Lottery Strategies and Tips

 Don't form combinations in a mathematical sequence

So many people select their lottery numbers by choosing a small number and then selecting each subsequent number by adding the same value to it. For example, they start with a 04 and then add six to each number to get 04, 10, 16, 22, 28, 34 as their combination. Or they use squared numbers to come up with their combination - for example, 04, 09, 16, 25, 36, 49.

Don't do this.

Choosing numbers in this way won't increase your chances of winning, but the will increase your chances of taking home a sharply reduced prize if you do happen to win. Selecting numbers in mathematical patterns is extremely popular. That means you will share your prize with multiple winners, reducing the amount of money you will receive. You might win a $30 million jackpot, but if 5,000 people chose the same number, you'll be getting only $6,000.

Believe it, circumstances of multiple winners are not unusual. On June 7, 1986, the combination 08-15-22-29-36-43 was drawn - a combination in which each number was seven digits higher than the previous one. There were 14,697 winning tickets with that combination.


 
 Don't play patterns on your tickets

The same logic works here. Don't choose your numbers according to some kind of geometric pattern - making stars or pyramids on your lottery card. This is a popular method of playing and will reduce your prize money significantly if you win.
Star
01020304 05060708 09
10111213 14151617 18
19202122 23242526 27
28293031 32333435 36
37383940 41424344 45
46474849       
Pyramid
01020304 05060708 09
10111213 14151617 18
19202122 23242526 27
28293031 32333435 36
37383940 41424344 45
46474849       

More examples of geometric patterns on lottery ticket.
 
 Don't throw away the losing tickets

It's a good idea to keep your losing tickets for at least one year. Create a special drawer for them in your kitchen or bedroom. Losing tickets are often worth money.
  • If you have lottery winning, those losing tickets can get you valuable tax deductions. For instance, if you win $1,000, but have $600 worth of losing tickets, you can itemize those losses and only pay taxes on $400 worth of lottery winnings. Lottery losses can be used as deductions to offset winnings for the same year in which they were purchased.
     
  • The losing tickets may give you another chance to win. Sometimes, states will carry out promotions in which players send in losing tickets to be qualified for special contests or drawings.

 
 Can I buy enough tickets to win the jackpot?

Periodically, you'll read stories in the news media about someone spending thousands of dollars on tickets to win a huge jackpot. This is an UNWISE way to play the lottery.

There is no doubt that the more tickets you buy, the more chances you have to win. But keep in mind that those chances are still astronomical, even if you buy tickets in bulk.

For example, the odds of winning the jackpot of the multi-state Powerball is 1 in 146,107,962. Say you buy 10,000 tickets. Yes, you've increased your chances a thousandfold over someone who buys 10 chances, but your odds of winning the jackpot are still 1 in 14,610. That means you still have a 99.99 percent chance of not winning the jackpot. Even if you spend $100,000 on tickets, your chances of walking away empty-handed is still 99.9 percent.

If you've made up your mind to spend a large amount of money on tickets, here's an important tip. You'll be better off if you use a Wheeling System to select your numbers instead of Quick Pick or random selection. This increases your coverage of possible winning numbers.

Also, expand your resources by combining with friends, coworkers and relatives to form Lotto Pools. You can use LottoStrategies.com's Odds Calculator to determine the odds of winning the various state and multi-state lotto games.
 

 There is nobody who wins the lottery without buying a lotto ticket

Go buy a lotto ticket! If you play, you can win. If you never play, you never have a chance at a life-changing jackpot.

Whenever a story runs in the newspaper or television about someone winning a multi-million dollar prize, someone will invariably complain that they never have that same kind of luck. Most of those complainers, though, never test their luck because they never play! Yes, your chances of winning a big prize are small, but they're the same as everyone else's.

And, actually, by using many of the tips, strategies and systems found on LottoStrategies.com, your chances of winning can be significantly better than that of your fellow lottery players.
 

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