6/49 Lotto Odds
The chances of winning a lottery jackpot are principally determined by several factors: the count of possible numbers, the count of winning numbers drawn, whether or not order is significant and whether drawn numbers are returned for the possibility of further drawing.
In a typical 6/49 lotto, six numbers are drawn from a range of 49. In addition, after a number is drawn, it is not eligible to be selected again (i.e., not reused).
If the six numbers on a ticket match the numbers drawn, the ticket holder is a jackpot winner. This is true no matter what order the numbers appear. The probability of this happening is 1 in 13,983,816.
To put this into a clearer context, if an individual buys one lottery ticket per week, he/she would expect to win the jackpot once in 13,983,816 weeks, which is nearly 269,000 years!
A listing containing odds of winning regarding number of successfully matching six numbers drawn in a typical 6/49 lotto are provided in the table below.
| Matches of Normal Balls (49 Total Numbers) |
Approximate Odds of Winning |
| 6 | 1 in 13,983,816 |
| 5 | 1 in 55,492 |
| 4 | 1 in 1,033 |
| 3 | 1 in 56.7 |
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