Although lotteries are games of chance, there’s also no proof that elements above our own understanding aren’t having an effect on lottery draws. After all, lottery winners often report interesting factors that they believe play a role in why they won big.
Some people believe good fortune can be related to a lucky day for you personally, but data can reveal other aspects of time you should consider when you play the lottery again. We researched a few facts about the best times to play lotteries and the graphs and tables below will make it easy for you to know when it may be worth buying a few extra tickets.
- Data shows February, June and July to be more likely to produce Powerball winners.
- Lotto players may find May to be more lucky than other months.
- You can research any lottery using available data and easily find trends to help you know when to play.
Luckiest Time to Buy Lottery Tickets [Statistical Analysis]
An easy way to play games like Daily Lotto or SuperEnanalotto more strategically is to look at data and see trends. As part of lottery strategies, there is software that can identify a numbers trend, or you may enjoy using hot and cold Lotto numbers in your tickets’ number sequences. Take this one step further by playing more during the times of the year that major lotteries seem to be more likely to produce big winners.
Months with Most Big Powerball Winners
In the Powerball game, we had a look at the data of the past few years, specifically the biggest jackpot winners and discovered the following:
| Date | Amount |
|---|---|
| 19 February 2019 | ZAR232,131,750 |
| 11 February 2022 | ZAR167,332,410 |
| 27 July 2021 | ZAR158,035,647 |
| 10 July 2020 | ZAR153,466,150 |
| 3 August 2018 | ZAR145,469,799 |
| 23 August 2019 | ZAR141,343,180 |
| 28 April 2020 | ZAR135,366,753 |
| 25 November 2022 | ZAR135,000,000 |
| 17 October 2023 | ZAR128,000,000+ (two winning tickets – each winner received R64,460,746.18) |
| 20 May 2022 | ZAR126,589,752 |
| 29 September 2020 | ZAR121,730,295 |
| 26 January 2024 | ZAR121,629,573 |
Turn this into a different chart and you’ll find the following:
Months with Most Big Lotto Winners
There may also seem to be trends when you dig deep into SA Lotto data. Although the jackpots tend to be a bit smaller than Powerball or international games like Mega Millions, it can still turn you into a multi millionaire if you get onto this list of the game’s biggest prizes in its history:
| Date | Amount |
|---|---|
| 27 January 2018 | ZAR110,000,000 |
| 3 September 2022 | ZAR86,938,411 |
| 4 May 2019 | ZAR79,874,758 |
| 23 November 2022 | ZAR74,773,380 |
| 20 May 2023 | ZAR66,175,535 |
| 27 July 2019 | ZAR61,633,381 |
| 9 October 2019 | ZAR60,302,027 |
| 14 December 2019 | ZAR60,000,000 |
| 12 May 2018 | ZAR58,672,134 |
| 14 March 2020 | ZAR58,390,419 |
The chart below gives an easy overview about the times of the year that these main prizes were awarded.
You can do your own analysis and use a longer list of big wins and add to this table. But it’s remarkable at what one learns just from this relatively short list of data.
Luckiest Months to Play SA Lotteries
If you believe in signs from the universe, whether it’s your horoscope or dream numbers, there’s good reason to also trust this data as a possible sign to help play the lottery like a pro. Do this by adding to your existing process of picking numbers. Simply keep the following in mind when you plan your tickets and how to spend your lottery budget:
- Clearly, February, July and August may be the best time to play Powerball. You can purchase more tickets during this time, or use benefits like subscriptions on theLotter, to make sure you don’t miss a draw.
Source: theLotter
- For Lotto, there’s no better month to play than May. With luck already in the air, complement that with playing more tickets, as this is the most efficient way to boost your odds. Play responsibly by only spending what you can afford. Luckily, online lottery sites like Lotto Agent help you buy more without breaking the bank, such as offering discounts when you commit to more tickets.
Source: Lotto Agent
Best Time to Play SA Lotteries
Online you’ll find a range of different types of data, and this empowers you to make a range of helpful inferences. Apart from what the big wins above tell you, you may want to see if there’s a current trend for a lottery.
When we considered the past year’s data, we found the following:
| Lottery | 4 Big jackpots of the last year (months) | Biggest jackpot in past year (month) | How often are big jackpots won? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lotto | March May July November | May | +/- every 3 months |
| Powerball | January July August October | October | No pattern determined |
Tip: if you want to eliminate certain months to ensure you pick the luckiest months for each, combine the data above with the information on the historical data that we examined above. For Powerball, July and August appear on both lists, so it’s worth playing at that time of the year. For Lotto, once again May appears on the list, so that’s when you need to buy tickets for that game.
Final Words
Help yourself feel more confident about how you play the lottery throughout the year, by using data. Trust the numbers and look out for signs like your hand starting to itch. This may all be methods the universe is using to communicate to you when the best time is to play.
Remember, information about major wins are available for many international lotteries, so do the same exercise we did if you enjoy playing US Powerball or lotteries like EuroMillions.
Important Notice:
- There is limited data available, and our team conducts research based on what is offered to the public.
- Our suggestions and trends are based on the data that was relevant at the time of publishing.
- Many factors determine outcomes. We aim to include as many factors as possible, but others may exist that were not taken into consideration.
- Data updated: April 2024
- Our list of sources include:
FAQ
Based on statistics, the only thing you can do to improve your chances of winning a game of chance is to play more. You can play a lottery regularly, instead of just once. Or, play more tickets at a time for a specific lottery, so there’s a bigger chance that one of your number sets will match numbers picked during the draw. Lottery sites like theLotter simplify this lottery strategy with automated settings like subscriptions.
The chances of winning the lottery depends on the game you’re playing. Your chances of winning a Powerball prize is 1 in 35 at best, while for the jackpot you must beat odds of 1 in 42,375,200. Lotto’s chances are a bit better, giving you odds of 1:20,358,520 of being a jackpot winner.
When playing in store, you’ll only be able to purchase tickets until a store closes. Also, ticket sales will close about 30 minutes before a specific draw.
When playing via a lottery site, or your banking app, review the policies so you purchase in time. Banking apps may also have limited operating hours for lottery tickets during weekends. Online lottery platforms usually display countdowns for each lottery, whether it’s US Powerball or UK49’s, so you know how much time you have left.
Most SA draws take place around 9pm on draw days. In South Africa you can view the draw live and get the results immediately. Online platforms will have the results soon after each draw, whether it’s for El Gordo, Daily Lotto or another game from around the globe.
Each person’s luckiest time to play games of luck will relate to his or her star sign. Review information like your lucky numbers, lucky days of each month and lucky hours of the day, all based on your zodiac information.
No matter how often you play, always play responsibly and stay within your budget. If possible, play multiple tickets at a time and play regularly, such as on a weekly basis. Consistency can increase your chances of winning.