Do you dream of winning the lotto? What would you buy? A mansion? Would you buy a few new cars? Or just pay off your bills and live comfortably for the rest of your life?
If you want to know how to win at lotto, you’re not alone! Even children dream of winning it big! But the odds that you’ll win are extremely slim… to none.
So can you improve your chances of winning lotto? Sure! In this article, you’ll find out:
- What the real odds are of winning at lotto
- How to improve your chances of winning a prize
- Whether choosing certain numbers will make you more likely to win
Ready to play? Here’s what you need to know about how to win at lotto.
1. Remember: your odds are very low.
According to a fun article published by Motley Fool:
You’re more likely to be killed by a vending machine than win big at lotto.
You’re more likely to have identical quadruplets.
You’re more likely to contract the plague.
You’re more likely to be killed by a falling coconut.
Do you get the idea? Your odds of winning at lotto are very, very small. Of course, by winning we mean winning a huge prize, or matching all of your numbers.
The exact probability of winning the lottery depends on where you live and on the game itself. We’ll talk a bit more about that in a moment. What’s important to remember is that playing at lotto should be viewed as entertainment, not as a way to get rich quick!
- The likelihood of winning at lotto is very low
- The probability depends on the game you’re playing
- Playing at lotto is entertaining as fun – don’t play to get rich!
2. Before you play, know your odds.
We’ve already covered the fact that you’re probably not going to win the jackpot. But before you spend money on lotto, it’s smart to know exactly what your odds are.
The odds of winning a certain prize in a particular game depend upon the game you’re playing. In some regions, you’ll choose a few numbers – let’s say between 1 and 69. In others, you’ll be choosing between 1 and 40.
Prior to plunking down your hard earned money on a lotto card or ticket, look the game up. In most regions, you’ll find that the odds of winning are posted on the internet. In many more cases, you’ll find that those odds are one in the multi-millions.
- It’s essential to know the odds of winning the jackpot before you play lotto
- You can find odds for most games posted online
- Different odds will vary based on the game and the region
3. Never buy “secrets” to winning the lotto.
Just for a moment, sit back and think. Let’s say there were a magical way to win at lotto fast. Say you had that method down pat.
Would you sell the information? Would you even need to sell the information? After all, you’re a lotto pro, right?
Don’t believe anyone who tells you there’s a “guaranteed” way to win at lotto. There is not. More importantly, don’t pay anyone who tells you otherwise. They’re selling snake oil. If they had the secret, they’d have won the lotto.
- There’s no guaranteed way to win at lotto
- Scam artists will try to tell you otherwise
- Don’t pay for any “secret” methods of winning the lotto
4. Hang on to your lotto tickets.
This one is sort of a no-brainer, but you might be surprised to hear how many people win at lotto and then don’t collect earnings. Winning tickets might be lost, accidentally thrown in the trash or just plain never checked.
If you buy a lotto ticket or card, keep it! Please! Stash it in your wallet, your purse or on your bedside table. Pin it to your bathroom mirror if you like! Put it wherever you want, so long as you’re not going to lose it and you’ll remember to check it.
- Once you play the lottery, keep track of your tickets!
- Hundreds of thousands of dollars are never claimed due to lost or forgotten tickets
- Don’t forget to check to see if yours are the winning numbers
5. Play the right games.
Depending upon where you are, there may be multiple games available in your region. For instance, let’s say you live in North Carolina, United States. You’ll have several options available to you.
First, you’ll have games like Powerball and MegaMillions. These are nationwide drawings. Then, you’ll have the games sponsored by the North Carolina Education Lottery.
North Carolina is just an example, of course. You’ll have to check to see what games are available in your region. But here’s the point: to improve your odds of winning, choose the game with fewer players. Obviously, in this case, this would be the statewide lotto as opposed to the national drawing.
- Different regions may offer different games
- Check with your local lottery regulating office to get the details on your options
- To improve your odds, choose the game with the fewest players
6. Join a lottery pool.
Got a few friends who don’t mind gambling a few games? Start a lottery pool! Lottery pools are a fantastic way to improve your odds at winning lotto, while sticking to a budget.
In a lotto pool, several people will buy in. Let’s say you’ll each buy one $1 ticket each and there are five of you. Your total investment is five bucks. You’ve each spent a dollar.
One of your tickets wins. Congratulations! You can all now split the earnings between you. You may not be an instant millionaire, but you’ve increased your chances of winning at lotto – and spent less money in the meantime.
- Lottery pools will allow you to spend less on lotto tickets
- By chipping in with friends, you’ll increase your odds of winning at lotto
- You’ll have to split your earnings with others, so consider the pros and cons
7. Don’t lose your ticket.
This goes without saying, but when you play the lotto, be sure you keep tabs on your ticket! Stash it somewhere you’re going to remember, whether that’s your purse, the console of your car or taped to your bathroom mirror. It doesn’t really matter – just don’t lose the darn thing!
Millions of dollars of lotto winnings have been unclaimed. Some people forget to check their tickets. Some people lose them. Others may just be rich people who can’t be bothered to pick up their earnings… who knows. All said, you can’t win at lotto if you don’t turn in your ticket. Keep it safe, and remember to check it.
- Have a designated place to stash your lotto ticket
- Don’t forget to check your ticket once lotto is drawn
- Millions of dollars in lottery earnings go unclaimed
8. Play the second chance games.
As mentioned, many people don’t ever bother to pick up their lottery earnings. Either they’ve forgotten to check their ticket or they’ve lost the card. You can take advantage of their carelessness by playing second chance games.
Sometimes, too, a lotto can be drawn and there are no winners at all. This is rare, but oftentimes there’s a lot of excess cash floating around there, just waiting to be won.
When lotto money goes unclaimed, that money has to go somewhere, right? Well, it all gets put into a pool, and a second chance drawing is held. Consider that your second chance to win big.
When you buy your lotto ticket, check ahead of time to see if there’s going to be a second chance drawing. Then, check out the rules for the game. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything but hold on to your ticket. Other times, you’ll enter a code online. And sometimes you might even have to mail your ticket in.
Keep your ticket, and watch for second chance drawings. Just because you didn’t win the first time doesn’t mean you can’t pocket a few grand the second time around!
- Many times, there are no lottery winners
- Sometimes lotto winners don’t ever collect their earnings
- Check out second chance lottos for a better chance of winning at lotto
9. Know how to play.
This should go without saying, but you might be surprised – many people just don’t know how to play the games they’ve bought tickets for! In most cases, lotto is pretty simple. You choose five or six numbers and maybe a multiplier number. Numbers are drawn on a predetermined date. If your numbers match, you win.
However!
Did you know that even if you just match one or two numbers, you can still win at lotto? Most people know that, but you might be surprised at how many people toss their tickets if all the numbers don’t match. Don’t make that mistake!
Know how to play the game you’ve bought your ticket for, and if you have any doubt you should check the rules online. Winning at lotto doesn’t necessarily mean matching each and every number. You can win hundreds of dollars just by matching a few.
- Many people lose out on earnings because they don’t know how to play
- Even one or two matching numbers can mean big wins
- Check online for the full rules of the contest you’re playing
10. Hang out at the lotto store.
Alright, you probably don’t have a “lotto store” where you live. What we mean by that is you local gas station, grocery store or whatever other retailer sells lotto tickets.
So why should you hang around? Well, many people toss their lotto tickets if they don’t think they’re winners. Their loss could be your gain!
Check discarded lotto tickets to see if they’re winners. If nothing else, they may be eligible for a second chance drawing. This doesn’t mean you have to dig through trash cans to find lotto tickets – that’s disgusting. Instead, check around for tickets that are lying on the ground. Not a winner? Well, you’ve done your part to clean up the planet.
- Discarded tickets may be winners – why not check?
- You can sometimes enter these discards into second chance drawings
- Don’t be gross and go through trash cans
11. Always, always, always sign your lottery ticket.
No exceptions. And that doesn’t just mean after you’ve won. It means before you’ve even played.
Sign your ticket. Let’s say you’ve got a lotto ticket in your wallet, but the drawing hasn’t yet been held. Then – oops – you leave your wallet in the back seat of a cab. The well-meaning taxi driver looks inside your wallet to try to locate you, and the lotto ticket falls out. The next passenger sees your ticket and figures, “What the heck, I’ll pick it up.”
The ticket’s a winner. A big winner.
If it’s signed, those earnings are yours. If it’s not signed, you’ve just made some guy in a cab a very, very happy dude.
- Sign your ticket
- Always sign your ticket
- Did we mention you should sign your ticket?
12. Only play legit contests.
If you’re buying your lotto tickets from a convenience or grocery store, there’s a pretty good chance it’s a legitimate contest. However, if you’re playing online you’re going to need to do a little research.
Literally anyone with a computer can create a lotto. Anyone. Unfortunately, that means some ne’er-do-wells are out there: people who would love to charge you a dollar for a non-existent lotto ticket. Always check the legitimacy of the contest you’re entering, and only play those who are registered to do business in your area.
Scout the web for reviews and ask friends which games they’ve loved. Most importantly, never enter your bank account or credit card information into a site that’s not secure. You’ll be able to tell this by the “https:” in the address bar.
- There are a lot of lotto scams out there – be careful!
- Scams are especially prevalent online.
- Always check for “https:” – plain old “http:” means the site is not secure.
13. Find free lotto contests
Obviously, you’re not going to find too many free lotto contests at your convenience store or gas station. But you’ll find plenty of them online! Many online gambling casinos offer free games. These games are fun to play and can result in big earnings if you play them often enough!
As you look online for free lotto games, keep a few things in mind. First, these contests are usually offered as “introductory” specials. You may have a limited number of times you can play before you’ve got to fork over your hard earned cash. Be sure you read the fine print before you play.
Secondly, never give out your personal or financial information to sites you’re not familiar with. Again, there are a lot of scammy, spammy people out there. Don’t give them the pleasure of taking you for a ride.
Finally, the jackpot on a free lotto game is probably not going to be as big as some paid games. Keep that in mind as you play. Otherwise, have fun!
- Many gambling sites offer free lotto games
- Some of these games are introductory offers, and you’ll eventually have to sign up
- Jackpots on free games are usually smaller, but they’re still tons of fun!
14. Set a budget.
While setting a budget isn’t necessarily going to improve your chances of winning at lotto, it’s certainly going to help prevent you from losing all your money trying. It’s absolutely critical that you set a lotto budget and stick with it.
Set your budget before you play, and decide if you will invest any earnings back into the lotto. Don’t go crazy, and don’t start making stupid decisions. If you’ve got money put aside for rent, then you need to pay rent. If your kid needs a new pair of shoes, please buy him some shoes. Don’t buy a lotto ticket in the hopes that you’ll win and be able to buy two pairs of shoes instead.
So what do you do if you find out you’ve won? You should set yourself some rules ahead of time. Say you win $1,000 … how much of that are you going to put back into the lotto, and how much will you keep? Don’t forget to factor in your taxes.
In short, just be smart. Rent is more important than lotto tickets.
- Set a budget and stick to it.
- Decide ahead of time what you’ll do with your earnings.
- Prioritize! Your bills are more important than buying a lotto ticket.
Summary
In a nutshell, there’s no guaranteed way to know you’re going to win the lotto. If there were, there would be many, many rich people in this world. In fact, there probably wouldn’t even be a lotto.
That said, there are a few ways you can improve your chances of winning at lotto. Always be sure you’re playing a legitimate game, set a budget, then have fun playing the odds! We can’t guarantee you’re going to be your country’s next millionaire, but these tips will get you on your way!
