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Winning the lottery can be a huge, life-changing event. Imagine you'd just won millions of pounds - what would you do with the cash?
All lottery winners are lucky, but some are luckier than others - such as this EuroMillions winner who bagged an incredible £93 million jackpot.
While most of us won't win the main prize, there's still a chance you could bag a hefty windfall if a few of your numbers come up. And while we can't guarantee a lottery win, there are some things you can do to boost your chances. We can also show you how to increase your chances of winning big if your numbers do come through.
Feeling lucky? Here are 8 tips that may just help boost your chances of winning, courtesy of lottoland.co.uk.
Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all
1. Stick to your guns
© PAKnow your lucky numbers, and stick to them. If you have lucky numbers that mean something to you (perhaps the special birthdays of your loved ones or memorable dates) that you want to use on a weekly basis, by all means do.
Obviously playing regularly will boost your chances (there is no worse feeling than seeing your winning numbers on the week you forgot to buy your ticket!) The other strategy is to play less often, but when you do play, buy more tickets - which will increase your chances for that particular draw. Some people use this method and only play when the jackpot is particularly large.
Calculate the total number of possible combinations. (For a lottery that requires you to pick six numbers from 1 to 40, that means 3,838,380 combinations.) Find lotteries where the jackpot is three. Powerball's rules are a bit technical, but the gist is simple: If your ticket matches all six winning numbers in the order they're drawn, you win the jackpot along with anyone else holding the same winning numbers in the same order. Powerball reserves smaller prizes, if still quite hefty, for tickets matching some of the winning numbers.
Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning
2. Play numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks
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Play numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks. This is a trick employed by most veteran lottery players. It won't improve your chances of winning the lottery but, if you DO win, it is likely to increase how much you win. Why? Studies show that most people play numbers based on special days of the month such as birthdays and anniversaries. Therefore, by picking numbers over 31 or using random Quick Picks, you'll decrease your chances of splitting a big prize.
Best Way To Win The Lottery
Http://help.betway.es. Related: Unclaimed lottery winnings - how to make sure you never lose out on a jackpot
3. Consider setting up a lottery syndicate
© PAConsider setting up a lottery syndicate with a group of friends or colleagues. By each of you contributing a small amount each week, you can multiply your chances of grabbing a jackpot and perhaps grow closer to your mates in the process. It should come as no surprise that most of the largest lottery jackpots of all time have been won by syndicates buying group tickets in bulk, in fact it is estimated that at least 1 out of every 7 £1 million lotto prizes have been won by a syndicate.
Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world
4. Certain numbers DO come up more often than others
© PAAlthough it has no mathematical significance, certain numbers DO come up more often than others in lottery draws.
The top seven numbers to pop up since the National Lottery launched in 1994 have been 23, 40, 44, 38, 30 and 33.
Interestingly, the notoriously unlucky number 13 has been drawn much less than other numbers in several major international lotteries.
Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all
5. Time the purchase of your ticket
© PA
Some believe that the time at which you purchase your lottery ticket is key to whether or not you win your desired jackpot. Mathematically it shouldn't make a difference - but statistics do show that jackpot winners tend to purchase their tickets on Friday evenings.
So it might be an idea to pick up your ticket the next time you're heading out to the pub after work!
Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning
6. Move to Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham
© PAYes, Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham is where it's at for lottery winnings.
Romford in Essex boasts the most 'significant' lottery winners per 1,000 people in the UK (that is, people who have won prizes of £50,000 or more).
Ways To Win Lottery Tickets Ticketmaster
Dumfries in Scotland has the most lottery millionaires per 1,000 people of anywhere in Britain.
Birmingham has the greatest overall number of lottery millionaires for any post code in the country. Bovada review 2019.
Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world
Calculate the total number of possible combinations. (For a lottery that requires you to pick six numbers from 1 to 40, that means 3,838,380 combinations.) Find lotteries where the jackpot is three. Powerball's rules are a bit technical, but the gist is simple: If your ticket matches all six winning numbers in the order they're drawn, you win the jackpot along with anyone else holding the same winning numbers in the same order. Powerball reserves smaller prizes, if still quite hefty, for tickets matching some of the winning numbers.
Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning
2. Play numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks
© PAPlay numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks. This is a trick employed by most veteran lottery players. It won't improve your chances of winning the lottery but, if you DO win, it is likely to increase how much you win. Why? Studies show that most people play numbers based on special days of the month such as birthdays and anniversaries. Therefore, by picking numbers over 31 or using random Quick Picks, you'll decrease your chances of splitting a big prize.
Best Way To Win The Lottery
Http://help.betway.es. Related: Unclaimed lottery winnings - how to make sure you never lose out on a jackpot
3. Consider setting up a lottery syndicate
© PAConsider setting up a lottery syndicate with a group of friends or colleagues. By each of you contributing a small amount each week, you can multiply your chances of grabbing a jackpot and perhaps grow closer to your mates in the process. It should come as no surprise that most of the largest lottery jackpots of all time have been won by syndicates buying group tickets in bulk, in fact it is estimated that at least 1 out of every 7 £1 million lotto prizes have been won by a syndicate.
Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world
4. Certain numbers DO come up more often than others
© PAAlthough it has no mathematical significance, certain numbers DO come up more often than others in lottery draws.
The top seven numbers to pop up since the National Lottery launched in 1994 have been 23, 40, 44, 38, 30 and 33.
Interestingly, the notoriously unlucky number 13 has been drawn much less than other numbers in several major international lotteries.
Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all
5. Time the purchase of your ticket
© PASome believe that the time at which you purchase your lottery ticket is key to whether or not you win your desired jackpot. Mathematically it shouldn't make a difference - but statistics do show that jackpot winners tend to purchase their tickets on Friday evenings.
So it might be an idea to pick up your ticket the next time you're heading out to the pub after work!
Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning
6. Move to Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham
© PAYes, Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham is where it's at for lottery winnings.
Romford in Essex boasts the most 'significant' lottery winners per 1,000 people in the UK (that is, people who have won prizes of £50,000 or more).
Ways To Win Lottery Tickets Ticketmaster
Dumfries in Scotland has the most lottery millionaires per 1,000 people of anywhere in Britain.
Birmingham has the greatest overall number of lottery millionaires for any post code in the country. Bovada review 2019.
Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world
7. Play the National Lottery from October onwards
© PAIn October, the National Lottery added 10 more balls to its lottery machines (going up from 49 to 59).
Although this means that the odds of winning the main jackpot lengthen, the introduction of a new 'Millionaire's Raffle' will create at least two new millionaires each week (one on Wednesday, one on Saturday). This ensures that your chance of winning a million pounds increases from 14 million-to-one to 10 million-to-one.
Ways To Win Lottery Tickets
Your chance of winning a smaller sum of money will also increase - from a one in 54 chance, to one in 9.3.
Related: Unclaimed lottery winnings - how to make sure you never lose out on a jackpot
8. Have a budget and stick to it
© PAPeople are all too often inclined to forget that participating in lotteries is a form of gambling. It can be addictive, and if played too often it could cost you a substantial amount of money.
Take into account your disposable income and other outgoings and set yourself a weekly or monthly budget for how much you want to spend on scratch cards, lottery tickets and online lotto games. Not only will this help you sensibly balance your finances, it could also mean that any small wins you make on scratch cards are spent on something other than just more scratch cards!
Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all
