CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is the third largest in history with over $1 billion to be won. Totaling a cash prize of $516.8 million, people across the country are wondering if there are tricks to winning the lottery.
Davidson College math professor Tim Chartier broke down answers to some common questions about the likelihood of winning a piece of the Powerball or Mega Millions prize.
Previous reporting put the odds of winning the jackpot at 1 in 292.2 million. Chartier said one way to visualize this likelihood of winning was to imagine flipping a coin and landing on heads 28 times in a row. Those low odds, and other reasons, can factor into why there hasn’t been a jackpot winner since April.
Another factor is the frequency at which numbers are selected, either by players or revealed on the five white balls that decide the winner.
MEGA MILLIONS: Here's a list of most and least drawn Mega Millions numbers
Lottery players tend to pick numbers from a low range, (i.e., numbers between 1 and 31) making them more common choices. Chartier suggests picking random numbers to create combinations that other players are less likely to choose to increase your odds of being the sole winner for that drawing.
According to lottery statistics from lottonumbers.com, here are the 10 most common numbers drawn for the past seven years.
- 61: Drawn 89 times
- 32: Drawn 86 times
- 21: Drawn 83 times
- 36: Drawn 82 times
- 23: Drawn 80 times
- 63: Drawn 80 times
- 69: Drawn 79 times
- 39: Drawn 77 times
- 62: Drawn 75 times
- 59: Drawn 75 times
However, you don’t need to shy away from repeated numbers. Chartier says that, even though there’s a slim chance that a number will repeat, the odds of one ball being chosen over another remains the same. Lottery players buying multiple tickets should also aim for different numbers to help increase their odds of winning.
Read more about the statistics and history of the Powerball winnings here.
Playing the lottery is a form of gambling. If you are concerned about your gambling or worried about a friend, you can call the NC Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-877-718-5543. You can also contact the National Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.