Odds against winning UK National Lottery - c. 14,000,000/1

[Sharky]

Only buy one £2 ticket for the sat draw each week without any hope or expectation, but guess what. I won £25 this week!

 

[irw]

I was reading an article that reckoned you can increase the chances of winning by buying at the last minute.
The logic was that you've more chance of being knocked down and killed on the way to the shop to buy the ticket, than you have of winning the jackpot, so the less time between buying it and the draw being made, the better
I don't know where it leaves me, as I buy on line.

Surely the chance of being knocked down and killed on the way to the shop increases even more if you're rushing to get there last-minute? (although it's too late at night to work out how this affects anything?!)

 

[Accy cyclist]

Well i tried that last minute ticket wins theory on Saturday night, I put my usual numbers on (reluctantly as now there's even less chance of winning) at 7.28. Needless to say i didn't win a bean. Perhaps on Wednesday i'll go for 7.29.

 

[Dirk]

If you buy your ticket at the start of the week, you've certainly got more chance of dying, through any cause, than actually winning the jackpot.

I gave up on the lottery about the time it was revealed that one of the 'good causes' they supported was something like a Chilean Guinea Pig farmers collective.

 

[andyfraser]

Only buy one £2 ticket for the sat draw each week without any hope or expectation, but guess what. I won £25 this week!

After having spent how much though? I walked away from a casino in Las Vegas $30 up once. That's better than I've managed on the lottery.

 

[MontyVeda]

Chap I used to know never bought a ticket but used to watch the lottery to see if the numbers he'd chosen and written on a bit of paper came up . I used to seriously worry about him if they ever did!

I used to do that... sort of. I had three numbers in my head and they never got drawn on the same night. I felt justified in not buying a ticket. If i can't pick three, what chance have i got of picking six?

 

[ColinJ]

After having spent how much though? I walked away from a casino in Las Vegas $30 up once. That's better than I've managed on the lottery.

I had £5,000 worth of premium bonds for a few months in 2006. During that period, I won £50 three months on the trot.

 

[Sharky]

After having spent how much though? I walked away from a casino in Las Vegas $30 up once. That's better than I've managed on the lottery.

Agree, not a very good return. Must have spent about £100 over the last 12 months, but next week,who knows!

I think I have gained more from being observant when out riding. Have found lots of small coins and occasional bank notes. Even spotted a "hoard" of about dozen pound coins on the ground all in the same place. Also spotted a wallet that had been thrown out after somebody had nicked it. No money, but it contained a driving licence and season ticket. Was able to trace the owner and he gave one of my kids a £5 "thank you".

 

[colly]

I used to do a fivers worth now and again via the net. Naturally I paid out more than I ever won but really no one actually expects to win big money (OK some do). A few £10 wins and a couple of £100 ish amounts. It's more of an entertainment for most I suspect.
Stopped playing when it went up to £2 a ticket and cancelled my account when they added the extra balls.

Mrs Colly gets a couple of lines on a Saturday now and then.

A comment in a newspaper from a man about how his family put on something like £400 a month made me sit up.

 

[buggi]

I checked an old ticket the other day and four numbers came up consistently over the last six months. But not on the weeks I played dammit.

Also, if there odds are so high, even the old odds were high, can someone explain why there's been two couples recently who have hit the jackpot twice? For it to happen to one couple is unusual, but twice? I also watched a program on winners a while back and I think there were two seperate people on that who won a significant amount twice as well.

I'm becoming cynical aren't I?

 

[andyfraser]

The thing with the lottery is that each draw is a completely separate event. Any one combination of balls has as much chance as any other. While the chances of someone picking 2 winning lines is improbable it's not impossible. The odds of either line coming up are the same, and they're the same as for anyone else's line.

@buggi There's no need to be cynical, unless Camelot are cheating of course. lol

 

[Mo1959]

I checked an old ticket the other day and four numbers came up consistently over the last six months. But not on the weeks I played dammit.

Also, if there odds are so high, even the old odds were high, can someone explain why there's been two couples recently who have hit the jackpot twice? For it to happen to one couple is unusual, but twice? I also watched a program on winners a while back and I think there were two seperate people on that who won a significant amount twice as well.

I'm becoming cynical aren't I?

That's maybe one I read about. Husband hadn't realised the missus had bought their ticket and he bought one too. They always used the same numbers.

 

[gavintc]

It is a tax on the stupid. Who would pay for those odds - no thank you.

 

[mustang1]

First I would like to thank someone who recommended the book "no place like home, thank God".

What a fine read that was but the problem is I can't recall who on cc recommended it.

At the end of the boom, the guy gives another interesting statistic, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may want to read it.

 

[buggi]

That's maybe one I read about. Husband hadn't realised the missus had bought their ticket and he bought one too. They always used the same numbers.

No .... it was two separate draws for each, they won it a few months apart. Coincidence? I'm still suspicious.