That concern has a lot to do with superstition but also may be due to a legit preoccupation with playing with the best possible circumstances. Thinking about those two cases, I elaborated this guide with seven great opportunities when it is an interesting time to buy lottery tickets.
1. Bumper Drawings
A “Bumper Draw” is simply a special draw, like the El Gordo del Verano, a special version of the popular Spanish lottery El Gordo that occurs once a year. If your state has a lottery, you might also be familiar with some types of government lottery bumper drawings.
Regardless of whether you decide to play the Indian bumper draws, the special drawings from international lotteries, or both, it is always a good time to buy lottery tickets. After all, a bumper draw tends to have much higher jackpots, and sometimes the lottery ticket price is preserved.
If you do not want to lose that perfect timing, take note. Some bumper drawings occur on a specific day or time of the year – for example, close to Christmas or the 3rd week of October.
2. When Discounts Are Available on Online Lottery Sites
One of the advantages of playing on online lottery sites is the possibility to activate discounts and easy access to them. In fact, there are even ways to play the lottery free online, and that is something that we could never find at local retailers. However, there are temporary promotions as well.
Therefore, while it is not possible to know upfront when opportunities may appear, there is always something to do to purchase tickets for a smaller price. For example, it may be a syndicate with hundreds of lines for your favorite game or a bundle with the lotteries that you usually play.
3. When the Expected Value is Positive
The Expected Value (EV) is a mathematical concept that allows you to calculate the value of the jackpot when brought to the present with the total cost and odds in perspective.
Basically, you take the jackpot minus the ticket cost and multiply it by the probability in decimal numbers. By adding it up to the same calculation for all other secondary prizes minus the ticket price multiplied by the probability of missing, you get the Expected Value.
Whenever it is positive, it means that it is a good time to buy lottery tickets because the jackpot is really paying off when it comes to the probabilities. However, that usually almost never happens except close to record jackpots. As a regular player, you will not use this lottery strategy much.
4. High Jackpot
If the odds remain the same while the jackpot rolls over to a bigger value, it makes sense to prefer to play when there is a high jackpot. After all, let’s consider two real scenarios:
- Powerball just restarted after the last jackpot payment at $20 million, which is a lot, plus difficult odds of 1 in 292 million.
- Rolling over for several drawings, Powerball is now paying $500 million, and the odds remain 1 in 292 million.
The two situations apply to the same game, the same odds, and even the same secondary prizes. However, the jackpot is 25x higher and could change your life even if you were to win with dozens of other people. Therefore, when the jackpot is high is probably one of the best times to buy lottery tickets.
5. When the Jackpot Reaches the Maximum Cap
Not every game is like Mega Millions, which has already reached over $1 billion at least three times. A good number of lotteries have what is called a rollover cap, which is when the jackpot ceases to increase. In order to make it even more tempting to play the lottery, there is a limit to how long the jackpot can remain there.
If no one hits the jackpot in the last drawing of the rollover cap, it is distributed to the winners of the second tier. That is excellent since you would win the jackpot with the odds of a secondary prize!Let’s take Euromillions as a good example of that strategy. While its jackpot cap tends to rise as people manage to reach it, it sits at €230 million at the moment. If it reaches that amount and stays there for four drawings, it rolls down to the next prize tier.
Therefore, your odds of winning even more than the jackpot improve from 1 in 139,838,160 to only 1 in 6,991,908!
Eurojackpot is a different example that can also benefit players in such situations. The new jackpot cap was raised to €120 million, making it harder to reach, but it is still a possibility. Instead of rolling down that amount to a secondary tier, all the exceeding profits from the drawings are distributed to the second prize. In other words, you can get higher prizes with the odds of 1 in 5,959,013 for countless drawings.
6. In the Month of July
I admit this is the only suggestion in this list that derives from superstition and also that it is not even my favorite one, but players like it. Based on the statistics for Euromillions between 2004 and 2022, 18 years of drawings, July has the biggest number of lottery winners.
On the other hand, it is 1 or 2 winners bigger than the vast majority of the months of the year. In short, that was enough for a rumor to spread and create that July is an excellent month to play the lottery because it has more winners.
You may choose to believe that the slight difference is enough to concentrate your ticket purchases in July. The fact is that whenever you choose to play more tickets, you will also have better odds of winning.
7. When There Are Fewer People Playing
If your numbers are the only thing that can determine whether you may win the lottery or not, how can the number of players be important? You are correct with that idea. It will not increase your odds. However, playing when there are fewer players involved is the best time to buy lottery tickets because you have a lower risk of sharing your prize.
While a SuperEnalotto jackpot may still be incredible sharing with another winner or two, you might prefer to avoid such situations in games with smaller jackpots like Lotto India. It is difficult to combine this lesson with playing when there is a high jackpot, so you need to balance your priorities to find the ideal solution in your case.
Is the Time You Buy Lottery Tickets Really Important?
In terms of having a real chance of winning the lottery, the time that you buy your lottery tickets is not important. However, if we consider the size of the prize that you may get, plus even exceptional situations like the distribution of a capped jackpot for secondary winners, it makes perfect sense.
Therefore, as long as you apply the lessons brought to you in the form of hints, you will only have advantages in your path towards becoming an international lottery winner from India. Meanwhile, you do not need to stop playing whenever you have the time.
