Expert reveals the UK lotteries that will give you the best chance of winning big

We have all dreamt of winning the lottery at some point in our lives, but which lottery actually gives you the best odds of winning? Gaming expert Francisc Csiki from online casinos comparison service CasinoAlpha has revealed a fascinating guide to the likelihood of winning UK lotteries and some top tips that could increase your chances. 

Which is the best to play in the UK? 

The best choice will depend on your intentions when participating in a draw: 

What should you play for a big win?  

EuroMillions provides the biggest jackpot, but choosing the winning numbers is unlikely. This is generally the case for all options: a high maximum prize is counter-balanced by low odds. For the EuroMillions, for example, there is a 1 in 139,838,160 chance of winning the jackpot but a 1 in 13 chance of winning any amount of payout. 

What should you play for a good cause? 

UK lotteries have an appeal in the fact that a considerable part of their revenues goes into funding for good causes. If you want to show your goodwill along with gaining a chance to win a prize, you should buy tickets to raffles with higher donated margins. 

The People’s Postcode draws have the most generous donations, with 33% of all revenues going to good causes. The Irish lottery comes in second with 30%. 

What should you play for any chance of winning?  

For your best chances of success, the People’s Postcode draw is the go-to game – an option further recommended considering the high revenue margin donated. 

Participants can play in daily, biweekly, and monthly draws, with jackpots of £1,000, £30,000, and £7.9 million. The daily draw awards the money to one winner in 20 postcodes, and the Saturday and Sunday draws provide the award to a player in one postcode. The monthly draw money is spread among one postcode area’s participants.  

However, receiving a return for entering the raffle does not mean you will necessarily break even. 

The odds of winning the UK lotteries
UK lotteries	Maximum prize	Max win odds / entry	Any payout chance
People’s Postcode Lotto	£7.9m (divided in a postcode area)	1 in 1,080,000	1 in 1.3
Health Millions	£5m	1 in 79,453,500	1 in 3
Lotto	£5m	1 in 45,057,474	1 in 9.3
UK Powerball	£4.2m	1 in 79,453,500	1 in 9.3
Lotto HotPicks	£350000	1 in 834,398	1 in 10
Millionaire Maker	£1m	1 in 1,900,000	1 in 10
EuroMillions	€220m	1 in 139,838,160	1 in 13
Set for Life	£10000/m (30 years)	1 in 15,339,390	1 in 15
Health Lottery	£250000	1 in 2,118,760	1 in 16
EuroMillions HotPicks	£1m	1 in 2,118,760	1 in 22
Thunderball	£500000	1 in 8,060,598	1 in 29
Free Lottery	£100000	1 in 10,737,573	1 in 29
Irish Lotto	€2m minimum	1 in 10,737,573	1 in 29

How to help your odds  

There are some general tips and tricks that will help your chances of winning, no matter what draw you enter. More crucially, some common practices will actively hinder your already small chances of getting any payout, such as: 

Lucky numbers do not help 

The argument is simple. While you may think these numbers to be very personal to you, there is a big chance that you share your lucky numbers with thousands of other players. Additionally, lucky numbers, dates of birth or other such combinations usually cover a small range of possibilities. You are essentially lowering your likelihood of getting the right match alone. 

Two takeaways: 

• Do not choose birthday numbers, common strings (1,2,3,4,5,6), or “lucky numbers.” 
• Since many will do just that, pick double digits higher than 31, as they will not be included in birthday tickets. 

There is a secret to choosing numbers 

We can draw this conclusion based on Arin Zargarian’s 2020 paper on the statistical analysis of Powerball winning numbers. 

Essentially, Zargarian went back and checked all the hit frequencies for the game balls beginning in 2010. He found two numbers with a multiple hit frequency: 21, with a 43% greater chance, and 23, with a 58% greater chance. Therefore, statistical data indicates that you may want to choose 23 and 21 on your ticket. 

Playing the same ticket in subsequent draws does nothing 

Lottery draws are independent and random events. This means that they do not influence each other. 

Many sense that if a combination came up in last week’s draw, it would not do so this week. However, this is just as likely as any other string of numbers. Fortunately, even though playing the same ticket will not increase your chance of winning, it will not decrease it either. 

Key takeaway: 

• Playing the same ticket repeatedly will neither improve nor impair your likelihood of success. 

Buying more tickets helps 

If you play multiple ticket variations in the same draw, you will have a better chance. If each ticket has a 1 in 100,000 probability, buying ten tickets with different combinations gives you a 10 in 100,000 likelihood or 1 in 10,000. This still does not considerably lower the probability but gives you a better chance. 

Remain level-headed 

Do not fall into the rabbit hole of lotteries and master plans for the next big draw. The odds of winning should show that your actual chance of getting something is slim, no matter your approach. 

You should not obsess over the results or treat them as anything more than a pastime and most importantly, knowing how to stay in control is vital in any gambling activity. 

Credit to https://casinoalpha.com