Lotto Strategies To Boost Your Chances of Winning

Every player has a technique for trying to win the next big Lotto jackpot, whether it is carefully plotting which numbers to enter, sticking to a favourite set or hoping for the best with a Lucky Dip. Every line of numbers has an identical chance of winning, after all, but there are some strategies that really do improve your odds.

Purchase More Lines

Purchasing more lines is not the only solution, but it is an obvious starting point if you want to give yourself a better chance of winning. If you submit a single entry, you are banking on those numbers being selected in order for you to win a prize and the odds of landing the Lotto jackpot are 1 in 45,057,474. If you play two lines, you instantly slash those odds in half.

It does not matter how you choose your numbers with this strategy; the more lines you have, the more likely you are to match the winning ones. The only drawback is that you have to spend more to increase your chances.

Play in a Syndicate

The best way to submit more entries whilst also keeping the cost down is to join a syndicate. By joining forces with other players, you have the spending power to purchase more tickets but the expense for each individual remains low. If you have a group of 10 players, for example, everyone might contribute the cost of one line. This would give you 10 chances of winning for the same price as if you had bought a single entry on your own.

You have to share any prizes if you win in a syndicate, of course, but many previous winners have spoken about the joy it has brought them to be able to celebrate with friends or work colleagues. A group of 15 nurses from Lanarkshire won a £1 million National Lottery prize in May 2018 and enjoyed the moment together, splashing out on treats for the patients where they work.

You can even join online syndicates where you can decide how many shares you want to buy. All of the organisational work is done on your behalf and you don’t need to worry about keeping all your tickets safe or checking multiple lines as they are safely stored online and you will be paid out automatically.

Target Must Be Won Draws

Every Lotto draw provides six chances to win and there is always a multimillion-pound jackpot up for grabs. However, special ‘Must Be Won’ draws take place from time to time when there can be opportunities to land bigger prizes than normal.

In a Must Be Won draw, the Lotto jackpot has to be given away even if no tickets match all six main numbers. The top prize rolls down if there are no Match 6 winners and is split between all players who match at least three main numbers. If you match three numbers, for instance, the payout can be more than £100 rather than the standard fixed amount of £30.

Must Be Won draws are scheduled after there have been five consecutive rollovers, and are also held sometimes to mark special dates such as Christmas. The exact amount you can win in a rolldown depends on the number of winners and how many tickets were sold.

Choose Random Numbers

If you use random numbers, it is less likely that anyone else will be playing with exactly the same selection. This is an advantage if you win the jackpot as it means you would not have to share the money with anyone else.

A familiar pattern of numbers is just as likely to appear as a random set, but it would take some of the gloss off a big win if your share of the jackpot was far lower than expected. For example, lots of players are thought to use the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, so the payout per winner would be significantly reduced even for a big jackpot if these numbers were drawn.

You can use the Lotto Number Generator to create a random set of numbers. Keep generating until you find a set that you would like to play in the next draw.

Regardless of which strategy you use, you need to be in the draw to have a chance of winning. Draws take place twice a week and you can find the latest winning numbers on the Lotto Results page.

Published: Wednesday 26th February 2020

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