How to Calculate Probability of Winning the Lottery

Anyone who plays the lottery dreams of winning the jackpot. But do you play not knowing the probability of winning the lottery? Knowing the probability of a game or choosing the right numbers can help you pick the right lottery for you.

In this post, we’ve explained what probability is and how you can calculate it for the game you’re playing. This is so you can know the chances of winning your favorite lottery. Every time you want to play a lottery you’ll know exactly how to calculate your odds. This will help you choose a lottery with the best possibility of winning the lottery.

What is Lottery Probability?

Probability is the mathematical field that describes the likelihood of something happening. It ranges from 0 (impossible) to 1 (certain).

We’re going to use this branch off maths to figure out how close you are to being a millionaire if you play your favorite lottery such as Mega Millions or EuroMillions. We’re going to cover some basic concepts of probability. The likelihood of an event happening is equal to the ratio between the number of favorable outcomes (or successes) and the total number of events.

Lottery probability uses a different formula to determine your chances of winning the game. To find the probability of winning your favorite lottery you will have to figure out the number of winning lottery numbers and the total number of possible lottery numbers.

Permutations, Factorial, and Combinations

Permutations, factorials, and combinations are principles in mathematical probability. Here we explain what each principle can do:

Use one of these probability principles based on the type of lottery you’re playing. Factorial is the most common principle to use when calculating the probability of a lottery.

Why is Looking at Lottery Probability Important Before Playing?

Calculating the probability of winning the lottery is simply another lottery trick that’s used to try and win the game. When you invest a lot of time and money into playing the lottery you want data on the best possible outcomes of the game.

By calculating the probability of your lottery draw you can make better decisions about:

• Which lotteries to play
• How to pick your numbers
• What strategies to use
• How many tickets to buy

You can either calculate the probability of which numbers are most likely to appear in the next draw or the odds of winning the game. We suggest doing both to increase your chances of winning.

Will the Probability of Winning be the Same for Every Lottery?

The probability will be different for every lottery game you play. This is because the number of people who play and the range of numbers to play will vary for each game. The probability of winning any prizes will also be different on the same lottery. That’s why there are formulas that will help you calculate your chances of getting the right numbers or winning the jackpot.

It should be noted that even though you’re working with mathematical formulas, calculating the probability of a lottery doesn’t guarantee a win. These calculations simply help you determine the best possible outcome for a game. To increase your chances of winning the jackpot you can use other strategies such as lottery wheeling or joining an online lottery pool.

The possibilities of winning a lottery jackpot will also depend on how often you play and how many tickets you buy per draw. Sometimes people win on pure luck and others players use combinations. Pick a lottery strategy that works for you but know that it doesn’t guarantee a win.

Calculations to Determine the Probability of Winning the Lottery

As mentioned before, there are various formulas you can use to determine the probability of winning a lottery. In this section, we explain which calculations to use for winning the jackpot or any prize. 

Look at the Rules of the Game First

Before you play a lottery game, you should always look at the rules first. You’ll need to know how many numbers to pick for the game and the range you’re allowed to choose numbers from. For example, the US Powerball requires you to choose five numbers between 1 and 59 and then one number between 1 and 26. This makes the total of six numbers.

On the other hand, for EuroJackpot you must choose five numbers between 1 and 50 and another two between 1 and 12. This brings the total number of 7 and the range is different to the US Powerball’s range.

By learning the rules of your lottery game and determining how many numbers to choose you can make accurate probability calculations.

Calculating Jackpot Odds

When calculating the probability of a major jackpot you must first understand the formula to use. If the order of the numbers don’t matter then you’ll use a factorial formula:

Use the probability equation for the first five numbers of the game:

This will simplify to:

To determine the probability of getting the last Powerball number correctly, use the same equation but change the numbers to reflect 1 number out of 26 possible numbers.

Calculating Any Prize Odds

Any prize is the money you’ll receive from lower tiers of a particular lottery. For example, If you get all five numbers correct from the Powerball, but not the last one then you win the second prize in the tier. If you get four numbers correct then you win the third prize.

This determines that the probability of you winning the second prize from the powerball is 1 in 11,688,053.52. 

You can use an expanded equation to determine the probability of winning other prizes front he same lottery. Use the following formula:

If you want to know the probability of guessing 3 correct numbers from the powerball, your calculations will look like this:

The results tell you the probability of winning the prize if you get three numbers out of 6 correct.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the formula to calculate the probability of winning the jackpot and any prize, we encourage you to use this calculation on any lottery you play. This will help you determine whether the lottery is worth playing. Use the information in this post to assist you, and try it out on lotteries listed through online platforms such as LottoAgent and LottoSmile.