Do you dream of winning the lottery?
Every time you buy a scratch off ticket, put your numbers in for the Powerball. What would you do with the money? Buy a boat, retire, travel?
Winning the lottery and cashing in on the jackpot is something everyone dreams about. And everyone seems to have a formula, a favorite place to buy a ticket, or a lucky strategy.
Recently, two locations in Macomb County have been hot spots for winning tickets. Lottery insiders are stunned by the action at the Marathon Gas Station on South Groesbeck in Mount Clemens. A $4 million Instant Ticket hit and weeks later, a $500K winner.
The other hot spot? The Silver House Liquor store on 25 Mile in Macomb had a $4 million scratch off winner.
No matter where you play, everyone wants to know: how do I win the lottery?
Instant lottery tips
If you’re going to buy Instant Tickets, do your research. The official lottery website reveals inside information you need to know before you buy.
Your odds are better playing a Michigan lottery game, rather than the multi-state games. You might get a smaller prize playing “Daily 3” or “Daily 4," but you might win more often.
Jeff Holyfield is with the Michigan Lottery. He says your best odds to win something is with “Instant Game” tickets. The $5,000 Money Match game is where you spend $1 and you could win $5,000 in return. It’s new but has a 1 in 4.78 chance of winning.
If you think the lottery knows where all the winning Instant Game tickets are -- you’re wrong! Holyfield says when all the tickets are shipped out, that information is kept separate so that no one can take advantage of that information.
Ultimately, they want people to win! They want them to collect money and help their lives.
Lucky Numbers Tips
Andrew Schrage is the CEO of Money Crashers, a personal finance and consumer publication that teaches people the basics of personal finance education. He’s studied strategies on how to increase your chances of winning the lottery. He’s also written about what to do after your win, too!
One his favorite strategies is to enter office, family or friend pools. That way you can enter hundreds of number combinations, upping your chance to win.
When it comes to choosing your numbers, experts say, pick your own and stay away from the automated, EZ Picks numbers that are generated by a computer. There’s a higher likelihood of duplicate numbers that you would have to share the pot with in the end.
Numbers he says he’s seen success with: 6 and 16.
The Michigan Lottery website even has a numbers tools page. You can pick a draw game and look up the percentage of what numbers have been drawn in the last month. So if you’re wondering what are the hot numbers and cold numbers, that information is at your fingertips.
Remember, Holyfield says the bigger the jackpot gets, the more people jump in on buying tickets. The pool becomes larger and larger, so hopping in on it before it hits headlines gives you better odds.
Again, you might not win a million dollars, but you could win a few thousand…isn’t any amount pretty good for your wallet?
Schrage says to always go in with good attitude of having fun. He says you’re more likely to get killed by a shark than win the lottery (yikes!), so go in with the right expectation. Allocating a small portion of your money is okay, but never invest from your savings in buying lottery tickets.
So let’s break it down.
Your best chances to win the lottery will be in this order: Instant Tickets, Michigan Lotto, then the Powerball. Good luck…we hope you win big!