How To Win the Lottery
- April 10, 2009
- 25,451 Views
from
Nelson Nunez
(and 5 others) Subscribe
-
Writer
Rachel_Korowitz
-
Director
Nelson Nunez
- Assistant Director Jennifer Villaluz
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Voice Over Artist
Brad Mielke
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Music
Jonanthan Roberts
That little ticket may seem like a long shot, but simple statistics can help you maximize your chances of winning a small fortune.
You Will Need
- A lottery ticket or scratch-off card
- People to pool your resources with
Step 1: Mix up your numbers
When you’re picking numbers, try to get a good mix of odds, evens, highs, and lows.
If you’re playing Powerball, lows are numbers up through 27, and highs are 28 and greater.
Step 2: Pool with others
People who pool their money have a wider variety of number choices and can afford to buy more tickets. But before laying out any cash, the group should sign a mutually agreeable contract.
Step 3: Don't play consecutive numbers
Don’t play consecutive combinations: It’s extremely unlikely that four or five numbers will hit.
When playing a five-number game in which the numbers go up to 55, your picks should total between 104 and 176. Sums that fall within that range account for about 70 percent of all lottery jackpots.
Step 4: Vary your picks
Don’t pick all of your numbers from the same number group, like the tens or thirties, and avoid selections that all end in the same digit.
Step 5: Play smaller games
For contests where there is always a winner, increase your chances by playing unpopular games and times — like small payouts and on days like Friday the 13th.
Step 6: Consider scratch-offs
Be smart about scratch-offs. They have better odds than the pick-a-number games, but the payouts are smaller.
Check your state’s official lottery web site for information about payouts and how to claim winnings, or call the office directly to clarify.
Step 7: Go beyond the calendar
People often play dates that are special to them, which means the numbers one through 31 get a real workout. It won’t help you win, but if you do, choosing numbers over 31 will help you win bigger, because fewer people will be sharing the jackpot.
In 2002, a West Virginia man won a $315 million Powerball jackpot, then the largest jackpot ever awarded to a single winner. Oddly enough, he was already a millionaire before he won.
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Comments (11)
Steps 1,3,4, and 7 and worthless. Yes, it is extremely unlikely that your pick of 5,6,7,8,9, and 10 will win, but it is equally unlikely to occur as any other combination. Varying numbers, spacing out numbers, and going beyond the calendar don't help. As for picking sums between 104 and 176, 70% of tickets win in the range because they represent 70% of the number combinations. That does not improve the odds of a single ticket winning at all. Horrible, horrible math. Please remove the video.
about 1 year ago by mathguy
Of course you are right. The balls that contain the numbers don't ";know"; what numbers they are--even, odd, consecutive. Every combination of numbers chosen has the same (poor) chance of winning as any other combination. But videos like this exist because the people making them are not mathematically inclined and neither are the people who watch them.
about 1 year ago by van826
That guy that who was already a millionaire and won the 315 million Powerball should rot in Hell. ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
about 1 year ago by darklighter1
He already is. His wife divorced him and his granddaughter killed herself with drugs. He regrets winning.
about 1 year ago by GaPeech
Oh snap...now I feel bad. Sorry.
about 1 year ago by darklighter1
Wow, I can't believe this video was featured on the MSN.com! The ";simple statistics"; as described in the video are completely wrong. You cannot make generalizations about the group of winning numbers and then apply it to the individual numbers being picked.
It is true that the winning numbers are more likely to be a mix of even and odd numbers, but that is only because there are more combinations that can be made with both even and odd numbers. The odds of the winning numbers being (12,19,25,34,47) are same as the numbers being (2,4,6,8,10).
The odds of picking either of these sets of numbers out of a group of 50 is calculated as:
(5*4*3*2*1)/(50*49*48*47*46) = 1 in 2,118,760
about 1 year ago by rgrant
This is all based on faulty math. There is NO SYSTEM that can beat a random game!!!! Each combination is equally as likely as any other to be picked. Therefore each ticket has to buck the same odds, hence buying more tickets will not give you a greater chance to win. The WINNING ticket still had to beat the same odds to win.
And for all you who find this so hard to understand, how come there aren't more of those repeat winners? Do you really think that a ";system"; such as this that ";produces more winners"; wouldn't be played by everyone?
To repeat one more time, THERE IS NO SYSTEM THAT CAN BEAT A RANDOM GAME!!!! NONE!! Now go spend your money on something wiser.
about 1 year ago by Strayyycat
You're wrong on one point--You do increase your odds of being a winner by buying more tickets for one particular game. Simple example--You're trying to guess the number between 1 and a 100 that your friend has written down secretly. You have one chance to guess one number. You have a 1 in 100 chance of being successful. But if you are allowed to guess two numbers on a single round of play you have a 1 in 50 chance of being successful. One hundred guesses in one single round of play would make you a 100% winner.
Your logic holds up only when it pertains to playing multiple times on different games. But lottery players often pool their money and buy several tickets for one game, thereby increasing their chances of winning.
about 1 year ago by van826
Right now would be a good time to win the loto. Thanks for sharing.
over 2 years ago by celiebugpro
informative video, i track some of these lotto ideals and concepts at www.needto.net for the Powerball lotto and the Mega Millions and most state lotteries.
best of luck
about 1 year ago by Ed_Flowers
Might have a better chance of winning.
about 1 year ago by Mastrocola_Gaetano
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