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We also reveal the numbers that YOU should be picking and whether picking birthday numbers ever works
WINNING the lottery is everyone’s fantasy – but what are the tactics behind picking the winning numbers?
Lottery Guy, a top expert and blogger, has exclusively revealed his top tips to boost your chances of winning, which can help you scoop the entire giant £157million jackpot tonight.
He chooses to remain anonymous but has been running his blog, Lottery Guy, since 2004, where he dishes out lottery tips to help players win big.
Millions of us buy a Euromillions ticket each week with the hope of scooping a huge windfall – so you’ll need as much help picking the winning numbers while battling it out against other players.
You pick five numbers from 1-50 and two lucky stars from 1-12, or you can choose a lucky dip – which is when the numbers are randomly selected for you.
There have been some mega lottery prizes up for grabs recently, including the whopping £208 million EuroMillions jackpot that was won by one lucky Irish ticket holder.
The lucky player now has a bank balance bigger than superstars Adele and Dua Lipa.
Meanwhile, tonight’s jackpot is set at £157million.
Of course, the only real way of boosting your chances of winning is to buy more tickets, but make sure you gamble responsibly.
It may be tempting to pick yours and your loved one’s birthday dates as your main numbers with the hope they bring you luck.
But the Lottery Guy said it’s best to avoid this tactic.
That’s because there will be a greater number of people picking numbers 1-31.
“Avoiding these numbers doesn’t increase your chance of winning, but if you do win, you’re much less likely to split the prize with other winners.”
Three of the five winning main numbers for the whopping £208million EuroMillions winning ticket were birthday date numbers.
They were: 13, 22 and 23.
Statistically, each number has an equal chance of winning, which means there are no “lucky” numbers you can pick to boost your chances.
But Lottery Guy said a good idea would be to pick “unpopular” numbers in your ticket.
Unpopular numbers are those which run from 32-50, because they fall outside of the birthday date numbers.
It makes sense to choose these numbers, because fewer players will be picking them.
That means that if you win a share of the winnings, there will be fewer people with the same unpopular numbers on their ticket.
“If you do win, you’re much less likely to split the prize with other winners,” he said.
Two of the numbers on the winning £208million EuroMillions ticket were “unpopular” numbers.
These were 44 and 49.
A lottery syndicate is when a group of people club together and put money into a pot for lottery tickets.
One person will be in charge of buying the tickets and sharing out winnings. They are called the syndicate manager.
Joining one could be a good idea, said Lottery Guy.
“A syndicate does increase your chance of winning something because you’re usually buying a lot more tickets,” he said.
“But obviously your share of any prize is smaller – although it’s still great for a big rollover jackpot.”
The syndicate manager will need to register the group and list themselves as the person in charge with The National Lottery.
It’s really important to write all the terms and conditions of your syndicate agreement down.
Get each person to sign it, so that if there is any confusion or squabbles over splitting the money, you can refer back to the agreement.
For example, if you were in a syndicate of 10 people and you bagged the £157million jackpot tonight, then each person would walk away with £15.7million.
That’s obviously a lot less than what you would get if you were the only winner – but it’s still a jackpot not to be sniffed at.
WINNING the EuroMillions was a dream come true for Frances and Patrick Connolly.
The couple, from Moira, Northern Ireland, were gobsmacked when they scooped £115million back in 2019.
But it wasn’t a luxury supercar or a mansion that they splurged on first – they shared nearly £58million between 50 friends and family.
Frances said last year that she and husband Patrick have donated £60million since their life-changing win.
“That’s £60million-worth of love,” she said.
“And the thing that makes me even happier is that every single person we gave money to has passed some of it on to other people. I can’t think of a day since winning the Lottery that I haven’t smiled.”
They’ve also made some splurges of their own.
Patrick has swapped his old Renault Laguna for a new £30,000 Alfa Romeo Giulia.
He also gifted Frances with her dream car – although it came with a much more modest price tag – a £2,000 X-Type Jaguar.
“If I had any advice for a winner, I’d say money liberates you to be the person that you want to be.”
You have to be in it to win it, so if you want the chance of scooping a jackpot, you must buy a ticket.
But certain days are better than others to buy a ticket.
Lottery Guy said Tuesday is actually the best day to buy a ticket over Friday.
He said: “With EuroMillions, Friday is the much more popular day, so you’ve got more competition on a Friday.
“Consider focusing on the Tuesday draw if you want to keep more of that jackpot for yourself.”
And remember, only gamble with money you can afford to lose, and set a spending limit before you play.
Visit gamcare.org.uk or GambleAware.org if you need help.
BETWEEN them all, the top 10 richest lottery winners have bagged a combined £1.6billion.
But who are the lucky winners? Here’s the top 10 richest players who bagged the jackpot:
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