Why You Should Avoid The Most Popular Lottery Numbers

If you are one of those people who tends to go with a selection of tried and tested numbers, then you may just have been making a classic mistake. Those who opt for the most popular lottery numbers should be very wary, as there is a whole host of pitfalls that come with them.

Table of contents:

• THE MOST DRAWN LOTTO NUMBERS
• AVOID UNDER THIRTIES
• LUCKY 7
• UNLUCKY 13
• SEQUENCES
• WHAT NUMBERS DO I PICK?

The Most Drawn Lotto Numbers

Everyone who participates in the lottery does so with the aim of winning a vast sum of money, so it goes without saying that if your numbers come up, you won't want to be sharing with too many other people. This is where the biggest problem with selecting the most popular lottery numbers arises.

In the UK the following numbers have been drawn the most: 23, 40, 38, 33, 30, 25. For Euromillions, the most popular number is 50, followed by 44, 19, 4 and 30 and the most common extra numbers have been 8 and 3. Many players, therefore, use these same numbers, despite no set of numbers being mathematically more (or indeed less) likely than any other combination to come out of the machine.

Of course, if one of those combinations should ever tumble out one Wednesday or Saturday evening, unless the jackpot is something unusually large, chances are the jackpot will end up being shared between hundreds, if not thousands, of others. When you have just beaten odds of millions to one, you don't want to see that multi-million-pound sum to be split so many ways that you walk off with mere thousands.

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Avoid Under Thirties

No, that's not dating advice, but rather a surefire way to avoid popular numbers. Studies have shown that many lotto players base their numbers on important birthdays. As no month has more than 31 days, 32 and over are frequently disregarded.   

Picking a mix of numbers over and under 31 will lessen your chances of sharing that all-important jackpot.

Lucky 7

The origin of seven being a lucky number dates back to numerous ancient civilisations, in countries across the world. Its popularity as a symbol of good fortune remains today, and it is amongst the most popular numbers.

At the time of writing it is one of the most overdue numbers in the UK Lotto (note: this is unavailable at Lottoland), but you can be sure when it does appear next, it'll feature on a lot of people's picks.

Unlucky 13

The number 13 is a much-maligned number, as it is seen as unlucky in many cultures and players are wary of putting it into their lotto lines in case it jeopardises everything. Despite its negative connotations, statistically, the chance of it being drawn is no higher, or lower, than any number.

But here's the spooky thing, thanks to a huge Lottoland study we can indeed confirm that 13 is the least frequently drawn ball across not 1, but 8 international lotteries!

Still, if your line does include it, and it's picked, you can be sure you're going to be one of very few people who included this seemingly cursed number.

Sequences

The University of Southampton have run several studies on the lottery; in 1998 they revealed that 7 was 25% more likely to be chosen over any other number.

More recently they announced that the sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6 is chosen by approximately 10,000 people each week. If those are your numbers, and they come up, your share of a £5 million jackpot would therefore be just £500.

What Numbers Do I Pick?

So, how do I win the lottery? Ultimately, winning the lotto is largely down to luck, but there are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of not only winning but ensuring you don't compromise your potential winnings.

Be creative with your numbers, go off the beaten track for your selections to make sure they're not just personal, but unique. Alternatively just click the Quick+1 button for fully-random, computer-generated quick picks.

Either way, it's good to mix things up and change your approach. So why not test your new and improved numbers when you bet on this week's jackpot. 

Last updated: 21st September 2022