How to play lotto

There are literally hundreds of lottery games to choose from around the world. Thankfully, most of them will follow the same, relatively easy to follow methods in order to take part. Firstly, of course, you have to buy a ticket to be in with a chance of winning.

Different lotteries will require you to pick a selection from at least one set of numbers; for example, you may be asked to choose 6 numbers between 1 and 49. When the draw is made, six numbers will be selected and, if your six numbers match any of the six drawn, then you may have won a prize. Quite often, you will need to match a minimum amount of numbers before you win a prize.

Some lotto games may require you to also pick one or more numbers from a second selection of numbers. Quite often, this second selection of number will be smaller than the first group – for example, 1-10. This may be referred to as a bonus ball, or by some other name. Depending on the particular lottery game, if you match that extra number (or numbers) it can help to increase any prize that you have won.

To make things easier, it is often possible to have numbers randomly generated for you when buying a ticket. Alternatively, you may wish to select the numbers yourself. Quite often, when selecting numbers, people tend to use important dates, birthdays or ages to help pick their numbers.

Having purchased a ticket – or tickets – be sure to check when the results are due. Some lotto games will show the results live on television, whereas other may be exclusively revealed on an internet site or through some other form of media. When the results are announced, check what is required in order to win a prize, and then see if any of your numbers match with those that were drawn.