People around the country are lined up at Powerball lottery outlets as the jackpot for sits at more than $1 billion - a record and mind-blowing amount.
As you contemplate your choice of ticket numbers, you may be wondering which way to go – pick your own, or let the lottery machine choose them for you – a “Quick Pick” it’s called.
A Quick Pick ticket is made up of numbers randomly chosen by the computer system that spits out lottery tickets.
According to Powerball lottery officials, three-fourths of those who won Powerball jackpots did so with a Quick Pick ticket.
That’s not to say the odds are better if you purchase a Quick Pick over a ticket where you choose the numbers yourself. It’s to say that of those whose numbers matched the winning numbers, more than 70 percent had let Quick Pick randomly choose their numbers.
So which numbers are chosen most often in the Powerball lottery, and should you use those numbers when buying a ticket?
Here's the list of the main numbers (white balls) that have come up most often in the history of the game. (from lottonumbers.com)
#26 (drawn 266 times)
#41 (drawn 255 times)
#22 (drawn 254 times)
#16 (drawn 254 times)
#42 (drawn 253 times)
#35 (drawn 251 times)
#39 (drawn 250 times)
The most frequently drawn Powerball (the red ball)
#20 (drawn 75 times)
#6 drawn 74 times)
#2 (drawn 69 times)
#18 (drawn 68 times)
#9 (drawn 68 times)
#1 (drawn 68 times)
The least drawn numbers
#61 (drawn once)
#60 (drawn once)
#66 (drawn twice)
#67 (drawn twice)
#65 (drawn twice)
#63 (drawn three time)
#69 (drawn three time)
The most common pairs
32 and 41 (drawn 33 times)
15 and 26 (drawn 32 times)
15 and 27 (drawn 32 times)
9 and 23 (drawn 31 times)
15 and 43 (drawn 31 times)
20 and 42 (drawn 31 times)
The most common triplets
10, 18 and 45 (8 times)
1, 5 and 21 (6 times)
1, 25 and 29 (6 times)
2, 13 and 35 (6 times)
4, 12 and 38 (6 times)
*A disclaimer: These numbers are based on the history of the game. The game was changed in 2015 to include more “white balls,” increasing the number of balls from 59 to 69 at the same time decreasing the number of Powerballs (red balls) from 35 to 26.
Which method to use
As for which method to use to pick ticket numbers, in the end, it doesn’t really make a difference. The odds of matching all five numbers plus the Powerball is the same whether you pick the numbers or the machine picks them. You are playing odds, very long ones. The chance the lottery ticket you buy will match all the numbers is 1 in 292 million.
But, people being people, we imagine that luck is on our side and if we come up with the right combination of lucky things we will win big.
So, onto where to buy your winning ticket.
Is there a lucky state in which to purchase a winning ticket?
You have as much chance to win at Powerball if you buy a ticket in Oregon as if you buy it in Arkansas, but there is one state that has had more jackpot winners than the other states where Powerball tickets are sold. (Hint: It’s Pennsylvania)
Here are the states where the most winning jackpot tickets have been sold:
• Pennsylvania — 16
• Indiana — 11
• Louisiana — 8
• Florida — 7
• Missouri — 7
• Iowa — 6
• Minnesota — 6
• South Carolina — 6
• Arizona — 5
• Connecticut — 5
• Kentucky — 5
• Wisconsin — 5
• New York — 4
• Oklahoma — 4
• West Virginia — 4
• Delaware — 3
• Georgia — 3
• Kansas — 3
• New Hampshire — 3
• New Jersey — 3
• New Mexico — 3
• North Carolina — 3
• South Dakota — 3
• Rhode Island — 3
Source: Powerball.com; lottonumbers.com
About the Author