Which U.S. Lottery Game Has the Best Winning Odds?

You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the Powerball—but some lottery games give you a much better shot.

Before you try your luck, the first thing to consider is the odds. While games like Powerball offer massive jackpots, the odds of winning them are extremely slim. Other lotteries may have smaller prizes—but they’re won far more frequently. To properly choose your game, you must weigh the odds against the potential prize on offer.

Below, you’ll find key insights into U.S. lottery games. Discover which ones give you the best odds, and get ready to jump into the action. Your next ticket might just be a winner!

Which U.S. Lottery Has the Best Jackpot Odds?

It’s important to note that the bigger the jackpot, the lower the odds of winning it.

Typically, it is the size of a lottery jackpot that attracts most people to play the game. For instance, when Powerball and Mega Millions are offering billion-dollar jackpots, people everywhere will brave long lines to purchase tickets. When jackpots are that big, many who have never previously played the lottery will be among the most enthusiastic customers.

How can Powerball and Mega Millions afford to offer such incredible jackpot prizes? Because the odds of winning them are not that favorable. As a result, the prizes rollover from draw to draw, growing consistently and attracting even more players. No matter the odds of winning Powerball or Mega Millions, people will continue to buy tickets and play because they realize that eventually, every Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot will be won.

On the other hand, smaller lotteries offer smaller jackpots, but with a much higher chance of winning. Here are a few examples:

Arizona ‘The Pick’: With a jackpot starting at $1 million, this prize will continuously roll over until it is won! The odds of winning the jackpot with this game are 1:7,059,052.

Odds that still seem daunting, but when you compare them to Powerball’s 1:292,201,338 or Mega Millions’ 1:290,472,336, they are much more favorable.

Take New Jersey Cash 5: The jackpot begins at $150,000, and also rolls over until it is won.

Sure, $150,000 might not make you a yacht owner, but it’ll still change your year. The odds of winning this game are only 1:1,221,759.

As you can see there is a trend—your odds of winning become more favorable as the jackpot shrinks. Bear in mind that ticket prices often reflect the jackpot sizes too, so you can expect to pay less to play NJ Cash 5, than Powerball for example.

Which Lottery Game Has the Best Odds of Winning?

Each lottery ticket you buy gives you one chance of winning the jackpot. But that same ticket also gives you a chance to win the lottery’s secondary prizes. In short, lottery odds also consider the odds of winning any prize in the draw.

The odds for winning any lottery prize are based on formulas considered ‘lottery mathematics’. This math determines your chances of matching the numbers drawn. Exact formulas for calculating odds on how to win the lottery are too complicated to explain here, but it’s easy to understand that they consider how many numbers there are in total; how many of them are selected in each draw; and whether there is an additional extra ball included in the draw.

The question itself is too vague, as aside from the multistate games, Powerball and Mega Millions, each state offers its own local games. To check the best lottery odds by state, first explore the online lottery games your state offers, and compare the odds between them.

Here is a comparison between each state’s ‘easiest’ game to win:

How Does the Guess Range Affect Chances of Winning?

The bigger the guess range, and the more numbers you must match, the more difficult it is to hit the jackpot.

When you play New York Lotto, for example, you choose six (6) numbers from a 1 to 59 guess range. When you play NY Cash4Life, in comparison, you choose five (5) numbers from a 1 to 60 guess range. It is much more difficult to win the NY Lotto jackpot, as well as other prizes in that lottery, and this is because of two factors: how many numbers you choose, and the size of the guess range.

The other factor determining the odds of winning lottery prizes is whether a game includes an additional number such as those in Powerball and Mega Millions. Because of this additional number, it is very difficult to win the jackpot. As such, the jackpots in these two lotto games roll over repeatedly, frequently reaching record-breaking amounts.

Do Ticket Sales Affect Lottery Odds?

Do Ticket Sales Affect Lottery Odds?

No, they don’t! It is important to note, however, that ticket sales never affect the odds of winning a lottery jackpot or any other prizes. If 1,000 tickets are sold or 10,000 tickets are sold, the odds remain the same.

Unlike rollover lotteries, Pick 4 games for example offer fixed payouts—if 5 people match the winning combo, all 5 win the full top prize ($25,000).

On the other hand, ticket sales for the bigger lotteries do impact the amount of a rollover because a percentage of the ticket sales goes to the jackpot prize. The more tickets sold, the higher (and faster) a jackpot will rise. Also, the more tickets sold for a draw, the greater the likelihood that the top prize will be shared by more than one winner.

How to Choose the Best Lottery to Play

The high jackpots offered by Powerball, Mega Millions and more may be what attracts you to play the lottery, but there are several other factors you might want to consider when determining which game gives you the best chance of winning:

• The price of a lottery ticket
• Game options
• Extra features
• Secondary prizes
• Frequency of the draws
• When the next draw will take place

No matter what leads you to buy a lottery ticket, you should always play with realistic expectations, and always play responsibly!

As much as the odds may be tricky, your ticket has just as much of a chance at winning the jackpot as anyone else’s. And, as you probably realize, no matter what the odds, every lottery jackpot is eventually claimed by a winner.