Jackpot Pokies vs. Lottery Games Odds

Players who enjoy the action of playing progressive pokies games are naturally drawn to the excitement of lotteries too, since they both provide the player with the opportunity to award a life-changing win. This article examines which of the two offers you the best prospects, statistically, of a really large return, and we examine the pros and cons of each of the games as well.

The Odds of Winning the Lottery

The odds of winning the lottery, as it turns out, are not so good. When playing a lottery in which you are required to select 6 numbers from a pool of 49, your chances of winning the top prize by selecting the correct 6 numbers are estimated at just 1 in 13,983,816. That equals about 1 shot in about 14 million! These odds mean that if you were to buy 1 lotto ticket every week, you’d win once every 269,000 years.

Multi-state lotto’s or online lotteries that attract even larger numbers of players have even worse odds, and the popular Mega Millions multi-state lottery is a great example of this, offering odds of an estimated 1 in about 176 million. The odds may not be great, but someone has to win, and there’s always that chance it could be you.

Pokies Odds are Slightly More Complicated

The most vital odds when it comes to pokies are the machine’s hit-frequency and payback or RTP (return to player) percentage. Thanks to how complicated games are these days, it is no longer possible to ascertain the exact odds of winning, but the percentage of payback and hit frequency is easy info to find, and can help you decide which games to play.  In days gone by you could work out your odds by dividing the number of symbols by 1, so if a slot had 3 reels and 10 symbols per reel; the odds of each symbol appearing would be 9:1. The odds of hitting 3 symbols to trigger a jackpot win would therefor be 1/1000, or 999:1. With modern slots with 5 reels, numerous paylines and Ways to Win formats this calculation doesn’t work out quite how it used to.

One manner in which you can gauge pokies’ hit frequency and thus get a handle on the odds is playing the game 100 times and tracking the results. Make a mark for every time during these 100 spins any win, big or small, is made. Avoid those that pay out less than 10% of the time.

If a pokie game’s RTP is 95%, this means that over an infinite amount of time the game will pay back 95 cents for each dollar put into it. This doesn’t mean however you’ll win 95% of the time, or that for every $100 bet you’ll claim back $95, and this is a common misconception!

In Support of the Lottery

1. You can play quite a few weeks in advance by using the same lottery numbers for consecutive weeks. Some lotteries will even let you play constantly, by means of a Direct Debit or similar.
2. The games are very easy to play and simple to understand. You don’t need any particular grasp of technology either, simply marking of the numbers virtually or with a pen if you are playing games through a real shop rather than one based online.
3. All winnings are automatically paid out to the winner, as soon as he or she produces the winning ticket –just remember to keep yours in a safe place!
4. Smaller wins can be collected at your lottery outlet, or paid into your account directly.

The Pros of Pokies Play

1. There is a far bigger choice of progressive pokies games to play, and these are all easy to access and very simple to play. When you play online pokies in NZ you can choose from dozens upon dozens of these accumulative jackpot games.
2. One spin on the reels of an online pokies game will cost you far less than the purchase of a single lottery ticket. Proof of this is the pokies player from Britain won a whopping £5.3 million on a single £0.3 bet during a game of Mega Moolah.
3. Pokies games can be played 24/7.
4. You can raise or lower the amount wagered and are not forced to play pokies games for a fixed price.
5. Progressive pokies games offer you a much bigger range of smaller prizes, which include both feature games and the base game itself.

Comparing the Biggest Wins for Each

The biggest win from an individual ticket on the Powerball lottery went to an American in May of 2013, when Gloria MacKenzie won $590.5 million. Europe’s largest win went home with £161.7 million in July of 2011. In comparison, John Heywood claimed the biggest-ever progressive jackpot win on October the 6th, 2015. Heywood scooped a €17,879,645 ($20,062,600/£13,209,300) prize payout.

Pick Your Games Wisely and You’ll Do Well

At the end of the day, it will depend on which lottery or progressive pokies game you play when it comes down to analysing your chances of winning. However, pokies do tend to provide players with better odds, especially when you consider how often they payout versus how many people win the lottery. The actual game play is far more enjoyable too, which is perhaps why they remain the most popular casino games online.

Now by its very definition, a lottery is not a game of skill. The name ‘lottery’ comes from the drawing of lots, a way to make a decision at random by picking out pieces of straw or rolling dice. In other words, when you play the lottery online you are trying to match a series of random numbers, and your biggest accomplice in that regard will be good old-fashioned luck.

In other words, this article is not going to attempt to tell you how to win the lotto, or make any similarly rash promises. However, we will let you know how to play the lottery online and also – and very importantly – how to maximise your chances of success when you do play.

When it comes to online lotteries, there are two ways to go. The first of those is to enter an online lottery which people in your country are eligible to take part in. If this is not possible, or if you prefer to take a shot at winning jackpots advertised in international lotteries then a new option has become available. This effectively allows you to place bets on the outcome of a lottery, and allows you to win the same amount as you would if you were to buy a ticket for that lottery in its country. This second option has become increasingly popular in recent years as it allows players to choose lotteries from all over the world.

That leads on nicely to our first, and most important, piece of advice. All lotteries are not the same, and you will find much better odds of winning some than others. So while the US Powerball lottery certainly boasts an impressive jackpot, choosing a smaller lottery like the Irish Lotto will give you a far better statistical chance of winning. Also, it is important to take into account the percentage of the prize fund which is paid out in prizes. Even if you don’t scoop the jackpot you will stand a better chance of a smaller value win with a lottery which pays out a lot of smaller prizes. The El Gordo in Spain is a good example, as it adopts a very democratic approach when it comes to the large amount of money returned to players.

When it comes to the rules of the lottery, then it really couldn’t be much simpler. You pick a selection of numbers – often six – from the range on offer. Some lotteries require that you pick extra balls from a different set of numbers as well. There are no ‘magic numbers’ which will help you to win, no matter what you may read elsewhere. Picking numbers which haven’t appeared recently, or which appear a lot won’t help you, as each draw is completely random and separate from the last one. However, it is generally a good idea to avoid basing your numbers on things like birthdays, for the simple reason that the numbers on offer will go higher than 31. Also, if you pick a simple sequence and it does come up in the draw, be prepared to share your prize with the hundreds of other people who had the same idea.

If you ever take the time to notice who has won a recent lottery jackpot, more often than not a syndicate will have come up with the winning numbers. Joining a syndicate means that you can choose a greater selection of numbers for the same cost, which is probably worth a reduced share of the jackpot if your numbers come up. Most online lottery sites will allow you to choose a syndicate option where you can take advantage of those improved odds.

If you were looking for a magical way to predict winning lottery numbers then you will need to look elsewhere. A crystal ball, perhaps? However, we hope that our lottery playing advice will help you to maximise your chances of getting that elusive win. Good luck!