It’s common for a lot of Americans to daydream about winning the lottery. These dreams became a reality for a few lucky winners as they became millionaires overnight. The cold truth is that the overwhelming majority of lottery dreams will remain dreams.
Most people know that the odds of winning the lottery are not in your favor. If it were easy to win, everyone would play, and the prizes would only be a few cents.
You’re likelier to be struck by lightning, live to be 110 years old, and be declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
The combination of high jackpots and low odds has caused many people to try and cheat in the lottery. The attempts might be successful for a short period, but they always end with prison sentences.
Fortunately, there are a few ways that you can legally improve your odds of winning. It will start by choosing games that have the best odds.
What Lotteries Have the Best Odds?
Currently, 45 states have legalized the lotteries along with Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The only places you can’t play the lottery are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and Guam. It’s unclear when, if ever, these states and territories will legalize lotteries.
Powerball and Mega Millions are the two national lotteries in the United States. Most Americans play these lotteries because you can purchase a ticket in any of the states or territories that have legalized lotteries.
Remember that you’ll have to claim the prize in the state where you purchased your ticket. So it’s not a good idea to buy a Powerball or Mega Millions ticket when you’re on vacation.
The jackpots for either of these lotteries are massive. At a minimum, the jackpot starts in the eight-figure range (tens of millions). The jackpot will increase for the following drawing if no winner is declared.
There have been several occasions where they’ve reached nine figures (hundreds of millions). The jackpots have even reached ten figures (a billion dollars) occasionally.
The downside with jackpots reaching such incredible highs is that the odds of winning are virtually nonexistent. You have a 1 in 258,890,850 chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot and a 1 in 292,201,338 chance of winning the Powerball jackpot.
You might receive generational wealth beyond your wildest dreams if you win, but it’s more likely that you’ll become President of the United States instead.
It’s tempting to want to shoot for the stars and win a monumental jackpot. Statistically, it’s a much more brilliant move to play smaller lotteries or scratch-off tickets offered by your state.
You won’t win anything anywhere close to a ten-figure jackpot. However, the odds of winning will be much more in your favor. These are a few of the state lotteries that have the best overall odds:
Minnesota North 5
The Minnesota North 5 Cash lottery costs $1 per ticket and features daily drawings. Each drawing will include five numbers ranging from 1 to 31. The total jackpot will start at $25,000 and increase whenever there is no winning ticket.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 169,911.
- The odds of winning any prize at all is 1 in 6.
Texas Cash Five
The Texas Cash Five lottery costs $1 per ticket and features six weekly drawings. Each drawing will include five numbers ranging from 1 to 35. The total jackpot is fixed at $25,000.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 324,632.
- The odds of winning any prize at all is 1 in 8.
New York Take 5 Lotto
The New York Take 5 Lotto costs $1 per ticket and features daily drawings. Each drawing will include five numbers ranging from 1 to 39. The total jackpot is a minimum of $57,575 and increases whenever there is no winning ticket.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 575,757.
- The odds of winning any prize at all is 1 in 10.
Texas All or Nothing
The Texas All or Nothing costs $2 per ticket and features four daily drawings from Monday to Saturday. Each drawing will include 12 numbers ranging from 1 to 24. The total jackpot is $250,000 and can be won by matching all 12 numbers matching none of them.
There are similar-styled games also available in Georgia and Massachusetts.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 2,704,156.
- The odds of winning any prize at all is 1 in 4.5.
Cash4Life
The Cash4Life lottery is available in 10 states (Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia). The game features daily drawings, and tickets cost $2 each.
The total jackpot is either $1,000 a day for life or a lump sum of $7 million. Each drawing will include five numbers ranging from 1 to 60 and a Cash Ball from 1 to 4.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 21,846,048.
- The odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 7.76.
Lucky4Life
The Lucky4Life lottery is available in 22 different states (Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming) and the District of Columbia.
The game features daily drawings, and tickets cost $2 each. The total jackpot is $1,000 a day for life or a lump sum of $5.75 million. Each drawing will include five numbers ranging from 1 to 48 and a Lucky Ball from 1 to 18.
- The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 30,821,472.
- The odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 7.8.
What Is the Yotta Weekly Drawing?
The lotteries you can play are limited based on your home state. The Minnesota North 5 lottery has some of the best odds of winning.
The problem is that the majority of Americans don’t live in Minnesota. The good news is that are plenty of ways to play the lottery regardless of where you live. Signing up with Yotta is one such example.
Yotta offers online banking services, including saving incentives. It’s common for traditional banks and credit unions to pay interest to their account holders.
The goal is to incentive savings, but the percentage is often tiny. Yotta has the same purpose, except the interest is paid in prizes instead.
The Yotta Weekly Drawing features similar odds to other lotteries. The primary benefit is that you can enter each drawing for free. You’ll receive one ticket for every $25 in your Yotta account and one ticket for every $20 in your Crypto Bucket.
Each ticket includes six numbers ranging from 1 to 70 and one Yotta Ball ranging from 1 to 63. Starting on Monday, a new number will be drawn every night at 9 PM until the Yotta Ball is drawn on Sunday night.
Depending on the matching number of your tickets, you can win a variety of prizes:
- Matching two numbers without the Yotta Ball wins one cent per ticket (1 in 14 odds)
- Matching just the Yotta Ball wins ten cents per ticket (1 in 110 odds)
- Matching three numbers without the Yotta Ball wins 20 cents per ticket (1 in 160 odds)
- Matching one number and the Yotta Ball wins 20 cents per ticket (1 in 181 odds)
- Matching two numbers and the Yotta Ball wins 75 cents per ticket (1 in 867 odds)
- Matching four numbers without the Yotta Ball wins $7 per ticket (1 in 4,406 odds)
- Matching three numbers and the Yotta Ball wins $10 per ticket (1 in 9,913 odds)
- Matching four numbers and the Yotta Ball wins $4,000 (1 in 273,158 odds)
- Matching five numbers without the Yotta Ball wins $5,000 (1 in 346,955 odds)
- Matching five numbers and the Yotta Ball wins $15,000 (1 in 21,511,216 odds)
- Matching six numbers without the Yotta Ball wins $50,000 (1 in 133,230,759 odds)
- Matching six numbers and the Yotta Ball wins $10 million (1 in 8,260,307,055 odds)
Play the Odds To Increase Your Winnings
Playing the lottery is a form of gambling, like playing cards, roulette, craps, slot machines, or betting on sports results. Anyone that’s ever gambled will tell you that the secret is to bet on the most likely outcome.
For example, betting on red/black or odd/even is much more likely to win in roulette. The payouts won’t be as high, but you will likely win.
The same is valid for playing the lottery. Powerball and Mega Millions offer prizes to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. But the odds of winning said prizes are astronomically low.
It’s a more intelligent move to play lotteries that offer better odds, even if the prizes are smaller. The lotteries listed above are a great start, and you should review the odds for the lotteries offered in your state.
On the other hand, you could sign up with Yotta and play the lottery every week. The odds of winning the jackpot are low, but you’ll be playing for free, so every win is 100% profit.
Even if you don’t win one day, you can play the following day again and perhaps experience better luck. It beats letting your money sit in a savings account with 1% interest.
It will only take a little luck to win more money from Yotta than you’d ever see in interest payments from your bank.
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