A sign on a doorway advertises the Georgia Lottery as a customer enters a convenience store, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Atlanta. As the Powerball jackpot soars, a Georgia Lottery official says the agency is working to get its equipment operational again after some machines have been down. Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Kimberly Starks confirmed that some machines were not working properly. She said Monday afternoon that lottery officials are aware of the situation, and are working to correct the problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Before you start filling out your Powerball ticket, here are some tips to help you beat the almost impossible odds stacked against you.
The Powerball drawing happens Saturday night, and the jackpot is estimated to be One BILLION Dollars. This is one of the biggest Powerball jackpots in history, and I want you to win big (mainly so you can share with me). So the big question remains, how do you improve your chances of winning the money?!
Let’s just get one thing crystal clear before we go any further. . . The odds of winning any jackpot are enormously stacked against you. I’m not a statistician, but I think you have better odds of getting struck by lightning while riding a shark into a volcano than you do hitting the jackpot. I have not fact checked those numbers.
Who wants to worry about those dumb ole odds though?!
Let’s ignore the fact that none of us will most likely win. Instead you can focus on a few ways that will help improve your odds, even if it’s just a little bit.
The best thing you can do to improve your odds is to play the same numbers every single day. Most of us don’t have that kind of dedication though, and we only play when the jackpot gets to these massive amounts. If you are among the group of people that waits for bigger jackpots to play, the bad news is that your odds only get worse. The good news is that eventually somebody has to win it, so why not you? Check out a few ways to increase your odds below, and good luck! If you win, just remember who gave you all these good tips!
Mix Even & Odd Numbers
The perfect ratio is to have three of one and two of the other, but this only applies to the main numbers and not the bonus ball. If you end up with 4 evens and one odd it’s not the end of the world, you just want to make sure to avoid having all even or all odd. Only 3% of the past numbers have been all even or all odd.
Split Between Low & High Numbers
I personally don’t subscribe to this, but every lottery tip site says that you should divide your numbers between the low (1-30) and high (40-75) range. The suggestion is that you split your numbers evenly between low and high to increase your chances of winning.
Add Up Those Numbers
I had never heard this tip before, but it is intriguing to me. Experts suggest that you should add up the five numbers you pick and try to stay within a target range. The preferred range is between 140 and 240 after your five number are added together. More than half of the winning number combinations fall in that range.
Buy More Than One Ticket
Buying more than one ticket is the easiest way to increase your odds, and the most common sense way. The trick to this one is to make sure that you don’t repeat your picks on any tickets. if you buy enough tickets to cover each of the bonus numbers, that will also increase your odds of winning something.
Don’t Group Your Numbers Together
Trying to keep your numbers grouped together is a recipe for disaster. Number grouping usually means putting all of your numbers in the same 10 number range.
Don’t Repeat Winning Numbers
If you think playing the numbers that just came up again is giving you an advantage, you’re throwing your money away. It’s only happened once in the lotto history where the identical set of numbers showed up in consecutive draws. Playing like this would take your bad odds, and make them worse.
Try Doing The Easy Pick Yourself
Most lottery experts will tell you that the Easy Pick option lowers your odds of winning very slightly, but there is a catch to that. If you randomly choose numbers yourself, then go over them to apply the above rules, you actually increase your chances. This is a perfect option for someone who does not have regular numbers, or wants to just get random with their choices.
If you follow these tips, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be swimming in a pool full of gold doubloon’s like Scrooge McDuck. *The previous sentence is entirely untrue.
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