Long time readers of the Lottery Guy blog will know I’m a fan of syndicates. They just make sense for most people. You pool your money to buy more tickets – you get a better chance of winning without breaking the bank.

So when a new professional lottery syndicate arrives complete with a fanfare and fancy TV adverts, it’s pretty big news.

Cue… Love My Lotto, the new multi-lottery syndicate.

I’ll give a more detailed opinion on this one once I’ve had a good look at it from the inside (but here’s a longer Love My Lotto review). In short Love My Lotto play the UK Lotto, EuroMillions, Millionaires Raffle, Daily Draw and Premium Bonds. And you can join from just £10 a month.

I joined already and my syndicate numbers were quickly allocated. So far so good. More on this one soon.

Here’s a timely warning. Always check winning lottery tickets yourself.

Most lottery retailers are honest decent people. And they get a real buzz when their store creates a big lottery winner.

But greed can do unpleasant things to some people.

A recent NBC broadcast warned of the danger of dishonest store clerks attempting to steal winning lottery tickets.

Here’s How It Works

You walk into your local store to check your lottery ticket. That could be a scratch-off ticket or a regular lotto game.

Heading over to the scan your ticket machine, you’re pleased to see “Congratulations, see retailer”. (Most machines do not tell you how much you have won!)

So you hand over your ticket to the store clerk who checks the ticket for you, and “bing”, you are indeed a winner. He hands back your winning ticket plus your meagre winnings.

Now the reality is, this dishonest store clerk just switched your ticket for another. Why? Because his machine told him you won a big prize, which he is going to claim for himself once you leave the shop.

How Rare Is This?

It’s impossible to say. The lottery companies themselves are very aware of it and are working hard to prevent it.

But they only investigate big prizes. It’s actually even more likely to happen for small wins where the retailer can simply say “sorry, no win this time” and happily claim your small win.

So How Do You Protect Yourself?

It’s actually really simple.

1. Always sign the back of EVERY ticket as soon as you buy it.
2. Check lottery tickets yourself.
3. Or simply play the lottery online instead.

By all means use a scanner to check for a winning ticket. But if it is a winner, go online or find a newspaper with the lottery results to check which prize you actually won.

UPDATE: This is on the increase – please warn friends and family how to protect themselves. And hit the Like button below to share on Facebook.

It’s a question I get asked a lot.

Along with simply ‘which lottery is the best?’ (to which my tongue in cheek answer is… ‘the lottery that just paid you the jackpot.’)

The Best Odds Of Winning

But it is a serious question, because the odds of the game are the number one factor that determine if you win or lose.

The lottery with the best odds is usually the one with the fewest balls drawn. So a pick 3 game is of course easier to win than a pick 4 game. Which is why the pick 3 prizes are much smaller.

Prize Matters

This is the hidden half of this question.

Because, yes you really want the game with the best odds. But you also want the jackpot to be big enough to get you excited. And the key is how you balance the two.

Yes, it’s great to win the pick 3 jackpot – but if winning that money won’t change your life at all, then you’re not playing the right game.

Compare Lottery Games

To compare lottery games well you need to understand the odds, and have an idea of how big a win would change your life. To make this super easy, use my tool to help you compare lottery odds.

Then you can pick which lottery game has the best odds for you.

Ever wondered what happens to lottery winners who choose the publicity option?

Here’s a reminder why you should not get too carried away sharing the excitement of your big win…

A group of 30 factory workers and craftmen from Avellino in Italy won 33 Million Euros on Italy’s SuperEnaLotto in January 2008.

Now winners are normally anonymous in Italy anyway. But the SuperEnaLotto syndicate were obviously very happy with their win and were not quiet about it.

Unfortunately their good fortune reached the ears of the local Camorra crime clan, who asked around to find out the identities of the lucky winners – and then paid them all a visit. Not surprisingly they were successful in extracting 40,000 Euros out of a good number of them, presumably to help with their protection.

Avellino prosecutor Rosario Cantelmo said that police learnt of the pay-outs while investigating extortion rackets against other local businesses. Five suspects were arrested.

So when the day of your big win arrives, and the lottery company asks you to do a press conference, appear on TV or in a newspaper advert… say no and stay anonymous. Have a party to celebrate but don’t announce to the world why. Your life as a big winner will be a lot smoother.

Otherwise you too may find out what happens to lottery winners…

Last week a Ryanair passenger gets so angry he eats his winning lottery ticket.

This week Ryanair gets hit by 50 claims to have been that angry customer. And can they have the money please.

Now I’m sure budget airline Ryanair is used to angry passengers… but normally passengers can correctly recall what they were angry about. Amusingly, only 10 of the wannabe scratchcard munchers were even passengers on the Poland to UK flight!

Unfortunately none of the remaining 10 bizarre claimants will be getting the money either. Ryanair confirmed that without being able to produce the winning ticket, the claim cannot be verified. A spokesman for Ryanair said:

Unfortunately, when the passenger ate his scratch card he chewed away his chance to pick up the €10,000 cash prize, which will now go to charity.

The moral of the tale being either a) don’t drink while flying, or b) it’s worth investing in that anger management counselling before you hit the jackpot.