We found the guaranteed ways to win the lottery. Some are logical. Some are ridiculous. And some already work perfectly well in the movies.
There must be a guaranteed way to win the lottery.
People have been chasing one for decades. Systems, lucky numbers, hot numbers, cold numbers, birthdays, patterns and elaborate strategies have all promised an edge.
None of them can actually guarantee the jackpot.
That doesn't mean there aren't any guaranteed ways to win, though.
There are.
They just require a few things you probably don't currently have access to.
This is the easiest method on the list, assuming you've solved time travel.
Wait for the draw. Write down the winning numbers. Climb into your time machine, travel back a few hours, and buy a ticket with those exact numbers.
Congratulations. You've just predicted the Powerball or Mega Millions numbers with 100% accuracy.
There are a couple of practical wrinkles. You'll need to actually invent time travel, avoid causing a catastrophic paradox, and remember to get back before ticket sales close.
A newspaper from tomorrow or a whisper from your future self would technically also work here — the method doesn't really care how you obtain the numbers early, only that you do.
The bigger question is what happens to the future you originally left if you go back and change it.
We'll leave that one to the physicists.
Every regular lottery player knows this one.
You've played the same numbers for years. Birthdays. Anniversaries. That one number you've always used for no obvious reason.
Then one week life gets busy and you forget to buy the ticket.
Naturally, that's the week all six of your numbers are going to come out.
So the guaranteed strategy is obvious: pretend to forget — but secretly buy the ticket anyway.
You get the full emotional power of missing the draw without actually missing it.
Completely irrational. Possibly genius.
This one doesn't require science fiction.
It requires an enormous amount of money, an extremely efficient ticket-buying operation, and a jackpot that actually makes the maths worth it.
Instead of guessing the winning combination, you buy them all.
If every possible number combination is covered, one of your tickets must be a winner.
Guaranteed.
This isn't purely hypothetical either. Large jackpot-hunting groups have genuinely tried versions of this when a jackpot became large enough relative to the number of possible combinations.
The catch is that big lotteries can have hundreds of millions of possible combinations. Buying them all can cost more than the jackpot itself, before you even get to the logistics of purchasing, processing and checking that many tickets — or sharing the jackpot with another winner.
That's ultimately what lottery odds are describing: how many possible outcomes are standing between your ticket and the jackpot.
A slightly more realistic version is a lottery syndicate , where a group pools its money to cover more lines — although every individual ticket still has exactly the same odds.
Unlike the time machine, at least this method doesn't break the laws of physics.
Just the laws of practicality.
Why predict the winning numbers when you could simply choose them?
Decide on your numbers, buy the ticket, then arrange for the draw to somehow produce that exact combination.
Simple, in theory.
In practice, modern regulated lotteries exist specifically to make this impossible. Draw equipment, controlled procedures, independent oversight and verification checks are all there because a lottery stops being a lottery the moment someone can decide the outcome.
You could, in true heist-movie fashion, take it further — march into lottery headquarters and simply insist you're the rightful winner, hoping charm and confidence do the rest.
It doesn't.
Real prize claims involve ticket and identity verification that even the most convincing Hollywood performance isn't going to get around.
Great premise for a film. Not a functioning strategy.
Possibly the most straightforward method on this list.
Find lamp. Rub lamp. Meet genie. Ask for the winning ticket. Retire.
The wording matters enormously here.
"I wish to win the lottery" leaves far too much room for interpretation. You could end up with £20, a free ticket, or a small scratchcard win.
Genies have a well-documented reputation for exploiting loopholes.
You'll want something considerably more specific: the sole jackpot-winning ticket for the next major draw, legally purchased and safely in your possession.
Unfortunately, magic lamps remain frustratingly hard to come by.
Somewhere out there — assuming an infinite number of parallel universes exist — there's another version of you.
Same name. Same house. Same questionable number choices.
Except their version bought the jackpot-winning ticket.
All you need to do is discover interdimensional travel, locate the correct universe, and swap places with your considerably wealthier alternate self.
There may be some awkward questions from their family.
And your alternate self probably isn't thrilled about being sent to the universe where their ticket lost.
But we did promise guaranteed. Nobody promised convenient.
The cleanest mathematical solution on the list.
Start your own lottery. Sell exactly one ticket. Buy it yourself.
When the draw happens, you're the only entrant.
Winner: you.
Win probability: 100%.
Unfortunately, if your ticket cost £2 and the jackpot is that same £2 you put in, you've invented the world's least exciting wealth-creation strategy.
Still — nobody can argue with the win rate.
Not a useful one.
Unless someone invents a time machine, opens a portal to a parallel universe, or finds a surprisingly cooperative genie, we're stuck with the same inconvenient truth.
A properly run lottery is built so nobody knows the winning combination before the draw happens.
You can choose birthdays. You can play lucky numbers. You can study past draws. You can pick the same six numbers every single week.
None of it changes which balls come out next.
For now, it really does just come down to luck.
So if you're going to play, you might as well have some fun with it.
Skip the birthdays, patterns and overthinking. Let chance choose the numbers for you.
Try the Random Lottery Ball Generator →Random numbers don't improve your odds. They just make choosing them easier.