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Brits have wondered about the best way to win the National Lottery since the first draw almost 30 years ago.
Many of us have ‘lucky numbers’ that we pick from week to week, while others leave it to fate by making a selection at random.
Now mathematicians claim they know how to guarantee a Lotto win – and tests from MailOnline suggest it does indeed work.
Buying as many as 27 lottery tickets, each with a specific combination of numbers, is the secret to winning a prize, they reveal.
However, at £2 per ticket – or a hefty £54 for 27 tickets – you won’t necessarily make a profit, even if you win.
It could be you: Researchers say you need 27 lottery tickets to guarantee a UK National Lottery win
On the photo the 27 number combinations. These are the numbers you should choose on your 27 lottery tickets if you want to be sure of a prize. The researchers say: ‘The reader can self-check that each draw of six numbers from 1 to 59 matches at least two numbers with at least one of the above’
The new study was led by David Cushing and David Stewart, two mathematicians from the University of Manchester.
They emphasize that no less than 27 lottery tickets give you a prize, although they themselves are not entirely sure why that is the case.
“We identify 27 tickets that guarantee a prize regardless of which of the 45,057,474 possible draws takes place,” they say in their paper.
‘Moreover, we find that 27 is the optimal number of tickets required, since the same guarantee is not possible with 26 tickets.
“The hardest part of proving the statement is to show that there isn’t also a set of 26 cards that works.”
The National Lottery became a public phenomenon and a fixture of Saturday night entertainment when it made its debut in November 1994, hosted by Noel Edmonds.
The format for the main game – known as Lotto – is simple; for £2 you pick six numbers from 1 to 59 prior to the draw.
You win a cash prize of £30 if three of their numbers are drawn, although a free Lucky Dip is given if you match two numbers.
A Lucky Dip gives you one more chance, except the numbers are randomly selected for you.
If you successfully match all six numbers, you win the jackpot – from £2 million to £12 million.
For their study, the academics used a process called finite geometry, in which different number combinations are visualized as points in geometric shapes.
The National Lottery became a public phenomenon and a fixture of Saturday night entertainment when it made its debut in November 1994, hosted by Noel Edmonds (pictured)
They were able to identify the 27 number combinations you should choose if you want to be sure of a prize in a single draw.
The researchers say in their paper, “The reader can self-check that each draw of six numbers from 1 to 59 matches at least two numbers with at least one of the above.”
To try this out, MailOnline randomly chose six numbers that could be the result of a hypothetical National Lottery draw: 4, 18, 29, 48, 49 and 52.
Certainly, if MailOnline had bought 27 tickets with the different number combinations as instructed by the researchers, we would got three tickets with two matching numbers and one ticket with three matching numbers.
Therefore we would have won three Lucky Dips and £30 – although this would also mean we would have £24 less if we had spent £54 on 27 tickets.
Unfortunately, Lucky Dip tickets don’t let you pick your own numbers, so couldn’t be used to try the process again.
In the end, the team’s system seems to be aimed at getting some sort of prize guaranteed, even if it’s not substantial at all.
The academics used a process called finite geometry, where different number combinations are visualized as points in geometric shapes (pictured)
The two mathematicians say, “We’re glad we were able to describe this quite elegantly using some basic finite geometry structures.”
That says a spokesperson for Camelot, the company that operates the National Lottery New scientist that makes the study ‘interesting reading’.
“Our approach has always been to get a lot of people to play a little bit, with players individually spending small amounts on our games,” the spokesperson said.
It’s also important to remember that Lotto is ultimately a lottery.
Like all other draw-based games of the National Lottery, all winning Lotto numbers are chosen at random.
“Each number has the same and equal chance of being drawn as any other, and each row of numbers entered into a draw has the same and equal chance of winning as any other.”
The study follows an American mathematician’s advice for winning the lottery, which includes choosing “unpopular numbers” and not making the same selections every time.