With Mega Millions and Powerball reaching epic heights in recent years, a lot of us are playing the "What would you do if you won the lottery?" game.
The first stop on the path to that dream of winning the BIG bucks? The question: how to pick winning lottery numbers?
Team Jackpocket has delved into the fascinating stories of past lottery winners and the unique strategies they employed to handpick their numbers. There are many different ways to choose lottery numbers, but we rounded up some of the most popular methods. Remember: in the end, it all comes down to luck!
13 Ways Lottery Players Choose Their Winning Numbers
1. Birthdays & Anniversaries
Many people choose numbers that hold personal significance, such as birthdays or special dates. In the case of this $25K-a-year-for-life winner in North Carolina, it was a mash-up of a few personal digits: her birthday, her son's birthday and his football jersey number. Consider your own winning combination when thinking about how to pick lottery numbers. You might just get lucky!
⚡️ Feeling inspired? Get in the game on the Jackpocket lottery app for mobile or desktop.
2. Lucky Numbers
Some winners have relied on numbers they consider lucky or have a positive association with. A $1,000,0000 Cash4Life winner told Jackpocket that their father's lucky numbers became their own: “Those [winning Cash4Life] numbers were actually my father’s numbers. My father passed away, so I’ve been playing his numbers ever since.” We guess good ol’ dad had some insight into how to pick winning lottery numbers. Meaningful numbers in your life could just be the winning ticket.
3. Going Random
Numerous winners have opted for completely random number combinations, either using Quick Picks or generating them through random number generators or using their own diverse set of numbers. Jackpocket's record $9.4 million winner told us that of her five Pick-6 tickets on that fateful drawing, two of them were Quick Picks and three of them were a combination of birthdays and important dates. This time, the Quick Picks had it! The winning numbers? 04, 28, 31, 37, 41 and 43. So, if you’ve wondered, is it better to pick your own lottery numbers? The answer is, it could go either way! There are plenty of random numbers generators out there if you need a little inspiration.
>> Hot topic: Is it better to Quick Pick or pick your own numbers?
4. Family Member's Ages
Some winners have selected numbers based on the ages of their family members, such as children, parents, or siblings. Don't forget pets! A Jackpocket player in New Jersey won $1,000,000 with this strategy: “Everything was an age or a birthday. The first one was my wife and then my youngest son. The third one was me and then the dog.” Age may be a lucky number when considering how to pick winning lottery numbers. Which family members would you use to play?
5. Random Patterns
Some winners have chosen numbers based on random patterns they observed in their surroundings, such as objects or patterns in nature. And this one's pretty random: a Maryland lottery player used the license plate number from her wrecked car to win a $25,000 lottery prize. To choose your numbers, you could even make a pattern on your playslip, such as a heart or half a star.
6. Dreams & Intuition
A few winners have claimed to have received their winning numbers through dreams, visions, or other forms of intuition. A Jackpocket player in New Jersey said his winning numbers came to him in dreamland. "The numbers came clear to me and I played them," he said. It goes to show that there are a number of ways to determine how to pick winning lottery numbers. Do you keep a notebook by your bed so you can write down the numbers that appear in your dreams?
7. Recurring Numbers
Some winners have noticed certain numbers repeatedly appearing in their lives and decided to include them in their lottery number choices. In April 2019, Deborah Brown of Richmond, Virginia kept seeing the same four numbers. When she decided to do something about it and play, she won $150,000. She said, "I nearly had a heart attack!" Think about the numbers that keep showing up in your life. Will you do something about it like Deborah did?
8. Fortune Cookies
Don't throw away that fortune! A recent retiree in North Carolina played some fortune cookie numbers from a Vietnamese restaurant given to him by his grandaughter. Those numbers netted him a $344.6 million Powerball!
9. Previous Winning Numbers
Some winners have incorporated previously drawn winning numbers into their combinations, assuming that they may have a higher chance of repeating. Ralph Laird of California created a computer program that randomized previous winning Lotto numbers. He went on to win $27.58 million, a California Lottery record high back in 1990!
>> By the numbers: We rounded up the most drawn Mega Millions numbers of the year.
10. Previous Winning Numbers
Consider previous lottery results but without the focus on winning numbers. Players will consider numbers from a specified time period and look at the numbers that were drawn the most (the hot numbers) and those that were drawn the least (the cold numbers). Some will focus on combinations of hot numbers from recent draws, while others may focus on combinations of cold numbers, or both! A Fantasy 5 jackpot winner told the Michigan Lottery that he used this numbers-picking strategy: “I looked up the hot/cold numbers on the website and swapped out a few of my usual numbers with some of the hot numbers.”
11. Uncommon and Varied numbers
Another strategy some players use is to steer away from the most common Powerball numbers or Mega Millions numbers from previous draws. The key to this strategy is simple. Review the past several draws, make note of those numbers, and pick different ones! Also, vary the numbers chosen by not selecting two numbers within the same group or not selecting those that end with the same digit.
12. Numerology
Some players consult numerology to make their lottery picks. Numerology is a belief that there is a sacred or mystical relationship between numbers and a person/event. A North Carolina man was inspired to use fortune cookie numbers that came with his favorite lunch and won a $4 million Mega Millions prize.
>> For fun: Read your lottery horoscope.
13. Just Quick Pick it!
Some lottery players opt out of picking their own numbes, and allow the compuer to choose. Around 60-70% of Jackpocket players choose Quick Pick when they play the lottery. This was the method chosen by Laarni Babel in San Diego, California for her winning Mega Millions ticket worth $522 million: "There was no special method to landing the big win- it was merely a stroke of luck. The numbers were computer-generated through Quick Pick" Could Quick Pick net you a lottery win?
⚡️ Ready to pick your own lucky numbers? Get in the game on the Jackpocket lottery app for mobile or desktop!
