How To Win The Lottery

Let's start by saying that there will be no magical solutions here, no psychic powers or promises to predict which balls will be drawn. Instead, we are relying on good old logic. So, how do you win lotteries, exactly? Is there anything you can do to make it easier to win? We have cut out the myths and fairy-tales to provide you with five real ways to improve your odds of a win.

1. Choose Lotteries with Better Odds

Not all lotteries are born equal, meaning some are easier to strike it rich in than others. At Lottoland you can have a go at the best lotteries from all over the world. This way, you can choose the lotteries where the odds are stacked more in your favour. 

For example, while the odds of hitting the jackpot in US Powerball are 1 : 292,201,338 - the odds of winning Swedish Lotto are substantially more in your favour at 1 : 6,724,520. This means you are 40 times more likely to win the Swedish lottery compared to US Powerball!

The above table showcases a selection of our most popular International lotteries and illustrates which of those lotteries offer the best odds of scooping the jackpot. Plus, don't forget the smaller prize tiers too, as they can be worth thousands and even millions of euros.

As you can see, the Irish Lotto offers the best value from this selection, but other international lotteries like the French and Swedish lottos offer even better odds of winning. In comparison, while the odds of winning US Powerball might be high, with a record jackpot of $2.2billion fortune most definitely favours the brave! Check out Lottoland’s full complement of international lotteries and in the FAQ sections you will be able to find all the information you need about the odds of winning.

2. Join a Syndicate

It’s a known fact that 20% of all lottery jackpots are won by syndicates. That’s right, 1 in every 5 times that a lotto jackpot is won somewhere in the world, it’s because a group of friends, work colleagues, family or even a sports team have pooled their funds together to maximise their chances of becoming mega-millionaires. 

Syndicates give you the opportunity to bet on more games and more numbers, hence increasing your odds of claiming the big one. Of course, you might have to share your jackpot with your friends, but €100 million between 10 people is still a whopping €10 million each!

While syndicates are a great way to maximise your chances of winning the lottery, they can sometimes be a pain to organise and, of course, we have all heard of an unfortunate story or two when a member is ‘accidentally’ left out of a syndicate one week!

Lottoland takes the fuss and potential confusion out of the traditional syndicate and offers its own revolutionary version of the lotto syndicate. Lottolanders can simply choose their lottery, select a syndicate and then decide how many shares they wish to purchase. All of the admin and payouts are then taken care of by Lottoland, without you having to lift a finger!

3. Make System Bets

Why choose only 6 numbers when you can bet with 7? Or even 17! System betting increases your chances of winning a lottery by allowing you to choose extra numbers in addition to the standard amount of numbers required to hit the jackpot.

Let’s use the Irish Lotto as an example. In order for you to win the big prize, you need to match 6 numbers correctly. One bet with 6 numbers will cost you €2. But let’s say you have a few other lucky numbers you want to throw in to increase your chances of winning. For an additional $12, you can choose to bet with 7 numbers instead, which now gives you 7 potential winning combinations instead of the usual 1 combination. Have two extra lucky numbers you want to bet with? You can try a System 8 – which now gives you 28 potentially winning combinations.

At Lottoland, system betting is available for most lotteries from all around the world. Once you’ve chosen your lottery, it’s simple to select your additional numbers and increase your chances of becoming a multi-millionaire!

4. Pick Random Numbers

You won't increase your chances of winning with random numbers, but you will make a big difference to how much you win, should your ticket come good.

In the UK an estimated 10,000 people pick the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 each week, with a similar percentage doing the same in Ireland. If that sequence ended up being the jackpot winning selection, all those people would net just £1000 from a £10 million prize pool. Let's face it, if you beat odds of 14 million to 1, you really don't want to take home a thousand pounds.

The easiest way of avoiding this by opting for a random selection, but if you're the type of person who likes to make their mark on the ticket, try to be creative about your selections.

For example, many choose a ticket comprised of notable birthdays, which means if your ticket wins, but your numbers are only between 1 and 31, there is a much higher chance of sharing your jackpot with numerous other people.

5. Bet More Often

You’ve got to be in it to win it, right? So if you’re serious about wanting to increase your chances of hitting the jackpot, an important way to do so is to ensure you always have a bet on your favourite draw.

Lottoland has your back with a Subscription Feature that ensures you’ll never miss a draw! Simply select how many weeks you would like to bet on your favourite lottery, and Lottoland will renew your bet each week. So even if you’re away on holidays, or your boss asks you to stay back late at work, or you simply forget, you will always have a bet on the go for your chosen lottery.

So, now that you know how to increase your chances of hitting a lotto jackpot, it’s time to search Lottoland to find your preferred lottery, select your favourite numbers (or hit the QuickPick button) and get winning! 

For example you can use this knowledge to place a bet on on this week's EuroMillions, which has an incredible €208 million jackpot. 

Updated: February 2018