The Latest Lotto Results

To find out, whether their lottery numbers won a prize or not, players have to check the lottery results of the draw. The draws of most of the big national and transnational lotteries are regularly broadcast live on television, so that players immediately know what prize they will receive. The results of additional or smaller lotteries are published either simultaneously or later for example during the evening news, the official website of the lottery or in the local newspaper.

As of the end of March 2014, nearly every popular lottery in Europe and North America has distributed several multi-million jackpots among its players. One player hit the EuroMillions jackpot of € 42,517,715 on 28 February 2014, another lotto player from the United States of America recently won the MegaMillions jackpot of US$ 20,000,000 on 26 March 2014.

How to check lotto results online

If you cannot watch the draw live on television, the easiest way to find out about the lottery results is via the website you purchased your ticket on. Most online lottery agencies provide a lottery results checker – a special plug-in that eases the procedure of checking every line you have picked manually.

Within three steps, this plug-in tells you how much your ticket is worth. At first, you have to choose the exact period of time you want the plug-in to check. This can be useful, if you were not able to check the results of the draws for several weeks, but is also a nice gadget to see, if your current ticket would have won a prize in an earlier draw. Step two: enter every line on your lottery ticket into the plug-in. You have to do this by hand, if you purchased the ticket at a gas station or shop. The lines can be copied from the history of your user account, if you purchased the ticket online. Another advantage of playing lotto online is that the online lottery ticket retailer automatically sends an e-mail after each draw informing you if and how much you won.

Odds and calculations

The most widespread lottery game is the classical numbers game. Players have to choose a predetermined amount of main numbers out of an allocated pool of numbers. The more numbers they match, the higher is the amount of money awarded to the player. A typical form – for example in Germany – is the six-number lottery game 6 from 49 (or “6/49”) with a chance of matching all six numbers and therefore winning the jackpot of approximately 1 in 14 million.

The odds of winning the jackpot are calculated as follows: if you only had to pick one number, the chances of matching it would be 1 in 49. Because the numbers are not put back, the pool diminishes to only 48 numbers. The chances of matching the second number are therefore now 1 in 48; the chances of matching the third number 1 in 47 and so on. In order to receive the definite odds of matching all six numbers, you have to multiply all of the single ones. The final calculation is 49 x 48 x 47 x 46 x 45 x 44, also be written as 49! / (49 – 6)!. The result of this calculation is 10,068,347,520 and therefore much higher than the above-mentioned 14 million.

Because there are 720 (6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) possible ways, in which six numbers can be drawn, and the order is not significant in almost every lottery game, you have to divide the number stated above by 720. The result is 13,983,816. The so-called combination function is generally written as n! / (k! (n – k)!) or specifically as 49! / (6!(49 – 6)!) for Lotto 6 from 49 games.

If there is a bonus ball that is drawn from a separate pool than the main balls, you have to multiply the odds of winning the jackpot of the respective lottery by the number of bonus balls. For example, if there are ten bonus balls, the previously calculated odds multiply by ten. If the bonus ball is drawn from the same pool, as the main balls, you use the same principle to calculate the odds as for the drawing of the main balls and simply add one ball to the calculation.

The odds of winning in a subscription lottery

A very popular lottery in the United Kingdom is the People’s Postcode Lottery. It is a subscription lottery, in which you have to pay monthly in order to participate. Drafts take place on every day of the week with special draws on several occasions. Because of that, the chances of winning any prize at all are comparatively high in comparison to many other lotteries. However, the odds of winning a prize are not influenced by the amount of tickets purchased by a single player or the number of players participating.

The People’s Postcode Lottery in particular is, as the name suggests, a postcode-based lottery. This means that every player from one postcode area has the respective postcode and therefore the exact same number printed on his lottery ticket. As a result, if the postcode of one player is drawn, it is safe to say that he has to share it with other players from his neighbourhood.

There is no generally applicable method to calculate the odds of winning in a postcode-based or similar lottery. However, you can determine the odds of winning anything at all based on the number of postcode areas. The United Kingdom for example is currently divided into 121 postcode areas, each sub-divided into another 20 districts and post towns on average. This results in a very high chance of winning any prize at all. However, because there are always several winners that have to share the jackpot and most of the other prizes, the amount of money is comparatively low.

Odds of winning in end number lotteries

Most lottery companies offer supplemental lotteries that can only be played in connection with the standard lottery. The object of these lotteries is to match as many digits of a numerical sequence in a row as possible. The numerical sequence is determined by an own draw and has to be read from right to left.

Prizes are already awarded for matching the last digit. There are ten possibilities (from 0 to 9); therefore, the odds of winning anything at all are 1 in 10. For every additional digit, the odds of matching all of them multiply by ten. This results in a chance of 1 in 1.000.000 for hitting the jackpot in every six-digit lottery (for example the German Super 6) and in a chance of 1 in 10,000,000 for hitting the jackpot in every seven-digit lottery, such as Spiel77.

The odds of winning any other prize category are 1 in 100 for correctly picking two numbers, 1 in 1,000 for three numbers, 1 in 10,000 for four numbers and 1 in 100,000 for five numbers.

The odds of winning a prize with a scratch card

Because there are several thousand scratch card games all over the world, there is no way to generalize the odds of winning with a scratch card. Each company produces hundreds of tickets every day, with the odds of the ticket winning a prize at all printed on the back of every single card. Only a small amount of them contains a huge cash prize, but there is still a chance to win money and other prizes on a regular basis.

In case there is a defined pool of prizes, players can regularly check what prizes are remaining. If other players already won most of the lower prizes, the purchase of a lottery ticket now increases the chances of winning the top prize. However, this method requires a lot of analyzing and still does not guarantee the winning any prize at all.

It is thus advisable that players set a budget of how much money they want to spend every month in the purchasing of scratchcards. They should never spend more than their budget and not use the winnings to compensate earlier loses. If a player follows these simple rules, he will be able to win money from scratchcards on a regular basis.

Pros and cons of picking same numbers every week

A much-discussed topic among lottery players is the question, if it is reasonable to pick exactly the same numbers for weeks, months or even years or change them on a regular basis. Statistically, because numbers have no memory and every draw is independent from the previous one, it really does not matter. For every number, the chances of it being drawn are equally high. Even the least drawn number in lottery history has the same chance in every draw as the most drawn one. In conclusion, it is neither helpful to pick the numbers, that have not been drawn in a long time nor the numbers, that are drawn very often, hoping that this will boost your chances of winning the jackpot.

Especially lottery players, who have been playing the exact line of numbers for years, report that they will not change their numbers under any circumstances, because the next draw could be the one they hit the jackpot. The fear of missing the opportunity is that high, that they are not willing to take the risk. On the other hand, because they have been choosing the same set of numbers over a long period, they know their lucky numbers from memory. They are thus preserved from picking numbers that many other players also choose, for example the numbers “7” and “13” or “19” and “20”, which every date of birth contains. In the event that their numbers win a prize, they have to share it with many other players.

Players, that change their numbers weekly, can increase their expected value by an anti-cyclical picking behaviour. Besides the above-mentioned numbers, they should avoid the numbers at the very beginning, the middle and the end. The picking of “unpopular numbers” does not increase their chances of winning, but reduces the number of other players they would have to share the prizes with.

Optimizing the chances by picking unpopular numbers

Almost every website that sells lottery ticket provides a huge database with interesting facts about the history of their lottery. You can for example look at the results of every draw ever held, how often the participating players pick each number and how often the numbers are drawn. This is supposed to help the players optimizing their picks.

Popular numbers – as mentioned earlier – are the numbers “7” and “13” because they are a synonym for luck in many cultures. The numbers “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, ”9”,”19” and “20” are often picked, if the lottery ticket serves as a birthday gift. Furthermore, the numbers at the very beginning and the very end of each row are very popular, but not the ones that directly precede or follow them. On 10 April 1999 for example, the draw of the German “Lotto 6 aus 49” lottery resulted in the numbers “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6” and “26”. More than 38.000 players picked five numbers correctly, but only received a cheque over about € 195. Nearly the same happened to 34,500 players on 15 February 2003; some of them even correctly picked the additional number. This resulted into a payout of exactly € 201.30.

The winning numbers of this draw were “4”, ”6”, “12”, “18”, “24” and “30” plus the additional number “36”. A German lottery ticket is structured in such way that the numbers form a solid line from the top right to the bottom left. Creating patterns on a lottery ticket is also very popular, because it eases the procedure of choosing numbers. However, because many players use this method, the prizes are often not very high. For example, 124 players from Germany picked the numbers “9”, “13”, “23”, “27”, “38” and “40” on 4 October 1997. These numbers shape a “U” on the lottery ticket; the players were rewarded with about € 15.350 after all.

Other popular patterns are lines of numbers straight from the top to the bottom or from the beginning of a row to its end. Players also create different letters by filling out the numbers. Popular ones are for example “H”, “L”, “O”, “S” or “T”.

Unpopular numbers vary considerably from one lottery to another. Besides the popular ones mentioned above, the distribution of the remaining ones is approximately constant. Players normally avoid the picking of lines of numbers created by mathematical systems (“1”, “2”, “4”, “8”, “16”, “32”), constant numerical series (“5”, “10”, “15”, “20”, “25”, “30”) and only even (“2”, “4”, “6”, “8”, “10”, “12”) or only uneven (“3”, “5”, “7”, “9”, “11”, “13”) sequences of numbers. Very promising seems to be the combination of three even and three uneven numbers, about a third of the winners in German lottery history successfully relied on this combination.

The most and least drawn lottery numbers

Interestingly enough, the number “13” is the least drawn number in many lotteries all over the world. As of the end of April 2014, it is only drawn exactly 400 times in the history of the German lottery “Lotto 6 aus 49” and a merely 225 times and a frequency of only 11% in the National Lottery of the United Kingdom. In comparison, the most drawn number to date in German lottery history is the number “32” with 506 draws. The ball number “38” is the most drawn number of the National Lottery of the UK with 309 draws and a frequency of 16%.

How to use a number generator

A number generator – often called “Quick Pick” – is a very helpful tool for players that are insecure with what numbers they should pick. It also saves a significant amount of time, if a player wants to play a large amount of lines. Almost every online lottery ticket retailer provides the services of such a tool.

Normally, players only have to determine the number of lines they want to play and if they want to simultaneously play any of the additional lotteries. After that, they hit the “Quick Pick”-button and the lottery ticket is automatically filled out.

Trivia about lotto numbers

Besides being the least drawn number in German lottery history, the number “13” was also the first one ever to be drawn on 9 October 1955. However, it is not submitted if and how many players considered this incidence to be a bad omen and quit playing afterwards.

In 1977, 205 German lottery players must have been a huge fan of Dutch television, because they chose to pick exactly the same numbers for the following German lottery draw as announced earlier before by the Dutch lottery. The result must have been a huge surprise for all of them, because the winning numbers caused them a nice payment of DM 30,737.80 (about € 15,715.00).

Within only 8 weeks in 2010, the draw of the Israeli lottery resulted in the exact same six main numbers: “13”, “14”, “26”, “32”, “33” and “36” on 21 September and 16 October. Only the additional number was a different one in both of the draws. The chances of this happening in such a short period are 1 in 290,000.

On 25 April 1984, 69 lottery players from Germany must have felt very happy. They hit the top prize in the lottery “7 aus 38” (“7 from 38”) with correctly picking the winning numbers “1”, “3”, “5”, “6”, “9”, “12” and “25”. Unfortunately, because of the high amount of winners, each player only received € 8,644.44, which is the smallest amount of money ever paid for hitting the jackpot.

Lotto facts in numbers

The lottery is one of the most common forms of gambling worldwide. In most of the countries with a national lottery, about a third to a half of its inhabitants plays lotto on a regular basis. Lottery players are for the most part between the ages of 35 and 54 and slightly more often male than female.

In Germany for example, every week about 21 million people play lotto. Most of the lottery players are from the lower middle class and strive for a better way of living due to a win in the lottery. Most of the players live in rural regions, because there is only a small amount of competing leisure facilities and it easier to create tip communities.

The average US-American lottery player is male (about 57%) comes from a household that earns more than $ 50,000 per year and would use the money to pay off his debts (71% of the players). Only 45% would give the money to charity, others would rather buy a new car (51%), give it to their family (58%) or take a vacation (62%). 87% of the players buy their lottery ticket exclusively in a store, only 13% also purchase a ticket online form time to time. Amongst other things, this is because 23% of the players consider that they have different odds if they purchase the ticket online.

The sales of the North American state and provincial lotteries reached a total amount of more than $US 63,000 million in 2011 and even more than $US 68,700 million in 2012. About 50% of the citizens of the United States of America play one of the lotteries on a regular basis. About a third of the sales money is awarded in cash prizes back to the players: a total of about $US 18,400 million in 2011 and $US 19,500 million in 2012.

The percentage of money transferred in the USA is therefore slightly higher than in Canada, where only about a quarter of the money goes back to the players. $CAN 2,685.71 million of $CAN 10,398.91 million in 2011 and $CAN 2,335.87 of $CAN 9,294.69 in 2012.

Distribution of the sales

Lottery players should not expect regular winnings, because the conditional mean of each lottery is way to low. If he pays $US 1 for a lottery ticket, he can receive only $US 0.50 of the money spend in prize money. In other words, he instantly loses half of his money. If he for example chooses to play Roulette instead, he will statistically lose only 2.7% of his money per game.

The only chance to live on the lottery is by winning the jackpot or another huge cash prize. Even if a player buys all available lottery tickets or plays all of the possible combinations, the costs would exceed the amount of money he could win. In the long term, almost every lottery player will therefore make a loss.

Now, what happens to the other 50% of the money that does not go into the jackpot and other cash prizes? In Germany for example, about 23% of the money goes directly to the government via the concession levy. It is afterwards used to pay for cultural institutions, state-funded sport promotion for underprivileged children and teenager, the welfare and many other good causes. Depending on the country, the amount of money that is used to support good causes varies between 15% and 35%.

Lottery companies pay between 4% and 9% of the costs of each lottery ticket to the owner or leaseholder of the lottery agency, the remaining money is used to pay the lottery taxes of the country or state.