Tips on Winning State Lotteries

Lotteries have a bad reputation as being a sucker bet for people who don’t have money in the first place. Frankly, however, the overwhelming majority of people in this country, despite the promises made to them since birth, have almost no chance of growing up to be a millionaire. The odds are stacked against you unless you are one of the fortunate few who were born genetically predisposed to having athletic ability or one of the even luckier types who managed to be in the right place at the right time when the casting director called. For most of the rest of us, winning the lottery is our only real chance at getting into the millionaire’s club. Of course, the odds are still astronomical, but there are some simple tips to get a little ahead in the game.

For one thing, play numbers above 31. The fact is that regardless how many random quick picks are sold, the majority of ticket buyers who choose their own numbers are going to choose numbers that somehow relate to them. And that means birth dates, anniversaries, etc. The numbers 1 through 31 are just plain more popular than higher numbers.

However, don’t make the mistake of choosing all your numbers based on the above. A lot of players figured out from the beginning not to play the calendar numbers. Now there are so many playing that strategy that if you do win, you’re likely to have to share it with other players who picked numbers only above 31. Mix it up a little bit. Pick at least two numbers below 32.

Most lottery cards are grouped according to a grid. Psychologically, it’s almost unavoidable that a number of players are going to play that grid. Many religious players-those that don’t see gambling as a sin-choose numbers that form a cross. Spatial composition will cause many players to choose the numbers grouped in the middle of the grid. It just looks better and they may not even be aware that they’re doing it. Also, of course, avoid any kind of geometric pattern, such as a square, triangle, etc. Best not pick any numbers that form any kind of recognizable pattern.

Speaking of patterns, don’t pick numbers based on mathematical formulas, such as exponential squaring or whatever. There are plenty of math geeks out there who think they’ve figured out patterns despite the complete random quality involved in those floating balls. If you do come up a winner, once again you’ll probably have to share.

Which is why you shouldn’t play just in the big jackpots. Yeah, there’s more money, but there are also more players. Lotto fever gets pumped up with media frenzy and before you know it, that 100 million jackpot that you’ve been waiting for is going to be a twenty million jackpot because there were five winners. Go ahead and play the 20 million or the 10 million or the 3 million. You’ve got just as good a chance picking the right numbers and a better chance of being a single winner.

On the other hand, if a giant jackpot occurs in a week in which a huge news event occurred and the jackpot isn’t leading the news, then jump in. Without that media coverage, there will be significantly fewer players than normal. It sounds incredibly heartless and cynical, but your best chance of winning a huge jackpot would be the week something terribly awful occurred in this country.

Finally, the mathematical fact is that every single number combo has the same chance of coming up. But how many times have you seen the numbers 1 through 6 come up a winner? It does increase your chances of being a lone winner if you pick several consecutive numbers, but going simply by history-which I know has no real effect on the numbers coming up-you have very little chance of winning if you pick six consecutive numbers. I have seen four consecutive numbers come up, but never five and certainly never six. If you have, please leave a message letting readers know where and when. I would be very interested to know this information myself.