10 Best Ways to Choose the Right Lottery Numbers

With the recent Mega Millions over $1 billion, how to choose winning lottery numbers is a question many are asking across the country.

While some like to look at patterns and others to the heavens, there is no foolproof way of how to choose lottery numbers, despite what you might read on the internet. 

But despite the draw being random, players still insist there are ways of how to choose the right lottery numbers, across all types of games. 

Let’s take a closer look at the 10 best ways to choose the right lottery numbers, in no particular order. 

How to Choose Lottery Numbers

1. Using Numbers Around You

One strategy of how to choose winning lottery numbers could just be to pick the first six numbers you see around your immediate area. Whether it be from dates on a notepad, things you see on TV, or numbers on your computer, choosing the six numbers that come up right before selecting is as good as any strategy. 

2. Using “Lucky” Numbers

One of the most common ways people use when thinking of how to choose lottery numbers is to use their lucky numbers. Everyone had lucky numbers as a kid, use them when picking your lottery numbers. 

3. Statistics

This would involve the most research on the list, but one strategy in choosing the right lottery numbers could be to look at previous drawings, to see which balls of the game were drawn the most often. Because the lottery has become so popular, there are plenty of data sets out there to comb through. 

While this method is time-consuming, it may be one of the only ways to give yourself even the slightest of edges when deciding how to choose the right lottery numbers. 

4. Number Frequency

Similar to No. 3, this method would involve looking at recent and historical drawings to see the frequency with which numbers were drawn. You could take the opposite approach, assuming numbers not drawn in the past are “due” to be drawn soon. 

5. The Delta System

One of the most common “systems”, the Delta System involves picking each number by a specific method, with the numbers in between (the delta) balls deciding your next ball. More can be read about the Delta System and its intricacies in online research. 

6. High Numbers Only

The thought here would be that most people pick low numbers because they are more often people’s “lucky” number or their birthdays, making the price bigger should you win because you’d have to split it with fewer people. 

7. Use a Pattern

When filling out your lottery tickets when determining how to choose lottery numbers, you are filling in squares similar to that of your multiple choice standardized tests in high school. Similar to how you may have then, you can fill in patterns such as the outlines of “X” or hearts. 

8. Machine Picks

Probably the most common method of how to choose lottery numbers, you can always let the machine randomly pick numbers for you. This is also the fastest way to play the lottery when going into a store (or at the machine) to play.

9. Birthdays

One of the most popular methods when manually choosing lottery numbers is for people to play on their own, on their families, and on close friends’ birthdays. This generally points towards playing the lower numbers, as only 1-31 would be involved. 

10. Random Number Generator

There are plenty of online resources for choosing random numbers, both in applications such as Excel, but also dedicated websites. The website Random.org is one such website, with a Games and Lotteries section even available. 

How to Choose the Right Lottery Numbers

No matter how you determine the best way to choose the right lottery numbers, keep in mind that all lotteries, by their definition, are random. As with all gambling ventures, make sure to only risk what you are willing to lose in its entirety.