One lucky Brit is now richer than Adele and Harry Styles after winning a staggering £177 million in the Euromillions last week.
In total, the National Lottery has paid out £92 billion over the years, yet the possibility of winning remains approximately 1 in 45 million.
And while Dr Lassina Dembele, who specialises in number theory, says there is “no number luckier than the other,” there are some which are picked more than others.
The King’s College lecturer told the Daily Express: “There is no number luckier than the other or mathematical basis when it comes to playing the lottery.
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“It is just a game of probability, and just because a person plays often does not mean your chances of winning increase; each game is a new game.”
But when asked what could potentially increase your chances of winning, Dr Dembele quipped: “Buying all the tickets.”
He added: “Birthdays and special dates are too common to win. If I played, it would just be for fun because I like certain numbers because of their properties, not because I’ll have better chances.”
Despite this, there are some numbers that have come up more frequently than others, which can be found on the National Lottery website.
The numbers 11 and 39 have only been drawn six times, while number 15 has been called just seven times, followed by numbers 21 and 47, which have been drawn eight times.
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Mathematician Skip Garibaldi told Wired: “You are not going to increase your chances of winning by some strategy about how you pick the exact numbers that you choose.”
When it comes to playing the big lottery draws, he advises “You’d like to pick unpopular numbers” and adds, “Don’t pick dates; a lot of people gamble based on dates.”
Recently, ticket holders were urged to check their numbers a second time after an error led to the wrong winning numbers being published online. A correction was later issued after it emerged that an additional number had been added by mistake.
The actual winning numbers were 07, 11, 25, 31, and 40, with lucky numbers 09 and 12.
A UK ticket holder ended up winning the incredible sum, making them the third biggest National Lottery winner of all time.
The winner, who remains anonymous, now joins the ranks of previous massive payouts, including the UK ticket-holder from July 19, 2022, who bagged an eye-watering £195 million while keeping their identity hidden.
The latest winner falls just behind Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester, who scooped a record-breaking £184,262,899 with a lucky dip ticket on May 10, 2022.
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