Random Mathematical Ways To Increase Your Chances Of Winning The Lottery (11 items)

• 

  (#11) If You Employ These Tactics Your Increased Chance To Win Is Still Marginal, But There's Always The Improbability Principle

  Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Southern Methodist University Scott A. Norris told Michigan Live that a person's odds of winning the lottery are "microscopic" no matter what tactics one takes. He admits techniques like the ones laid out in this list will increase those odds, but only marginally, meaning your odds, at the end of the day, are still microscopic.

  The vast majority of people who play the lottery regularly will never win it and thus will spend their lives throwing away money. That is the reality of the lottery. If you're comfortable with that, go buy as many tickets as you like.

  But everyone can and should take comfort in the fact that there is a set of mathematical laws called the Improbability Principle, which, according to the Scientific American:

  Tells us that we should not be surprised by coincidences. In fact, we should expect coincidences to happen. One of the key strands of the principle is the law of truly large numbers. This law says that given enough opportunities, we should expect a specified event to happen, no matter how unlikely it may be at each opportunity.
• 

  (#7) Don't Buy Your Ticket Too Far In Advance

  Though it sounds really stupid, it's also legitimate: the reason you should buy your tickets closer to the draw date is to minimize the likelihood that you lose said ticket. Even if you're the type of person who never loses anything, life is unpredictable. If you buy your ticket a week in advance, you have a full week of days to suffer a fatal accident, which would likely negate your win, unless someone was banking on that and knows you have a ticket.

  Regardless, there's no reason why you shouldn't buy your ticket as close to the draw date as possible, so just try to do that.
• 

  (#8) Some Places Produce More Winners, So Move There

  If you want to increase your chances of winning the lottery and drastically upheave your life, you're in luck! You can do both by moving to Romford, Dumfries, or Birmingham, the three most British sounding places on Earth. That's because they are in Great Britain, but they produced the most lottery winners in the nation. 

  According to lottoland.co.uk:

  Romford in Essex boasts the most 'significant' lottery winners per 1,000 people in the UK (that is, people who have won prizes of £50,000 or more). Dumfries in Scotland has the most lottery millionaires per 1,000 people of anywhere in Britain. Birmingham has the greatest overall number of lottery millionaires for any post code in the country.

  Of course, there are analogs. Lottosend says that local Massachusetts and Michigan lotteries tend to pay out more. 
• 

  (#6) Some Numbers Actually Do Get Picked More Often While Others Get Picked Less

  According to lottoland.co.uk regarding the UK's lottery, "The top seven numbers to pop up since the National Lottery launched in 1994 have been 23, 40, 44, 38, 30 and 33." They also noted that the number 13 was one of the least frequently drawn numbers, which is quite the coincidence considering that's widely considered an unlucky number.

  Ultimately, the prevalence of some numbers over others is still coincidental, and those numbers probably aren't picked so much more frequently as to reach the level of statistical significance - but you might as well give it a shot. 
• 

  (#10) The Time Of Day You Purchase Your Ticket May Affect Your Odds

  For some reason, lottery winners in the UK tend to purchase their tickets on Friday evening. Should the time of day when you purchase the ticket matter? Absolutely not.

  There's no statistical explanation for it. Yet in a placebo-like way, it appears to help the case. On the flip side, it can't hurt your chances, so why not try it?
• 

  (#4) Let The Computer Pick Your Numbers

  The sole reason you should allow the computer to pick your numbers is to combat the human tendency to pick numbers associated with significant dates in their lives. According to Alex Bellos in his book The Grapes of Math, "One response to numbers is affection. After counting, calculating and quantifying with our numerical tools it is common to develop feelings for them."

  According to Powerball's website, more than 70% of winners leave their fate to computers — and look how well it's worked out for them.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking