Lucky Lottery Numbers

Table of Contents:

• WHICH NUMBERS ARE CONSIDERED LUCKY OR UNLUCKY?
• WHY IS 7 CONSIDERED A LUCKY NUMBER?
• IS 7 REALLY A LUCKY LOTTO NUMBER?
• IRISH LOTTO LUCKY NUMBERS
• EUROMILLIONS LUCKY NUMBERS
• MEGA MILLIONS LUCKY NUMBERS
• POWERBALL LUCKY NUMBERS
• WHICH LUCKY NUMBERS WON THE BIGGEST JACKPOTS?
• WHICH LUCKY NUMBERS WON THE IRISH LOTTO BIGGEST JACKPOTS?
• IRISH EUROMILLIONS JACKPOTS

Which numbers are considered lucky or unlucky?

To the Chinese, 8 is a lucky number as in Mandarin and Cantonese bā / baat sounds similar to the symbol for fā / faat 'to prosper' and is also associated with wholeness and completeness in the Taoist culture. 9 is lucky because it sounds like ‘long lasting’. On the other hand, 9 is considered unlucky to the Japanese as in Kun’yomi it is pronounced as ku which sounds like the Japanese word for 'torture' or 'suffering' and 4 is unlucky to both the Chinese and the Japanese as it sounds like 'death'. Then of course there is the number 13, usually considered unlucky in the West due to its association with the Last Supper and also with the persecution of the Knights Templar by King Philip IV of France on Friday, 13th October 1307.

Why Is 7 considered a lucky number?

Revered since ancient times amongst the Egyptians and Greeks and still considered a universally symbolic number to the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. There are many reasons why the number 7 is so significant, whether in religion, mythology, superstition or philosophy. One of the main reasons amongst the Abrahamic religions goes back to the creation story, where 7 represents God’s completeness, perfection and keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Is 7 really a lucky lotto number?

Number 7 does not appear in any of the current record jackpot wins, but studies have shown it is 25% more likely to be picked than any other number in people's selections.

Let’s first consider the Irish Lotto, which has a current standing record of €18.9 million dating back to 2008. The lucky lottery numbers that time were 4, 12, 26, 27, 29 and 37 plus the bonus ball, 38. Out of the six most commonly drawn balls in Irish Lotto, only number 27 appears. 27 also appears in the list of the most commonly drawn balls in EuroMillions and was one of the winning numbers of the 3^rd largest EuroMillions draw to be won in Ireland.

The UK Lotto has had a number of big wins, of which David and Carol Martin's was the largest. They shared a £33 million win with an anonymous ticket holder in January 2016, with the lucky numbers 26, 27, 46, 47, 52 and 58.

27, 46 and 52 are amongst the most frequent pairs to be drawn in the UK Lotto. The most common UK Lotto numbers are 35, 42, 5, 13, 2 and 26.

Of course, every lottery ball has an equal chance of being drawn, however, it is evident that some appear far more often. Although 7 by itself does not stand out to be particularly lucky, number 27 does appear quite frequently.

Renowned mathematician and lottery expert Skip Garibaldi, Director of the Center for Communications Research at La Jolla, part of the Institute for Defense Analyses. Garibaldi has published numerous papers on the mathematics of the lottery and according to his research; 'any choice of numbers is equally likely to win the jackpot' and 'seventy percent of winners are quick picks'. Some sound advice by Garibaldi is to avoid dates as you will be more likely to share the winnings with other people who have chosen the same numbers and you are also limiting yourself to numbers below 31; 'a lot of people play dates, and numbers between 1 and 12 are especially popular so you might avoid those.'

Even though every number has the same chance, some numbers of course do appear more often than others and some lottery players like to analyse which are the 'hot' (most frequent) or 'cold' (most overdue) numbers when considering which numbers to pick for the lotto. Let’s have a look at some of the 'hottest' numbers to date (July 2021):

Irish Lotto Lucky Numbers

Since the first draw in 1988, the most common Irish Lotto Numbers are 27,47,42,10 and 29. Bear in mind the Lotto has gone through many changes over the years; it started as a 36-number game but has since gone up to 47. Number 27 has been drawn 102 times whereas the number with the lowest frequency, 36, has been drawn 54 times. 13 is currently the 'coldest' number.

The hot numbers for the Irish Lotto are: 27, 47, 42, 10, 29.

The cold numbers for the Irish Lotto are: 13, 41, 19, 2, 6.

EuroMillions Lucky Numbers

Since its launch in 2004, EuroMillions has firmly established itself as Europe’s biggest lottery, paying out huge jackpots only surpassed by the US giants Powerball and Mega Millions. The UK has had more jackpot winners than anyone else with 113 (22.2%) with Ireland in 7^th place, having eighteen jackpot winners. The most common EuroMillions numbers are 20,27,23,15,39 plus Stars 2 and 3. Please note that we do not offer bets on the EuroMillions and are including these numbers for comparison purposes.

The hot numbers for the EuroMillions are: 20, 27, 23, 15, 39 + Stars 2 & 3.

The cold numbers for the EuroMillions are: 45, 23, 4, 32, 50 + Stars 1 & 2.

Mega Millions Lucky Numbers

Established in 1996 as The Big Game, it was initially offered in just six states, whereas it is now offered in forty-five states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S.Virgin Islands. Of the five world record jackpot wins, two of them were Mega Millions wins, including the biggest single ticket win, an incredible $1.537 billion jackpot won in South Carolina. The most common Mega Millions numbers are 10, 14, 4, 31, 1, 7, with 22 and 11 being the most common Mega Balls.

The hot numbers for the Mega Millions are: 10, 14, 4, 31, 17 and Mega Balls 22 & 11.

The cold numbers for the Mega Millions are: 21, 51, 36, 5, 35 and Mega Balls 8 & 3.

Powerball Lucky Numbers

The older of the two U.S. rivals, Powerball, was formed in 1992 and has grown to become the biggest lottery in the world. Offered in 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, three of the top five world record jackpots are Powerball winnings, with the biggest jackpot ever being $1.586.4 billion, shared between three tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee. The most frequent Powerball numbers are 23, 32, 61, 53, 69, 21, with 18 and 24 being the most frequent Powerballs.

The hot numbers for the Powerball are: 23, 32, 61, 53, 69, 21 and Powerballs 18 & 24.

The cold numbers for the Powerball are: 58, 42, 9, 14, 45, 32 and Powerballs 15 & 12.

Which lucky numbers won the biggest jackpots?

As one would expect, the top five world record jackpots are all in the United States, with some absolutely mind-blowing jackpots ranging into the billions of dollars. It should be noted, though, that lottery wins in the US are heavily taxed, although even after taxes, the total winnings are still extremely generous. For example, the lucky winner of the $1.586 billion jackpot collected a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 – although it seems that the winner was either in no rush to collect the money or perhaps had misplaced the ticket, as it took the anonymous winner five months to come forward. Having said that, some lottery winners prefer to wait for the hype to die down, along with remaining anonymous, in order to avoid any potential complications.

On the other hand, Mavis Wanczyk of Massachusetts, who won $758.7 million, decided to do the complete opposite. Upon hearing the good news, Wanczyk immediately quit her job at a medical centre, where she had worked for over three decades, and came forward publicly as the winner the very next day. As a result of her publicity, according to police reports, strangers began prowling the neighbourhood where Wanczyk was residing, trying to find her address. Her name was also used in an email and social media scam, where people were led to believe she was giving out money for charitable causes. To receive free cash, they were asked to provide their personal details. Wanczyk closed all her social media shortly after the win. After all was said and done, she took home around $336 million.

Record jackpot lucky numbers
Lottery	Place of Ticket Purchase	Jackpot	Winning Numbers
Powerball	CA, FL, TN*	$1.586 billion	4,8,19,27,34 +10
Mega Millions	South Carolina	$1.537 billion**	5,28,67,65,70 +5
Mega Millions	Michigan	$1.050 billion	4,26,42,50,60 +24
Powerball	Wisconsin	$768.4 million	16,20,37,44,62 +12
Powerball	Massachusetts	$758.7 million	6,7,16,23,26 +4

*California, Florida, Tennessee

**The biggest single-ticket win

Which lucky numbers won the Irish Lotto's Biggest Jackpots?

Unlike Ms Wanczyk, the humble workers at the Dan Morrissey & Co. quarry in Bennekerry, Carlow, were in no rush to cash in or to immediately quit their jobs, as some of them clocked into work the next day. A syndicate of sixteen colleagues scooped the record €18.9 million jackpot back in 2008. As we saw previously in the top five record jackpots, number 4 makes an appearance three times along with 44. 4 also makes an appearance in the Irish Lotto, coming out twice (including the top jackpot), along with 12, 29, 32, 38 whilst 37 and 13 – which is currently the “coldest” number.

Irish Lotto best lucky numbers
Date	Place of Ticket Purchase	Jackpot	Winning Numbers
28th June 2008	Bennekerry, Co.Carlow	€18.9 million	4,12,26,27,29,37 +38
14th April 2010	Dungarvan, Co.Waterford	€16.7 million	6,13,24,33,34,38 +9
23rd October 2010	Dublin	€16.3 million	15,16,22,25,31,32 +37
28th July 2007	Farranree, Co.Cork	€16.1 million	4,13,29,32,35,37 +20
23rd January 2016	Belmullet, Co.Mayo	€13.7 million	10,12,13,19,43,45 +5

IRISH EUROMILLIONS JACKPOTS

It was another syndicate, this time a large family from The Naul, which one the current record EuroMillions jackpot in Ireland. The winning ticket had been kept in an Argos catalogue and placed under a mattress for safekeeping. The luckiest numbers when it comes to the EuroMillions in Ireland are: 1, 8 and 5, which have each appeared three times in the top five biggest Irish jackpot wins. Interestingly, 1 and 8 were also amongst the lucky lotto numbers which were picked by Frances and Patrick Connolly of Moira, Co.Down. The couple won £115 million on the New Year’s Day EuroMillions draw in 2019. This is the second biggest EuroMillions win on the island of Ireland; the winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 25, 28 plus Lucky Stars 4 and 6. By December 2020, the couple had already given away half of their winnings to family members and charity, having set up two charitable foundations. They also bought thousands of presents for hospital patients during Christmas, hundreds of tablets for lonely people during the coronavirus lockdown and sewing machines to help produce PPE for health workers. Upon learning about their win, the couple claimed to have celebrated 'with a hug and a cup of tea'.

Irish EuroMillions Jackpots
Date	Place of Ticket Purchase	Jackpot	Winning Numbers
19th February 2019	Naul, Co.Dublin	€175 million	1,8,18,19,39 + 7 & 9
29th July 2005	Limerick	€115 million	3,19,26,49,50 + 4 & 5
25th June 2013	Limburg (Belgium) & Dublin	€93	4,5,13,27,35 + 1 & 2
24th January 2017	Lusk, Co.Dublin	€88 million	1,5,7,17,23 + 3 & 8
19th September 2014	Dublin	€86 million	6,8,34,38,48 + 3 & 9

WHICH ARE YOUR LUCKY NUMBERS FOR LOTTO?

You may still believe in betting on your own lucky numbers, be it a birthday or other special occasion. Some lottery winners have actually won after dreaming about lottery numbers. Perhaps instead, you may want to listen to the advice of Skip Garibaldi. If you have been inspired by this article or would like to try your own lucky combination using the 'hot' or lucky numbers which we have included, you can do so by betting on one of our lotto games with the chance to win some super prizes including betting on the Irish Lotto, PowerBall, MegaMillions and our own Millionaire game. Good luck!

Sources:

britannica.com/topic/number-symbolism/7
chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/lucky-number-8.html
garibaldibros.com/wp
hbr.org/2013/07/the-bad-luck-numbers-that-scar
independent.ie/irish-news/life-is-sweet-for-16-lotto-millionaires-26458577.html
irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ireland-s-175m-euromillions-winner-is-a-family-syndicate-1.3800103
lotterycritic.com/lottery-winners/mavis-wanczyk-powerball-winner
manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/euromillions-winners-given-half-115m-19417541
nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130913-friday-luck-lucky-superstition-13
nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/160512-friday-13-knights-templar-superstition
nypost.com/2012/03/29/winning-advice-from-7-times-lucky-player
theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/09/books-advent-calendar-9-chinese-power

Last updated: August 2021