The fun continues with some more “stupid” questions about playing the lottery. 🙂
What am I talking about? I asked you guys on my email list to send in your questions. But not just any old questions – those ones you were maybe a bit shy to ask. Because they ‘seem’ a bit stupid or obvious. But the chances are lots of other people are thinking the same thing. So I thought it would be good to share with everyone. The names shall remain anonymous of course, we don’t want anyone to actually feel stupid, right?
If you missed them you can find the first batch of “stupid” questions here.
The winning lottery numbers are always different to the numbers I have – help?
You see the problem here is that you’re just picking the wrong numbers…
OK, I’m guessing you want a more useful answer than that? 😉
First, let’s deal with the unpleasant truth that most people don’t want to hear. There is no magic system to ‘beat the lottery’. It does not exist. And it never will (but we’ll get to what you can do in a second).
Think about it this way: if there was genuinely some miracle system that could pluck jackpots out of the air, what would happen to lottery games?
They would be over. Done. Finished.
What would be the point of playing a lottery game anymore? Everybody buys the magic system. Then every draw everybody wins and shares the jackpot. And all get paid out less than the cost of their tickets because there are so many winners..!
Nobody would bother playing anymore, all the games close down and the lottery companies go out of business. Of course it can never happen, but it doesn’t stop unscrupulous people selling systems that claim to do exactly this.
So what can you do? Play wisely, use good strategy and improve your chances to be the best they can be. That puts you ahead of the vast majority of players (who actually play without any strategy or idea at all). How do you this? Join the Strategy Group and rethink how you approach playing. Learn what does work, and what doesn’t. To maximise your chances of winning instead. It’s far more satisfying than chasing rainbows. 🙂
There are lottery locations that are considered “lucky”, would my chances improve if I play at these locations?
No, not at all. 🙂
I talk about this more in best places to buy winning lottery tickets. But the short version is that ‘lucky stores’ are all about marketing. The lottery companies never claim your chances are better at a ‘lucky store’. The ‘lucky’ retailers never claim your chances are better either. Because they both know that’s not the case.
But it certainly doesn’t stop them putting up big posters (“Division 1 sold here”) or trophies on the counter. It’s all cleverly ‘suggestive’ and plays on our superstitions.
But it doesn’t matter in the slightest where you buy your tickets. It matters a lot what you buy.
When I win millions in the lottery, will I receive a certified check in the mail, or will they perform a direct deposit into my checking account?
It really depends on the lottery company, as the rules vary by state and country. Some will give you the choice of either a check or direct deposit to your bank account. Others will only deposit to your bank.
All lotteries do however have a claims team. With specialists who are used to dealing with big winners. Their advice is valuable, along with advice from your own fully independent advisors.
Also depending on the lottery company you might be required to take part in publicity. Such as attending a press conference to be photographed being handed one of those giant cardboard checks. I recommend you decline all publicity wherever possible (these US states allow anonymous lottery winners). It’s easy to get carried away in the excitement, but ‘going public’ won’t do you any good at all personally.
Also see: How long does it take to get lottery winnings?
Can I claim lottery winnings as a company (in Indiana)?
Presumably you’re asking because it may allow you to remain anonymous? Or possibly help with taxes? Either way that one’s beyond my area of expertise.
But it’s a useful question anyway because it does highlight the value of getting professional advice from specialist lawyers and tax experts. Before you make a claim.
Just in terms of anonymity it’s complicated. In the US some states do allow an LLC (Limited Liability Company) to claim. But then some states require an LLC to publicly list their members names anyway, meaning there is no anonymity as anyone can then look up the names!
My advice is to get proper legal advice from a lawyer specialising in lottery winners claims before you make a jackpot claim.
Or just move to a country where winners can remain anonymous and lottery prizes don’t get taxed. 😉
If I get a winning scratch ticket (not the top prize) from a seller, should I stop buying that particular ticket from the same seller and go to a different seller?
No. Because it doesn’t mean that the next ticket in the roll can’t be a winner. It could even be a jackpot ticket! Not even the lottery company know which rolls contain the major prize winners.
Winning scratch tickets are generally placed in the rolls in a random manner. I say ‘generally’ here because the ticket printing companies have industry standard methods (algorithms) to determine winning and losing tickets for the entire print run. It can’t be completely random as they have to print the right number of tickets, and ensure there are the right number of each prize level in there. These numbers are determined by the game rules and have to be adhered to (or it wouldn’t be fair!).
Get my how to win scratch offs tips for ways to maximise your chances of winning on the scratchers.
It’s not particularly helpful to get into detail as it overcomplicates things. But what the algorithms generally aim to do is avoid printing ‘too many’ winning or losing tickets in a row. And to avoid printing all the jackpot tickets in one ticket roll! So they will tend to be spread out over the whole print run. Remember: whilst we do want to win, we don’t actually want the lottery company to go bust!
The algorithm may even ensure there are a minimum number of winners per roll, so it can help to buy scratch-off tickets in bulk. It will never ‘guarantee’ a profit of course. And the algorithms do vary and are not made public, so it’s not possible to know for certain.
You can try asking your lottery company specifically how winning tickets are placed in the rolls – let me know what they say?
Very interesting.
Since working in your system I have learned a few things that do not readily come to mind playing free wheel. Such as looking at the odds offered by each game. For years I was, as many do attempt to win the “Big Money” without much of a system as to playing or picking numbers. Sure, I won a few times small pickings but was pegged by winning something. So, it was with a sigh of acceptance that I put away the old “my way is the best” mind and looked into this concept of thinking through each move a lot like chess.
I still have a few questions and haven’t won any full lottery… yet. But I will. I’ll look into starting the next calendar year with the smaller trial and follow the advice you’ve already given and see how those fare. Until next year I’ll get on with your emails and keep in Touch.