The South African Powerball and Lotto draws are constantly attracting new players. And it’s no wonder — after all, almost everyone dreams of winning a massive jackpot in the lottery. But in reality, participating in lottery draws for the sake of a big win is perhaps the worst strategy in the world of online gambling. 

BusinessTech journalists conducted their own research into the odds of winning the lottery six years ago. According to them, the odds of the average player winning were 1 in 13 983 816 and they needed to spend approximately R49 million to be guaranteed to win (given that the average price of a lottery ticket is R3.50).

Since then, the odds have only gone down. In 2017, the national Lottery increased the set of numbers to be drawn from 49 to 52, meaning that there are now 20 358 520 different combinations that can be drawn by choosing 6 numbers from 52. With the cost of a single play now at R5, this means you would have to spend R101 792 600 for a guaranteed chance of winning.

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