This has had some disastrous results for other lotteries, the most recent of which occurred in the UK Lotto draw held on Wednesday 13th August 2014. The main numbers drawn (5, 9, 11, 20, 23 and 30 with Bonus Ball 45) all fell within the “calendar” of special dates for many players, though the Bonus Ball fell outside of this range. Matching three winning UK Lotto numbers results in a fixed prize of £25 for each ticket holder in that tier, which is normally not an issue when it comes to the distribution of winnings. However, on that date more players won in that tier than usual, which could be attributed to the common practice of picking numbers with personal significance. With less money to go around, winners who matched four main numbers only received £15 each, which resulted in no small amount of frustration!
These unfortunate incidents may happen from time to time, but players can minimise the risk of losing out on a prize, or having to share it with a large number of other winners, by diversifying their lottery number selection for EuroMillions, UK Lotto, EuroJackpot and any lottery game with a ball pool that goes above 30.
Here are some tips on how to pick numbers outside of your regular EuroMillions selection:
1. Use Your House or Door Number: Many people will live in houses or flats with numbers above 30, especially if they’re residents of a major city. So if you reside at 41 Lottery Winner Way, you might want to add that to your EuroMillions numbers instead of your wedding anniversary.
2. Combine Ages or Dates: Instead of just picking one date or age as a number, you could consider combining two or three dates to get a number above 30. Let’s say that you have three children who were born on the 11th, 7th and 28th of April. You could add up all three and use 46 in your EuroMillions numbers, or add an additional four (for April) to get 50. If you got married on the 18th of December, you could add 12 to that number to get 30, and add the last two digits of the year (say, 2014) to get 44.
3. Save the Low Numbers for Lucky Stars: If you really want to use a special occasion as a EuroMillions number and it ends up being falling between 1 and 11, save it for a Lucky Star. You can also try this with other games where bonus numbers are chosen from a separate pool, such as Thunderball or French Loto.
4. Be (a Little Bit) Random: Maybe you have some numbers that are significant to you but don’t add up to five main numbers and two Lucky Stars. If you’re struggling to fill out your playcard or the lines in your online ticket, choose some random numbers between 31 and 50 to level things out a bit when you’re finishing your entries.
5. Keep it Balanced: If you like to make things as even as possible, try to pick one number from one to ten, another number from 11 to 20, a third number from 21 to 30, a fourth number from 31 to 40 and a final number from 41 to 50. Go wild on your Lucky Stars, cross your fingers and see what happens when you check the results!
Curious about how often certain numbers have been drawn, or which number pairs appear the most often in EuroMillions draws? Why not visit the Statistics page for more information?
There’s no guarantee that some or all of the numbers you select will match the winning numbers drawn. However, mixing things up a bit can’t hurt! If you’re in a rut and have been playing the same numbers over and over again, try playing a different set of numbers this Friday or next Tuesday and see what happens.