How to Pick Winning Lottery Numbers
Are you hoping to win big by playing the lottery? Well, guess what? So are a lot of other people, as each lottery draw can have well over a million players enter each week.
In fact, a recent survey found that 82 percent of South Africans play the lottery once a week and that 53 percent of lottery players do not engage in any other form of gambling.
This means that roughly 46.5 million South Africans play the lottery each week.
How are you supposed to beat out all these people?
While, admittedly, the lottery does come down to luck a lot of the time, there is a strategy in picking the right numbers. There is no code to pick the right numbers every time, though. If there was, everyone would know about it!
So, how do you pick the right numbers?
Read on to learn how to pick winning lottery numbers.
Using Statistics to Pick Your Numbers
Using statistics to choose your lottery numbers has been a hotly debated topic. After all, the chosen numbers based on statistics are no more likely to win than a set of random numbers.
This is due to the fact that every single number has an equal chance of being drawn in any given draw. But, that being said, it is true that some numbers are drawn more frequently than others.
The most commonly drawn numbers change over time, so it is best to do some research before picking your numbers. At the current moment, the numbers that are considered "hot" in South Africa are 16, 2, 8, 30, 23, and 48.
The "cold" numbers, or numbers that are drawn the least often, are 52, 50, 51, 37, 10, and 36.
It's important to keep in mind that a lot of people use the strategy of selecting the most frequently drawn numbers. Therefore, if you choose to go with this method, there's a greater chance that if you win, you will have to share your winnings with others.
For this reason, it can be smart to pick the least frequently drawn numbers. While it may seem counterintuitive, doing so means that if you win, you likely won't have to split your winnings with others.
Numerology
Another popular strategy is to use numerology to pick winning lottery numbers.
Numerology is the process in which you pick your lottery numbers based on lucky or personal numbers. These numbers may be birthdays, anniversaries, or other significant dates in a person's life.
Alternatively, some people like to choose numbers that seem to occur often in their life, with no explanation as to why. For example, maybe you always wind up with the same seat on an airplane? Or, maybe you always end up looking at the clock at the same time?
Whatever it is, these numbers that keep popping up in your life may be your winning lottery numbers.
While numerology is definitely faith-based as opposed to statistically-based, there are lottery players who have used numerology to select their numbers and have won big because of it.
Most notably, Young Soo Lee of Georgia used her families' birthdays to pick her lottery numbers and won $318 million. Another lottery winner, David Greeson, used his late wife's birthday to select his numbers, and he ended up winning $78,000.
Another great thing about choosing numbers based on numerology is that it is less likely that someone else will choose the exact same numbers as you. Just imagine how special it would be to win by picking numbers based on a loved one's birthday!
Use a Random Number Generator
If you don't want to overthink your choice, another great way to choose your numbers is to use a random number generator. The great thing about random number generators is that they are purpose-made for helping you with your lottery picks. They are also super easy to use.
All you have to do is choose the lottery which you are playing in and then the generator will produce numbers for you to use in future draws.
Take a Note From the Experts
While lottery winners will claim to have all sorts of strategies for winning big, it doesn't hurt to listen to what they have to say. For example, Richard Lustig has won the lottery seven times – yes, seven times – but despite winning repeatedly, he didn't even realize there was a pattern until the fourth time.
Lustig has a lot of advice on how to win the lottery (he even wrote a book about it), and his main pieces of advice are:
- Don't pick consecutive numbers
- Buy more tickets (to increase your chances of winning)
- Don't choose numbers that end in the same digit
- Try to find unpopular games played at odd times
- Don't go for quick pick numbers
- Do your homework: Research whether the set of numbers you have chosen are actually a good pick
- Consider forming a lottery syndicate: of course, this means you will have to split the prize, but if the prize is $200 million among ten people, that's still a good amount of money
- Stick to your numbers: Don't change your numbers just because you didn't win with them once. Who knows, they may be the winning numbers next time.
Lustig also points out that it is very important to set a budget for the number of tickets you can buy. You should never tap into your grocery money or your rent money to purchase tickets.
Picking Winning Lottery Numbers: Are You Ready to Win Big?
As you can see, there are a lot of different strategies out there that can help you pick winning lottery numbers. Which of these strategies is your favorite? Do you have some of your own advice on how to pick the right numbers? If you're confused about how to play any of South Africa's lottery games, check out these How to Play guides.