play a game such as New Zealand Lotto makes more sense as the chances of landing the top prize are just over 3.8 million to one. The prize on offer may not be record-breaking, but you are far more likely to win an impressive sum of money.
Check out the lotteries that offer the best chances of winning the jackpot:
| Lottery | Odds of Winning the Jackpot | Prize Value |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa Pick 3 | 1 in 1,000 | Fixed R10,000 |
| New Jersey Cash 5 | 1 in 962,598 | Starts at $75,000 |
| New Zealand Lotto | 1 in 3,838,380 | Fixed $1 million |
| Australia Monday/Wednesday/ Saturday Lotto | 1 in 8,145,060 | Fixed $1 million ($4 million on Saturdays) |
| Irish Lotto | 1 in 10,737,573 | Starts at €2 million |
| New Jersey Pick 6 | 1 in 13,983,816 | Starts at $2 million |
| Canada Lotto 6/49 | 1 in 13,983,816 | Starts at $5 million |
Another way to increase your chances of winning a prize is to play a lottery that offers more favourable odds on lower rewards. For example, while playing Powerball could land you a huge prize in a lower tier, EuroMillions is able to boast far better overall odds. The rewards may not be as large, but you stand a better chance of reclaiming your entry fee.
If you are looking for a good chance of receiving a return on the cost of your ticket, these lotteries are well worth playing:
| Lottery | Odds |
|---|---|
| French Loto | 1 in 5.99 |
| Canada Lotto Max | 1 in 6.6 |
| Canada Lotto 6/49 | 1 in 6.6 |
| Illinois Lotto | 1 in 7.36 (Extra Shot odds: 1 in 5.68) |
| UK Lotto | 1 in 9.3 |
| EuroMillions HotPicks | 1 in 10 |
| EuroMillions | 1 in 13 |
| Mega Millions | 1 in 15 |
2) Play Games with Guaranteed Prizes
While many of the biggest lottery games in the world have longer odds of winning the jackpot, several do offer supplementary games which boast guaranteed prizes.
For example, the odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot stand at 1 in 139,838,160, but there are a number of additional draws that can be played alongside the main game, including the UK Millionaire Maker which presents two players with £1 million in every draw. As it works like a raffle, the odds of winning differ from draw to draw, with a Tuesday draw featuring a low jackpot total usually proving the best time to play as there are fewer other competitors. Visit the EuroMillions Prizes page for more details about which participating countries offer guaranteed wins.
3) Play Games with Additional Extras
Some lotto games offer optional extras that can help increase the value of your prize. By opting to include one of these extras, you may pay more for your entry, but your chances of winning a bigger reward significantly increase.
For example, playing Powerball offers ticket holders the opportunity to select Power Play, an additional game that can increase the value of most non-jackpot prizes by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or even 10x its original worth. If a player wins a prize, there is a 1 in 43 chance that their prize will be multiplied by ten, providing the jackpot total in under $150 million, while the odds on other prize amounts being gained are even more favourable. For more information on how Power Play could improve your win, visit the Powerball Prizes page.
4) Use a Random Number Generator
Using a random number generator can help you avoid falling into the trap of selecting the same digits as other players. As so many entrants choose their numbers based on special dates such as birthdays and anniversaries, exclusively selecting numbers under 31 can hamper your chances of claiming an entire jackpot prize. By generating your numbers, you can play a completely random set of digits and decrease your chances of having to share the jackpot. Take the Random Number Generator for a spin.
5) Join a Syndicate
Joining a lottery syndicate (or lottery pool) allows you to play a large number of tickets for a much smaller individual contribution. Should your group win a prize, the reward is split fairly, depending on which members of the syndicate have contributed the most money. As more tickets are being played, the likelihood of your group securing the jackpot, or even a number of prizes in the lower tiers, is also dramatically increased.
Creating a syndicate is easy and can be done from home or at work. Simply gather together family members, friends or co-workers and draw up a syndicate agreement detailing how any winnings will be shared, what happens if someone misses a payment, whether you will go public with a jackpot win and other considerations. Each member of the collective then pays a pre-determined fee and one of the group is charged with buying the tickets and collecting the winnings.
You can even join an online syndicate. This eliminates the need to collect fees and purchase tickets, as a lottery representative takes care of this for you.
In January 2017, a group of co-workers from Dublin, Ireland landed a EuroMillions jackpot of €88.5 million after playing as part of a syndicate. The eight-figure prize remains one of the biggest lottery wins in the nation’s history.
6) Use a Lottery System
Using a lottery system can help increase your chances of winning a prize. Also known as lottery wheeling, this tactic allows you to select every single number in a lottery’s matrix by spreading the digits across multiple tickets. Read on to find out more about how using a lottery system could help you win big.
Consecutive Number Approach
One way of improving your odds is to buy enough entries to include every possible number used in the game you play. For example, UK Lotto uses a 6 from 59 matrix which would require you to buy ten entries to cover all 59 possible numbers. If you were to enter your numbers in consecutive order your nine lines might look something like this:
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06
07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54
55, 56, 57, 58, 59, ??
The question mark in the tenth line should be replaced with whatever number you prefer because all numbers have already been used once.
Mixed number approach
An alternative to the consecutive numbers approach is to mix the numbers up. However, be sure that none of the digits are repeated until you are sure that you have space to do so, as follows:
01, 15, 22, 48, 36, 52
02, 09, 23, 30, 50, 53
03, 17, 31, 49, 51, 54
21, 26, 38, 40, 42, 57
04, 11, 18, 25, 32, 58
05, 12, 14, 33, 35, 55
20, 28, 34, 41, 44, 46
06, 13, 19, 29, 47, 56
07, 10, 37, 39, 43, 59
08, 16, 24, 27, 45, ??
By selecting every single number, you guarantee that your entries will match all of the numbers drawn. All you have to do is hope that enough of those numbers line up to win a prize!
7) Play Every Draw
It might sound like a cliché, but you really do have to be in it to win it. By entering every draw, you can increase your chances of winning the jackpot.
Avoid the crushing disappointment of missing out on a huge lottery win by playing online. Simply select your numbers and subscribe for up to 52 weeks, and you will never have to miss another draw.
8) Double Check Your Numbers
Although winning the jackpot is every players aim, don’t forget that there are plenty of other prize tiers in which rewards can be claimed. With this in mind, it is vital that you check your ticket carefully before throwing it away as you could have won a smaller prize or a supplementary sum without realising. There are a number of cases each year in which UK EuroMillions players dismiss their losing entries, only to miss out on a Millionaire Maker prize of £1 million.
To ensure you don’t miss out on a lottery prize, check out Gamelot’s Results Checker for your chosen game. Simply select your numbers and press ‘Check’ to reveal any prizes you could be missing out on.
Alternatively, playing online can prevent you missing out on a lottery prize as any winnings are transferred directly to your account and stored securely.