7 Lottery Mistakes That Stop You Winning The Lotto

How to Win the Lotto?

Before we start looking at the mistakes that people make when placing their fixed odds lotto bets, let's take a look at some of the factors that can help you to tilt the odds in your favour a little. Now we are not promising any miracle solutions here, but the following video shows you ways that you can improve your chances of winning when you make your lottery bets. Take a look and see if you are you are following this advice:

Give Yourself the Best Chance to Win

In life there’s always two ways to do something, the right way and the wrong way. Sadly, we often do things the wrong way without even realising it until it’s too late. And your weekly lottery picks are no exception. As you might expect, we study user data and lottery trends to gain valuable insights into the methods and motivations of our players.

One shocking fact we uncovered is that a disproportionate amount of players sabotage their chances of winning. 

Based on the statistics there's a significant chance that you, too, are committing at least one of the following Seven Deadly Lottery Sins:

Lottery Sin #1: Top Payout Blindness

Only focusing on big tier 1 prizes is the most common mistake made by lottery players. It’s also one of the costliest. So understand, first of all, that, generally, the bigger the main prize the bigger the odds are against you winning it. Second point; the higher the main prize, the greater the hype and the more people buy tickets. Therefore, even if you manage to beat the odds and win the top prize, you're far more likely to end up sharing it – which brings us on to our next point…

Lottery Sin #2: Ignoring The Odds

As with any game of chance, winning the lottery is all about beating the odds. Learning the odds of different lottery games can make all the difference, and may even cause you to reconsider your favourite lottery. Once again, don’t just focus on the main prize odds (which can vary wildly) but also look at the various prize tiers the game offers, and the odds of winning one of those.

Lottery Sin #3: Thinking Your Numbers Are Lucky

Ever wonder why so many lottery wins, even hard-to-win main lottery prizes, end up being shared out? The answer is simple; it’s human nature. You might think your numbers are “lucky” or “special” but they’re anything but. Most people, consciously or otherwise, to pick the same numbers. We see a lot of people who pick the number 7, for example. We also see a lot of people who try the reverse psychology approach, and pick 13. Most common of all, though, are all the people picking numbers based on dates (between 1 and 31). A large proportion of whom all end up with the numbers 19 and 20.  

Lottery Sin #4: Looking For Patterns

It’s much the same story with patterns – e.g. picking numbers based on either numerical or visual patterns (drawing shapes on the ticket). Once again it limits the amount of numbers you pick, while also increasing the chances of having to share your winnings.

Lottery Sin #5: Trusting In Systems

Some people put their faith in hot or cold number theory – picking numbers based on the results of previous draws. The flaw here is that each lottery draw is a unique event and any correlation between one draw and the next is purely coincidental. Therefore, you should be very wary, and indeed highly sceptical, of any of the (billions of)  so-called “lottery systems” out there. 

Lottery Sin #6: Believing In Lottery Hocus Pocus

Beware the so-called lottery “gurus”. Same goes for astrologists, psychics and other charlatans who claim to know tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers. After all; if you knew tomorrow’s winning numbers would you tell anyone? 

Lottery Sin #7: Giving Up

Saying “I’m never going to…” about something is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you don’t even give yourself a chance. You’ll find loads of moaners out there more than happy to rain on your lottery parade – but don’t let them. Sure, the odds against a top prize win are stacked high against you, but I’m sure there have been times in your life where the odds seemed equally insurmountable but you pulled through regardless. So stay the course, because as long as you’re in there’s always that chance, no matter how slim, that your numbers will come up. And if they finally do could but you forgot to play could you ever forgive yourself? Many big winners have played for years, with an almost religious devotion, before winning big. No doubt you’ve probably read countless such stories.

And what is it they always say? Usually something like, “I knew it would happen some day!”

How to Improve Your Chances Of Winning The Lotto?

So, how do you make it happen? Now that you know the Seven Deadly Sins what should you do instead…?

Well, you’ll find there’s plenty of advice out there already on winning the lottery but you’ll find that more than 99% of it is pure bull.

Luckily we’ve got some real, practical things you can do to help you win the lottery and condensed them down to five simple bulletpoints:

1. Study Your Game – Learning the odds can help you pick the best lottery game for you – do you want to go all-in for a huge tier 1 winning, or a smaller one which you’re several times as likely to win?

2. Use Quick Picks – Your lucky numbers aren’t as lucky, or unique, as you think. With randomly-generated quick picks, however, you’re far less likely to end up sharing your tier 1 prize.

3. Check Out The Extra Games – Many lotteries have extra bonus games, such as the SA Lotto’s Plus 1 & 2 games. These games usually only cost a little bit extra, but increase your chances of a win considerably, maybe not as much as the full tier 1 payout but still a tasty windfall.

4. Pick More Than One Line – Want to double your chances of winning the lottery? Well it’s easy – just pick another set of numbers! (Plus don’t forget you can also multiply your millions with Lottoland’s exclusive DoublePayout feature!

5. Don’t Lose Hope – the more you participate the better your chances, which is we we hear so much about loyal players who kept the faith for years and were rewarded with millions.

Always keep in mind, however, that the lottery is meant to be fun. So whether you're buying tickets at your local newsagents or betting on the results here at Lottoland, to only play what you can afford. It's not about quantity, it's about consistency – remember, slow and steady wins the race! 

Bonus Tip – Join a syndicate. A recent survey by the UK National Lottery revealed that around 17% of all lottery wins in Britain were by syndicate players. It's a similar story in other countries and, indeed, in Ireland, too. (The Lotto's biggest ever top prize was won by a syndicate, for example.)

So if you’re serious about winning the lottery why not start your own lotto syndicate? Of course you’ll have to share with other members, but together you all stand a far greater chance of winning big!