Lottery is a form of gambling which entails the distribution of prizes by lot or chance. It’s a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw lottery prizes, the other tickets are blank. Few people win, while majority does not. Invariably, the operators of the lottery prizes make profit. For example, according to the Official California Lottery Financial Report in 2008/2009, about $30.54 billion was given back in prizes out of a total of $59.25 billion the lottery made from ticket purchase. The largest prize in a lottery draw is called the Lottery Jackpot.
Quick Facts about Lottery Jackpot
- A jackpot minimum guarantees that a winner will win at least a certain amount
- Jackpots rolled over if not won is called a progressive jackpot
- In Pari Mutel lotteries, winners in a prize category split the prize equally
- Many lotteries have guaranteed second prize regardless of where jackpot stands
- Powerball and Mega Millions both have a second prize of $1 million.
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Players from Virginia accepted
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Players from Virginia accepted
The Different Types of Lotteries: Concepts, Odds, Cost of Tickets, Categories
Different lottery games are being developed frequently, obviously driven by the need to make quick money. Depending on individual preferences, lotteries can either be played by methodically system of selecting numbers or via the “Quick pick” method. Irrespective of the method, there are 5 popular lottery types with varying lottery prizes which includes: the lotto, the Powerball, raffles, scratch-off instant games and the dailies.
The Lotto: The lotto is the most popular of the games, it is played in most countries. One characteristic that makes it standout is that it produces the biggest payouts. It involves the selection of 6 numbers between 0 and 47, after which these numbers are marked on your card and entered. A list of winning numbers is displayed and if the numbers you chose matches the winning numbers, it signifies a lottery prize which depends on how many of your chosen numbers matches the winning number. These numbers are usually printed onto balls and placed in a machine designed for the game. The machine is set in motion and the balls in them are mixed and 6 of the numbers (winning numbers) are dropped into another section of the machine. The lottery jackpot prize is won if the all 6 of the chosen numbers matches the winning numbers and if not, the money is rolled over to the next draw. Although, matching 5 numbers or less also attract different lottery prizes.
The cost of every lotto game differs, but on an average it is $1 per play. As every other game of chances, the odds of winning a lottery prize is always greater with increased number of entries. The major type of lottery under this category is the US Mega Millions.
The odds of winning in this particular type of lottery is 1: 258,890,850.
The Powerball: In Powerball the odds of winning are better than the traditional lotto. The jackpot is won by matching 6 balls (5 white balls and a red ball in any order). The payouts for winners who correctly select 4balls or less attracts a lottery prize of $10,000 or more, correctly selecting 5 balls attracts lottery prize of about $1 million.
5balls are drawn two times every week from a total of 59balls with a separate container containing red balls from which 1 red ball would be selected.
Raffles: In raffle, numbers can’t be chosen or assigned, rather, tickets are purchased bearing specific codes, the lottery prize is guaranteed if the code on the ticket matches the one drawn for that day. This is often run alongside the Lotto. The odds in this category of lottery varies.
Scratch-off instant games: The lottery prizes attached to this is proportional to the amount of money a participant is willing to spend. Tickets are purchased, and the participants are allowed to select cards, instant prizes are won based on the prize allotted to each scratched off card if successful. The odds vary and sometimes as good as 1:3. The ticket cost can vary from $1 to as much as $50.
The Dailies: The most popular under this category include Lottery Pick 3 (Lottery pick 3), Pick 4 and Lottery Fantasy 5 (Lottery Fantasy). This lottery type is the easiest to play and can be played up to twice a day. A participant can either play straight (which signifies matching winning numbers in the same order it is displayed) or box (which signifies matching winning numbers irrespective of the displayed order)
Which lottery has the best odds of winning?
One of the first thing to know before deciding on the type of lottery to play are the odds of winning. It is also important to note that high lottery prizes are characterized by high odds, in other words, the better the odds of winning the lower the lottery prize.
Lottery Payout options
When lottery prizes (especially the lottery Jackpots) are won, winners are obliged to make payout decisions. The options available are:
- The lump sum payout option: In which the lottery prize winner receives all of the lottery winnings all at once
- Annuity: In lottery winnings are disbursed in instalment via an account created by the recipient’s state commission.
The major advantage provided by the lump sum option is the avoidance of long term tax, although, the annuity payout option provides interests that accumulates from investments over time.
The question of which payout is the best depends on the tax rates, as future tax rates are generally unpredictable (it might either increase or decrease with respect to the current tax rate). Although, lottery winners do have the options of selling their annuity payments for a discounted lump sum.
Lottery strategies
Tracking: Otherwise known as frequency analysis. This involves the art of keeping tracks of numbers drawn over a period of time. More like taking notes of a past events to predict futuristic ones. In the light of this, there are hot numbers and cold numbers, in which, the former are numbers that appeared often in the past and the latter are numbers that had rarely appeared in the past. In tracking, one might be of the assumption that there are greater chances of this hot numbers appearing again in the future, so these numbers are selected instead, another individual might assume these cold numbers have higher chances of occurring in the future since they rarely appeared in the past.
Wheeling: This strategy, however, isn’t a system of selecting numbers but a strategy for using all the numbers one has. It involves making a list of your best picks and playing them in different combinations using a coded system.
Pooling: This involves joint contribution of different individuals in order to increase their chance of winning. This advantageously results in the opportunity to purchase as many tickets as possible to increase one’s luck. However, lottery prizes won are shared among the individuals.
Soft-wares: These are computer programs that generates random numbers based on available databases, astrology-based systems etc. This method is the quickest.
Other strategies involve sector analysis, pairs/doubles analysis, pick 3 and pick 4 positions, hell curves and computer algorithms.
The 5 biggest U.S lottery jackpot prizes ever
- $1.586 billion (Powerball) in 2016
- $758.7 million (Powerball) in 2017
- $656 million (Mega Millions) in 2012
- $648 million (Mega Millions) in 2013
- $590.5 million (Powerball) in 2013
Where to Get Statistics to Win Lottery Jackpot?
Winning the lottery jackpot is not a child’s play. Players have to be extremely lucky and even luck doesn’t tell the whole story. Players also have to be knowledgeable about lottery system (Lottery system), operators, and Lottery statistics that makes lottery jackpot more feasible. In the consideration of all these, we have made all these information readily available on our Lottery Comparison (Lottery Comparison) Page and our readers who are ready to be the lottery jackpot winner are encouraged to check out incredible efforts on this page.
Conclusion: Is Lottery a bad investment?
Lottery offers anyone the chance to live a better life, travel, fulfill their dreams, buy a yacht, build a mansion, help loved ones and as a matter of fact, only a select few are able to actualize these dreams. The existence of various lottery strategies also present numerous chances of winning. Although, a lot of financial professionals had emphasized it doesn't pay to play the lottery and according to Paul Dreyer (a mathematician for the RAND corporation), there are various things to consider in participating in a lottery jackpot draw, which includes, Taxes, which for example eats up nearly half of the winnings. However, deciding if lottery is a good or bad investments is dependent on the above listed considerations and like every other game of chance, winning a lottery prize or Jackpot requires an investment in knowledge. That is why the players are encouraged the visit our Lottery comparison page.
