Lotto

So… Choose 6 numbers from 1–59 or use a Lucky Dip® for random numbers. In addition, you can buy up to 10 play slips at a time. It’s up to you whether you want to play on Wednesday or Saturday.

HotPicks

Despite using the same winning numbers, HotPicks is not part of the main Lotto draw and requires a separate £1 ticket. You can choose how many numbers to match, but you must match them all to win. If you buy a Match 4 entry, you can only win if you match all four numbers. No award for matching three or fewer numbers.

Unusual

The UK players’ combinations have been kept secret. Apparently, 10,000 people chose the numbers 1 to 6, with the most popular single pick being 7,14,21,28,35,42. Of course, we learn how many players shared the jackpot, and thus how many chose that particular combination. Almost every sixth time, no one wins a jackpot share, and every fifth time, one person wins the full amount. 133 individuals chose the winning combination 7,17,23,32,38,42, while 57 chose 2,12,19,28,38,48.

Statistical analysis can help you win more than the average. This way, we can look at the statistics and determine when there are less jackpot winners than expected given the sales volume. In the first 850 draws, 40 winning combinations had three consecutive numbers, such 34,35,36. Based on sales, we would have expected around 135 jackpot winners, yet there were only 88. Overall, there were 25% fewer jackpot winners than projected, therefore the award tended to be proportionately greater. During the same time period, only 58 winning combinations contained three or more numbers above 40, while the total number of jackpot winners was less than half the projected number.

Your chances of winning and the average number of rewards are unaffected by the numbers you choose. The only “talent” is in choosing combinations that fewer players employ, leading to higher costs – yet we know little about other players’ choices. If this essay were extensively read and its contents widely reported, enough players might change their habits, and formerly unpopular (and hence possibly profitable) combinations might become more popular. If you must play the lottery, choose numbers at random.

Why is it taking so long to get the full results?

The results are confirmed with OFLOT and released at 5.00am the next day. Personally, I like having the live TV draw show the full “provisional results” that are later confirmed. Camelot apparently knows the final outcomes minutes after the draw!

It’s hard to believe that you’re 6 times less likely to win the jackpot than the 5+bonus reward.

After deducting 3 match £10 winners, 52% of the prize money goes to jackpot winners, while just 16% goes to 5+bonus winners. With unwon Super Draws or rollovers, a person might win a tax-free lump payment of around £50 million. “The UK National Lotto is set to be the largest in the world,” claims the Player Code Of Practice booklet’s introduction. Maybe in ticket sales, but not in jackpot prize amount, because Camelot limits rollovers to three (after the fourth consecutive unwon draw, the money is split among the 5+bonus winners of that fourth draw).