Stop playing around

Hopefully you're not making this mistake, but sadly an awful lot of players are.

Firstly, the lottery is about fun.

It is entertainment, and pretty darn good value too.

We rarely think to make the comparison, but playing the lottery gives most of us more entertainment value than say going to the movies or bowling for example.

Nothing wrong with those things either. I love a good movie! I'm terrible at bowling :-)

But we underestimate the value we get just from being in it. Just add these up:-

- the dreaming and scheming - having those 'what if I won' conversations - picking our numbers - buying our tickets - watching the live draw...

It's easily forgotten. But even 1 ticket gives all that value every week.

Even when we don't win, we haven't really lost. So long as you enjoy playing!

But back to the mistake...

Have you ever stood in the lottery queue, and watched what other people buy?

You know the kind of thing - I'll have 10 quick picks for tonight, with the mega-duper plus 1 add on, one of those scrach-offs, and er, one of those, two of those, plus a couple of lines on Mondays draw, and er, the newspaper I actually came in for...

Oh, I've got some money left, let's get a ticket for the lunchtime draw and another scratch-off...

Enough already!

This scattergun approach is just plain crazy.

It may be fun to play all these different games, (which is why I started off talking about the entertainment value), but this is NOT the way to maximise your chances.

As we talked about the other day, choose your game (or games) carefully. Know the odds, and know the prizes are right for you.

What's the point in buying a scratch off ticket where the best prize would barely pay your food bill for the month? It's no better than feeding your money into a slot machine.

Focus on the games you know, and have chosen for good reason. And your chances of walking away a winner will be much better for it.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

Fun still counts remember!

So if you fancy buying a scratch off once in a while, or an extra ticket for a big jackpot game, by all means do it.

Just know what your normal, regular plan is. And stick to that most of the time.

Look out for another email from me tomorow.

Be Lucky,

LG