Did you buy a ticket last week only to lose the lottery again? Considering the average odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175 million, you shouldn’t feel too bad.
But, what if we told you there were techniques that could shift the odds in your favor? Read on for the best lotto strategies to strike it rich.
Play the Odds
Just like the motto of The Hunger Games, “May the odds be ever in your favor,” this is a solid lotto strategy as well.
The odds of winning the lottery vary by state, game, and number of tickets sold. However, there are games that will always have better odds than others. You always buy the Powerball ticket for instance, but, as far as winning lotto numbers are concerned, you have a much better chance at winning a Pick-5 or Pick-3 game.
The odds of these less played games are potentially a guaranteed bet with the numbers at around 1 out of every 8 tickets being winners. If you buy 10 tickets, statistically you will win something.
In sharp contrast, the Powerball odds are 1 in 296 million for every entry. So, unless you have an extra fortune laying around, it’s unlikely you’ll be walking away a winner.
Jump into the Pool
It’s logical that buying more tickets means there is a higher likelihood of becoming a winner. So, if you want to play the big games like Powerball and Mega Millions it’s best to do it as part of a lottery pool.
Get everyone in your office, church group, theatre cast, to buy in and then agree that you’ll split the winnings.
Make sure you trust the person in charge of buying the tickets lest they abscond with your winnings. Also, everyone playing needs a copy of the entire set of ticket numbers to make sure everyone knows if there is a winner among them.
The Wheeling Strategy
Does your Aunt Suzie play different combinations of the same 8 numbers every week?
If they have been burned by having all the numbers picked, but not on the same ticket, wheeling is an attractive strategy. This is for the advanced lotto player but it goes like this.
So, let’s use our example and say that Suzy plays a set of 8 specific numbers over 2 tickets every week. The wheeling strategy would take all 8 of those numbers and assign them a letter.
Then the player would reorganize the letters until they had every possible number combination. In this case, the total number of combinations would be 28.
Then they buy a ticket for every combination. Sounds complicated but, let’s lay this out.
Creating the Array
So, in our example, there would be 8 total numbers. In order to avoid confusion and mixups each number is assigned a letter:
- A – 2
- B – 15
- C – 23
- D – 3
- E – 27
- F – 13
- G – 29
- H – 17
Then you would make a six-letter combination using every single letter. The beginning of the list would look like this:
- ABCDEF
- ABCDEG
- ABCDEH
- ABCDFG
- Etc.
Once all the combos are made you go get your tickets. The best thing about this strategy is if any combination of your numbers is called you win. You’ll also win all the lesser prizes so, 5 numbers, 4 numbers, and 3 number jackpots for your other tickets.
So, say the Powerball is at 80 million. You’d win $80 million, plus the 5 of 5 for $1 million, the 4 of 5 for $100, and the 3 of 5 for $7. So, an extra $1,000,107 would be yours.
If you happened to have the Powerball in all those combos as well, you’d win an extra $1,050,111.
Taking that sort of swing every week is a costly endeavor, but the payouts are huge.
Picking Your Numbers Right
After all, the lottery is a number game of chance. But, it’s got a small set of rules. The numbers you can choose are, depending on your state, about 1-60.
To have the best chance of winning, spread your number choices out among this range. Pick some low, some high, and some in the middle. Then do however many different combos of those numbers you can afford.
Don’t Throw out the Winning Ticket! Double Check Those Numbers
Sometimes people get tunnel vision. They are looking for a combination of all the numbers. But, sometimes it pays to not have all the numbers too.
Over 2.8 billion dollars in lottery prizes go unclaimed every year. So, why are people leaving so much money on the table? Maybe they don’t realize they’ve won?
Always double and triple check your numbers, especially on tickets where a few numbers are correct. Make sure you know all the prize levels of the game you’re playing. Powerball, for instance, will pay you $4 just for having the Powerball number right.
Getting the first five without the Powerball will win you $1 million. So, what’s the moral of the story? After you buy your ticket, go online and research the game.
Take a look at all the prize levels. No one wants to toss out a winner just because they didn’t do their due diligence.
The Lotto Isn’t Meant to Be Won
At the end of the day, remember the lottery is meant to be a moneymaker for your home state. The odds are ridiculous and it’s not meant to be won.
Your jackpot is a drop in the bucket of the total number of ticket sales. But, we understand how fun having the chance can be.
Using some of these strategies and understanding each game you play will set you up well on your way to becoming a lotto winner.
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