Mathematicians find exact number of tickets needed to win in UK lottery

Have you ever wondered just how many lottery tickets you'd need to guarantee yourself a win?

Of course you have, though really it's just about making sure you get that one ticket amidst all of them that gives you the key to fame and fortune.

Mathematicians at the University of Manchester have calculated the exact number of tickets you'd need to buy to win the lottery, though you might not be happy with the definition of 'win'.

Plus, even if you did manage to make use of this, there's no guarantee that you'd even be able to make more money than you'd spent.

Still, if you want to know the secret number, according to irrefutable mathematics, the number of lottery tickets you need to guarantee a win is 27.

Yeah I know, it seems a bit low doesn't it?

University of Manchester

If you want the National Lottery's flagship Lotto game then there are a total of 45,057,474 possible draws that can occur, but the mathematicians came up with a way to be sure you'd get some money with just 27 tickets.

They worked out that if you had this many tickets, then at least one of them would have at least two numbers in common.

Here's where it gets complicated and you wish you'd paid more attention in school.

They used a mathematical field called finite geography and put the numbers between one and 59 in pairs or triplets on a connective point in one of five shapes.

In total, you have three shapes called a Fano plane, two triangles and my brain hurts so please just look at the picture and pretend you understand.

University of Manchester

Dr David Stewart and Dr David Cushing found that each line generated a sequence of six numbers, enough to fit on a lottery ticket.

Put them all together and it creates 27 lottery tickets where at least one will have a couple of the numbers which get drawn, meaning a guaranteed prize.

Only it doesn't mean guaranteed profit, as when the researchers tested this, they spent £54 on three winning tickets which gave them three attempts at the Free Lotto Lucky Dip, where they won nothing.

Yes, that's the trouble with trying to find a perfect formula to beat the Lottery, it's really damn difficult.

Matching two balls gets you a chance at the lucky dip, you've got to match three before you're guaranteed of any sort of money as you'll get £30 back.

Match four and you get £140, while five balls correct earn you a whopping £1,750.

To win a million quid, you'll need to get five balls and the bonus, while the prize jackpot is only for those who get all six numbers right.

Topics: UK News, National Lottery, Money

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker