Should you ever wondered what’s in a name, look no further than Larry Gambles. Whether he’s lucky by name or lucky by nature we’ll never know. But Larry recently won his second jackpot in nine years.
On the 7th of June, his lottery ticket matched all five numbers in the Illinois lottery. He takes home a $1 million cheque to his home town of Matteson, just south of Chicago.
Aside from a respectable jackpot, what makes this win more remarkable is that it’s the second time he’s won a jackpot using the same lotto numbers. In 2007 he won $50 000 with the numbers from the jerseys of his high school basketball team. He’s a retired school administrator but he still continues to play basketball. After the clerk had verified his ticket he rushed home to share the good news with his family. He’s looking forward to using his winnings to spoil his family and friends.
When asked if he had any tips for fellow lottery enthusiasts, he advised picking your favourite numbers and playing them consistently. He’s living proof that this strategy can pay off. But picking your favourite numbers is never easy. So many people rely on a special date when they fill in their play slip, but this is not always a good idea.
Think about it. Using a birthday or anniversary means you’re ignoring at least half the numbers in the field. When every number has an equal opportunity of being drawn, it seems silly to exclude so many. It’s better to split the range into high and low numbers and choose a balanced combination. It’s just a small way to improve your chances of winning the lottery.
If you really want to know how to win the lottery, keep reading.
You need to put some serious thought into your number selection. If you’ve ever studied the lottery results, you may notice that very often, a number that was part of the previous winning combination will show up again in the next draw. So don’t be afraid to repeat a number that has already been drawn. Chances are quite good that it be drawn again.
Conversely, don’t pick a number just because it hasn’t come up for a while. Lottery players like to think that if a number has been drawn for a while, then it’s bound to come up soon. But as lotteries are completely random, there’s no reason to believe at all. You’re better off picking numbers that are ‘hot’ rather than ‘cold.
Another thing you should avoid is playing numbers that end with the same digit. Even if you think seven is your lucky number, playing 7, 17, 27, 37, and 47 is a bad idea. Combinations such as this are unlikely to come up. The same applies to combinations with multiples such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30. And along with repeating numbers and birthdays, these are combinations many people choose. In the event that one of these combinations is drawn, it only means you’ll be sharing your jackpot with more people.
So how should you pick your numbers? Balance is really the key. As mentioned earlier, you should pick a combination of high and low numbers. Make your selection as random as possible and think about including a number that was drawn last time. But above all, you should pick numbers that have a special meaning to you.
The ‘quick pick’ option offered to lottery players may seem like a good way to choose a totally random set of numbers, but they’re unlikely to bring you any luck. There are very few jackpots winners who scooped the big prize by using the quick pick option. That should prove to you that it’s worth putting in the effort to pick your own numbers.
Another important factor is consistency. It’s clear that Larry Gambles continued to play the lottery after his first win. If you’re serious about winning a jackpot, you need to play every draw. Just remember that you should never spend money you can’t afford to lose. Work out a budget for yourself and stick to it.
Now that you can play the big US lotteries online, it’s easy to play every week. You can set up a subscription service that automatically bills your credit card before the draw. You don’t have to remember to get your tickets and you’ll skip the queue at your local retailer.
You can set up the numbers you want to play every week and let the online ticket concierge service take care of the rest. They’ll even claim your winnings on your behalf and credit your account. So buy your lottery tickets online, play every week and you could be as lucky as Larry—even if you don’t have a lucky surname!
