Lotteries make people think in all sorts of ways. Some people think picking up the dates of birth in their families will win them the jackpot whereas some rely solely on quick pick options wherein the computer generates the numbers for the players. In an attempt to win millions of dollars and live a life of dreams, people can end up doing things that they should not. Today, you will read about a few things that people have done in the past but you must avoid them when participating in lotteries.
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Things to Avoid While Taking Part in Lotteries
Going with Simple Patterns
A lot of people go with simple patterns when it comes to picking their numbers. They try things that they believe is unique. What they don’t realize is that many others have done the same moves before them. For example, they will look at the play slip and draw patterns on it to pick their numbers. They can pick their first four numbers from every corner of the play slip. Sometimes, they pick the first number from every grid on the play slip. At other times, they pick numbers that do not look random at all. For example, they might pick something like 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14.
Lotteries are completely unpredictable and anything can happen in the draws. However, it just does not look too wise to pick such predictable patterns when you know that the jackpot numbers will be picked randomly. There has to be randomness in numbers. Even randomness does not guarantee you the win but it looks like the more plausible option to go with when you know how the lotteries work.
Not Keeping the Lottery Ticket Safe
If you don’t know already then now is the time to know about it. You cannot claim your prize money if you don’t have the ticket. It does not matter how many other proofs you have that you are the one who had bought the winning ticket. The lottery company clearly states it everywhere that the only way to claim your prize money is to come with the purchased ticket. Many people are casual with how they keep their tickets. When they realize that they have won something, they can’t find the ticket. You must not forget that the lottery winnings are available only for a limited time.
The time duration that the winnings are available for can change from lottery to lottery, state to state, and country to country. One the duration has expired, you cannot claim the prize that you have won. It can be quite disappointing to lose millions of dollars just because you could not take care of the ticket.
Another thing to remember here is that some lotteries have additional draws. A secondary draw would take place right after the main draw. In those lotteries, you have to keep the ticket safe even after you have found out that you have not won anything in the main draw. You will notice a secondary number on the ticket that makes you a part of the secondary draw. With lotteries like Canada 649, you can win up to a million dollars by matching a second set of numbers which is also located on you ticket.
Trusting People for Predicting Lottery Results
This fraudulent practice is very common in developing countries and places where a lot of the participants are very poor. People who are not educated and well-versed with the knowledge of lotteries can end up making huge mistakes with their money. India is a great example where the government has considered banning the lotteries at one point due to the fact that people were spending their entire day’s money on lottery tickets. In addition to that, there are many people who claim to know some secret about lottery numbers and provide their prediction services for money.
People have to understand that someone who can predict the numbers that would appear in the next draw would pick those numbers him/herself. Why would someone lose millions of dollars for a small money for their services? If you see someone guaranteeing a lottery win by predicting numbers, stay away from that person.
Not Hiring Professionals after Winning
Winning a lottery is a joy that only the winners can describe best. It is quite overwhelming to know that you are the owner of millions of dollars all of a sudden. If you are participating from a different country, the millions can even turn into billions. However, many people have made huge mistakes in the past after winning lotteries. What they think is that winning the lottery is enough. They then try to go about their business and turning their life into the life they had only dreamed of. That’s not the way to act when you have won millions of dollars.
The first thing you have to pay attention to is your safety. It is best that you keep the news of your lottery winnings within your immediate family members only. Do not tell anyone even in your neighbor. Secondly, you should hire professionals as soon as possible. Many lottery winners in the past have ruined their win by not hiring lawyers and financial advisors. When you win such a huge amount, you have to think about the taxes on your winnings as well. Not paying proper taxes can get you in a big trouble.
Final Thoughts
Participating in a lottery is a simple thing to do. However, small mistakes can ruin the fun for you. As surprising as it might sound, many of the mistakes stated above have been repeated by many lottery winners in the past. The most sensible lottery winners are people who hire professionals as soon as possible after winning a huge jackpot. Secondly, you have to act responsibly with your money. Do not trust anyone who guarantee you a lottery win for some money. Lotteries are as random as they can be and there is no way for anyone to predict the results. The best you can do is to look at the past results, write down the commonly appearing numbers, and hope for them to appear again.