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R100m Powerball Jackpot still unclaimed: Here’s how to increase your chances
Do you – like seven-time jackpot winner Richard Lustig – play the same set of numbers, or do you prefer a random selection?
Photo: iStock
The South African Lottery operator confirmed the Powerball jackpots went unclaimed on Friday 29 April, so you still have a chance to bag your millions.
If you need guidance on how to win the lotto, why not turn to an “expert” for advice, but we’ll get to that shortly.
First, here are Friday’s results.
Friday’s Powerball Plus results
One player matched five numbers (but didn’t choose the winning Powerball) in Friday’s draw, securing a decent R485,957.30.
Meanwhile, 34 players matched four numbers and the Powerball, each walking away with R8,950.30.
The five-number dividend went unclaimed in the Powerball Plus draw, but 27 players matched 4 numbers and the lucky Powerball for a R12,662.50 payout each.
The next Powerball jackpot is an estimated R83 million, with the Powerball Plus Jackpot estimated at a cool R17 million.
How to ‘win the Powerball’
You may not have heard of Richard Lusting before, but he believed that winning any type of lotto is not only based on luck.
Some might argue that Lusting knew a thing or two about the topic – he bagged seven big wins between 1993 to 2010.
Lusting believed he found the winning strategy, and this is his winning track record:
- $10,000 in January 1993 from a scratch-off ticket
- $13,696.03 in August 1997 in the Florida Fantasy 5
- ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Holiday trip to Los Angeles valued at $3,594.66 in June 2000 from a scratch-off ticket
- Elvis Holiday trip to Memphis valued at $4,966 in October 2001 from a scratch-off ticket
- $842,152.91 in January 2002 in the Florida Mega Money draw
- $73,658.06 on 25 November 2008 in the Florida Fantasy 5
- $98,992.92 on 9 August 2010 in the Florida Fantasy 5
Lustig’s advice for winning jackpots
In an interview with ABC News, Lustig said most people “play the game wrong”.
“Most people buy a $1 ticket and win $10, and they put the $10 in their pocket. If you win $10, then you should buy $11 worth of tickets because if you lose, you only lost $1.”
Lustig was also a firm believer in retaining losing lottery tickets to offset potentially taxable wins, and he always played the same set of numbers.
He would stop playing that set if he won, because “the same [set of] numbers never win twice”, he wrote in his book.
Do you play the same set of numbers, or do you prefer a random selection? Tell us! – online@citizen.co.za
Lustig suggested setting a budget on how many tickets you can afford and never, ever use rent or grocery money to play the lotto.
He also advised against going the Quick-Pick route where numbers are pre-selected by the machine. Lustig always “bought at least ten tickets”.
An easy way to play multiple tickets cheaply is to set up lottery pools with your friends.
Despite winning seven times, Lustig still spent most of the time losing. Playing the lottery was a full-time job, and he dedicated hours a day to it – a privilege most of us don’t have.
No ‘real way’ to win
Some experts disagree with Lustig’s strategies, so maybe luck really just was on his side. Stacy Johnson, founder of the Money Talks News, said his system “was devoid of logic”.
“The odds of any set of random numbers coming up again are the same as they were the first time. That’s why they call them random.”
Johnson said your odds of winning the lotto remain the same, regardless of whether you pick the numbers, or a machine does.
Johnson said there is one strategy to increase your chance, but it has nothing to do with luck: Always select numbers higher than 31.
“While that won’t increase your odds of winning – nothing will – at least if you do win, you’re less likely to split the pot with others”.
Why? Because many players use their birthdates.
Powerball tips: In conclusion
- Buy more tickets (ONLY if you have the means to do so)
- Choose your number or select Quick Pick, it doesn’t matter
- Select numbers higher than 31
- Set up lottery pools with your friends to increase your chances
- Set up a lottery budget and stick to it
Regardless of the methods you choose, don’t follow the lotto fever and remember always to play responsibly.
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