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Lotto Knowledge 26 March 2018
The Odds Of Winning Your Lotto Bets
The Probability Of Winning The Lottery
Meghan Trainor is all about that bass. We're all about those odds. Knowing the probability of a given event is important because life is all about the probabilities. For example, since that last paragraph was all about the repetition there's a strong probability that song will end up stuck in your head now, whether you want it to be or not. If not congratulations, you've beaten the odds. Beating the odds for a lottery, however, well that's a bit tougher, but by knowing those odds at least you know what you're up against. So to help you we've prepared detailed odds on all our top lotteries, including an at-a-glace overview on jackpots plus all the winning odds for the New Zealand Powerball versus our top five most popular lotteries here at Lottoland.
Probability Of Hitting The Jackpot
The first question anyone wants to know is – how much can I win? Often times that's the only question lottery fans concern themselves with.
But if you're reading this then you want to scratch beneath the surface to find out not just how much the jackpot is, but also your odds of hitting it are. The table below shows those odds plus your odds of winning any prize on some of our most popular lotteries. Don't ignore those prizes, as some of these 'secondary' prizes can wind up being pretty big.
| Probability of Winning the Lottery | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lottery | Jackpot Odds | Any Prize |
| Irish Lotto | 1 : 10,737,573 | 1 : 42 |
| New Zealand Powerball | 1 : 38,383,800 | 1 : 35 |
| EuroJackpot | 1 : 95,000,000 | 1 : 26 |
| EuroMillions | 1 : 139,838,160 | 1 : 13 |
| PowerBall | 1 : 292,201,338 | 1 : 25 |
| MegaMillions | 1 : 302,575,350 | 1 : 24 |
Irish Lotto
As you may know, the Irish Lotto went through a format change in 2015, resulting in higher jackpots but also higher jackpot odds. That being said, the Irish Lotto's new jackpot odds are still extremely favourable when compared with other European lotteries – take the relatively high jackpots into account and it's a great all-rounder lottery.
| Irish Lotto Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Jackpot (6 Numbers) | 1 : 10,737,573 |
| Second Prize (5 Numbers + Bonus) | 1 : 1,789,596 |
| Third Prize (5 Numbers) | 1 : 44,740 |
| Fourth Prize (4 numbers + bonus) | 1 : 17,896 |
| Fifth Prize (4 Numbers) | 1 : 918 |
| Sixth Prize (3 numbers + bonus) | 1 : 688 |
| Seventh Prize (3 numbers) | 1 : 54 |
| Eighth Prize (2 numbers + bonus) | 1 : 72 |
| Any Prize | 1 : 29 |
New Zealand Powerball
New Zealand Powerball is not available at Lottoland, but since it's the lottery most people are familiar with it serves as a useful yardstick for comparison with other lotteries.
| New Zealand Powerball Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Lotto Division 1 and Powerball | 1 : 38,383,800 |
| Lotto Division 2 and Powerball | 1 : 6,397,300 |
| Lotto Division 3 and Powerball | 1 : 193,858 |
| Lotto Division 4 and Powerball | 1 : 77,543 |
| Lotto Division 5 and Powerball | 1 : 4,846 |
| Lotto Division 6 and Powerball | 1 : 3,635 |
| Lotto Division 7 and Powerball | 1 : 352 |
EuroJackpot
EuroMillions is still Europe's largest lottery, but it's has some stiff competition. EuroJackpot is hugely popular in Germany and Scandinavia and is starting to gain in popularity here now too as it offers sizable jackpots at better odds than EuroMillions. EuroJackpot is capped at a top prize of €90 million (approx. $150 million NZD), a sum that has been won three times so far.
| EuroJackpot Lottery Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Jackpot (5 Numbers + 2 Euronumbers) | 1 : 95,344,200 |
| Second Prize (5 Numbers + 1 Euronumber) | 1 : 5,959,013 |
| Third Prize (5 Numbers) | 1 : 3,405,150 |
| Fourth Prize (4 Numbers, 2 Euronumbers) | 1 : 423,752 |
| Fifth Prize (4 Numbers, 1 Euronumber) | 1 : 26,485 |
| Sixth Prize (4 Numbers) | 1 : 15,134 |
| Seventh Prize (3 Numbers, 2 Euronumbers) | 1 : 9,631 |
| Eighth Prize: (2 Numbers, 2 Euronumbers) | 1 : 672 |
| Ninth Prize (3 Numbers, 1 Euronumber) | 1 : 602 |
| Tenth Prize (3 Numbers) | 1 : 344 |
| Eleventh Prize (1 Number, 2 Euronumbers) | 1 : 128 |
| Twelfth Prize ( 2 Numbers, 1 Euronumber) | 1 : 42 |
| Any Prize | 1 : 26 |
EuroMillions
EuroMillions' popularity is as high as ever, thanks, in no small part, to its consistently high jackpots. Of course, with high jackpots comes high jackpot odds. But just how high are the odds of EuroMillions? This jackpot is capped at a maximum of €190 million (approx. $300 million AUD) and tends to generate a lot of excitement when it starts to rise above the €100 million mark.
| EuroMillions Lottery Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Jackpot (5 Numbers + 2 Stars) | 1 : 139,838,160 |
| Second Prize (5 Numbers + 1 Star) | 1 : 6,473,989 |
| Third Prize (5 Numbers) | 1 : 3,236,995 |
| Fourth Prize (4 Numbers + 2 Stars) | 1 : 517,920 |
| Fifth Prize (4 Numbers + 1 Star) | 1 : 28,774 |
| Sixth Prize (3 Numbers + 2 Stars) | 1 : 14,487 |
| Seventh Prize (3 Numbers + 2 Stars) | 1 : 13,812 |
| Eighth Prize (2 Numbers + 2 Stars) | 1: 882 |
| Ninth Prize (3 Numbers + 1 Star) | 1 : 654 |
| Tenth Prize (3 Numbers) | 1 : 327 |
| Eleventh Prize (1 Number + 2 Stars) | 1 : 157 |
| Twelfth Prize (2 Numbers + 1 Star) | 1 : 46 |
| Thirteenth Prize (2 Numbers) | 1 : 23 |
| Any Prize | 1 : 13 |
PowerBall
As with both the Irish and UK Lottos, America's PowerBall also went through a major format change in 2015. The changes increased the jackpot odds considerably, but also allowed for a bigger prize pool and more rollovers. The result was a record-breaking jackpot in January, the biggest lottery jackpot of all time, worth a staggering $1.586 billion, or approximately $2.05 billion AUD.
| Powerball Lottery Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Jackpot (5 Numbers+ Powerball) | 1 : 292,201,338 |
| Second Prize (5 Numbers) | 1 : 11,688,053 |
| Third Prize (4 Numbers + Powerball) | 1 : 913,129 |
| Fourth Prize (4 Numbers) | 1 : 36,525 |
| Fifth Prize (3 Numbers+ Powerball) | 1 : 14,494 |
| Sixth Prize (3 Numbers) | 1 : 579 |
| Seventh Prize (2 Numbers + Powerball) | 1 : 701 |
| Eighth Prize (1 main number + Powerball) | 1 : 91 |
| Ninth Prize (Powerball) | 1 : 38 |
| Any Prize | 1 : 25 |
MegaMillions
Coke Vs. Pepsi, Mac Vs. PC, Marvel Vs. DC – there've been lots of brand rivalries over the years. In the lottery world, however, the biggest rivalry is between the two American super-lotteries. PowerBall's format change was made precisely to unseat MegaMillions who had held the biggest jackpot title from March 2012 until January 2016. Now MegaMillions are striking back with changes to their format which will see their jackpots rise high enough to challenge the records of their US rivals.
| MegaMillions Lottery Odds | |
|---|---|
| Prize | Probability |
| Jackpot (5 Numbers+ Megaball) | 1 : 302,575,350 |
| Second Prize (5 Numbers) | 1 : 12,607,306 |
| Third Prize (4 Numbers + Megaball) | 1 : 931,001 |
| Fourth Prize (4 Numbers) | 1 : 38,792 |
| Fifth Prize (3 Numbers+ Megaball) | 1 : 14,547 |
| Sixth Prize (3 Numbers) | 1 : 606 |
| Seventh Prize (2 Numbers + Megaball) | 1 : 693 |
| Eighth Prize (1 main number + Megaball) | 1 : 89 |
| Ninth Prize (Megaball) | 1 : 37 |
| Any Prize | 1 : 24 |
Improve Your Chances of Winning!
Lotteries are the ultimate game of chance - the odds stacked against you are high, but the rewards are the sweetest of all. Of course we publish all the odds and probabilities in the individual FAQs of all of our lotteries. If you want to improve your chances of winning, there are a couple of factors you should take into account. We have shown you the odds of winning some of our most popular lotteries, and these should be taken into account when you consider which one to go for, as well as the jackpot, of course. The old saying 'if you're not in, you can't win' is certainly true, as your odds of getting a win are improved by entering more draws. Syndicates are a great way to boost your chances of a win too, and even if you don't have your own syndicate at home or work you can simply join a syndicate at Lottoland to tilt the odds more in your favour.
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