HINDI PALA SWERTIHAN ANG PAGKAPANALO SA LOTTO AT ITO ANG SEKRETO NILA!

I received a text message from my mother recently. She said that the Chinese New Year is near and my Feng Shui horoscope says that I’m going to be very lucky financially in the coming Year of The Rat. I’m not a superstitious person and I always take such predictions with a grain of salt, but I don’t want to curb her optimism so I texted back and replied, “Yes, that’s why I’m starting a new business this year and also taking my chances in making some money online.”

To which she replied, “Don’t forget to play the lotto. You might just get lucky.” As an engineer, I can actually compute and prove that the chances of being struck by lightning is indeed higher than winning the lottery jackpot. Maybe this is the reason why I’m not such a big fan of the Philippine Lotto. Nevertheless, it really got me thinking. Despite the obvious odds, why do a lot of people still play? I can only conclude that hope is really a strong motivator.

I was hesitant at first if I’m going to write about this. How many personal finance blogs have you read that actually gave tips on how to win the lottery? I’m sure not much or none at all. But in the end, I decided to go ahead and dispense some mathematically proven strategies on how to increase your chances of winning the lotto simply because despite the discouraging probabilities of hitting the jackpot, you would still continue to bet or maybe at one point in the future, be tempted to buy a ticket in the hope of getting lucky and becoming an instant millionaire.

But before we go into that, I would like to give some reminders: First, you don’t need to play often or bet on a lot of combination. The chances of winning the lotto jackpot if you place several bets or if you play everyday increases only by a very, very small percentage. Believe me, it’s really, really close to zero. This brings me to my next point which is to play only when you have extra money. If you really want to place a bet, then take it out of your entertainment budget.

Three, take care of your ticket. Don’t keep it in your wallet; put it in a safe place. And lastly, remember to check if you won. I actually have a friend who discovered that he won a small payout several months after he bought the ticket. He hid it inside a book and totally forgot about it until he decided to read that particular book one afternoon. Anyway, without further ado, here are some number combinations that are most likely to come out in six-ball lottery draws. This analysis was done using probability formulas and was checked for validity against the Philippine Lotto 6/42 winning number draw results from 2006 and 2007 as provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office website.