Winning the lottery the sensible way
- col-dave-mast
- February 23, 2024
- 475
The numbers are in, and Lady Luck is ready to bless all who play these 10 numbers in their local lottery.
According to Lottery Geeks, those who play their birthdays, anniversaries and other meaningful personal numbers in the lottery are suckers.
Recently, LG released the most commonly drawn numbers in the lottery, the numbers most likely to win you millions, and this is certain to be a surefire way to crack the code. (Please note the previous statement was done with sarcasm dripping off it like sauce on your favorite spareribs.)
By the way, the ways most often chosen to pick a number are, in order of usage, random, lucky number, personal birthday, family birthday and personal anniversary.
That’s panned out super-well for so many people (see the above sarcastic statement).
But onward and upward as we take a gander at the most drawn numbers in lotteries around the nation.
In the survey, lottery numbers for the five most popular U.S. lotteries were analyzed to determine the ranking.
Experts at Lottery Geeks, a news publication for anything related to lottery and iLotto, analyzed the numbers that have appeared in all previous draws across Powerball, Mega Millions, Cash4Life, Lotto America and Lucky for Life. They determined each number’s average frequency across all five lotteries to determine which ones are the luckiest.
The luckiest number is 10, with an average frequency of 211 over the five U.S. lotteries, appearing in a total of 1,055 draws. Second is the number 28, with an average frequency of 209. Next is 16, with an average frequency of 208. The number 35 is fourth, with an average frequency of 207.8. Fifth is the number 22, with an average frequency of 207.6. It is the sixth most common number in Powerball, appearing 324 times.
Just keep playing those numbers and you’re in. Who knew that winning a ton of money was so simple!
OK, all guessing numbers aside, here is a surefire way to win $20,000.
This is a 99.99% money-back guarantee, although it is a long-term plan.
Every week set aside $20.
That’s $1,040 per year.
Continue to do that over the next four decades.
And presto, after 40 years you’ve saved $21,600!
Let’s leave some breathing room for all of those times you would have won $15 or $48 or $2 on some minor victory in the lottery, and if we subtract those minor victories from the pot, there you have it, $20,000.
But wait, there’s more.
You can take those $20 deposits and invest them as you go along, and you invest it in a money market at 5%, and now that total has gone up to $35,800.
So there you have it, the surest bet you can make in investing in the lottery is to not invest in the lottery.
According to my calculations, simply by not playing the lottery, I’ve come out at a bare minimum $20,000 ahead of what most people who invest $10 a week would make over my adult life.
Thus, in a sense, I’ve won $20,000 by not playing the lottery, and perhaps even closer to $40,000 since I’ve invested wisely.
Who knew making money in the lottery by not playing the lottery was so simple.
The allure to strike it rich without doing anything other than to punch in a few numbers is awfully alluring, but there is one trait that has oftentimes amused me over the years.
It has always stunned me there is a significant number of people who won’t play the lottery at $4 million. However, when that pot grows to $16 million, then they’re all in.
Can you imagine this conversation at home:
Harold: “Honey, we should play the lottery this week.”
Maude: “No, that’s a waste of time. It’s only at $3.7 million; it’s not worth my time to run down to the corner market and purchase tickets for that paltry amount.”
Harold: “But Hon, it’s at 18.6 million!”
Maude: “Why didn’t you say so! Grab the kids. We’re going to Shop-n-Stuff now!”
What exactly is it in people that think they can’t live on $3.7 million?
Meanwhile, in both scenarios, I’ve saved $20 by not playing.
While I win far less, I like my odds so much better.
Look at it this way: If I came to your home, knocked on your door and offered you a handful of lottery tickets or $100, which would you choose?
Would you opt for the wonderful windfall of someone just handing you $100, or would you go for the pie in the sky opportunity to be the 1-in-497,310,456 people to come away a winner of millions?
If you saw $20 flittering around on the ground, would you think to yourself, “Nah, I’m not bending over for just $20. Now maybe if it was a cool $8.4 million, then probably yeah.”
Every week I don’t invest $20 in the lottery, I’m gaining $20.
Sometimes you simply have to do the math and not get caught up in the glamour of becoming an instant millionaire without having put in the work.
Just remember this: If you were born Oct. 28, you were married Sept. 16, you live at 35 Wilkshire Lane and you’re 22 years old, disregard everything I just said.