Mathematicians discover guaranteed lottery win strategy; suggest buying 27 tickets
British mathematicians David Stewart and David Cushing have developed a strategy to increase the odds of winning the UK national lottery by purchasing only 27 tickets out of over 45 million possible combinations. In their research paper "You Need 27 Tickets to Guarantee a Win on the UK National Lottery," they claim that buying 27 tickets is the minimum number needed to ensure some kind of win, although not necessarily the jackpot.
Finite geometry technique used to identify unique combinations
Cushing and Stewart used a method called finite geometry to figure out the unique combinations This technique involves organizing numbers between 1 and 59 into pairs or triplets on different geometric shapes. Each group of numbers is then connected by lines, creating a sequence of six numbers, representing one lottery ticket. According to their findings, 27 tickets cover all 59 numbers, ensuring at least one matching pair in any draw.
27 tickets ensure a prize in 45 million possible draws
In their paper, the mathematicians explain that with 27 tickets, a prize is guaranteed in 45,057,474 possible draws. They wrote, "A prize is awarded to any player who matches at least two of the six drawn numbers. We identify 27 tickets that guarantee a prize, regardless of which of the 45,057,474 possible draws occurs. Moreover, we determine that 27 is the optimal number of tickets required, as achieving the same guarantee with 26 tickets is not possible."
A Romanian-born mathematician once hacked the system; won 14 times
Back in 2018, a Romanian-Australian economist, Stefan Mandel, hacked the lottery system and won 14 times! According to Robert Pagliarini, a certified financial planner, the secret to handling an unexpected windfall such as winning the lottery is to remain composed, concentrate on the long term, and make sensible financial plans. Mandel had a formula that led to his win.
Here's the formula the man devised to win 14 lotteries
Determine the possible combinations. For instance, in a lottery that requires you to select six numbers from 1 to 40, there are 3,838,380 possible combinations. Look for lotteries with jackpots that are three times or greater than the number of possible combinations. Raise money to cover the cost of every combination. Print millions of tickets for each possible combination (this is now illegal). Deliver the tickets to the approved lottery dealers. Win the money and pay back your investors.
