I’m a lottery expert – here’s why you need to pick numbers above 32 if you want to win big

USING birth dates for your lottery numbers could rob you of a big win, experts claim.

Numbers below 32 get over-used compared to those picked at random, they say.

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And because such players use a smaller pool of numbers, any actual winners are more likely to have to share their jackpot.

The researchers studied 498 people playing Belgium’s lottery, where they pick six numbers between one and 45.

If picked at random, four of the six would be lower than 30.

However, they chose 4.7 numbers below 30, on average.

In the UK’s Lotto, the numbered balls go up to 59 — suggesting the range of under-used picks could be much higher.

Professor Catherine D’Hondt, of UC Louvain University in Belgium, described picking birth dates as a “sub-optimal way to choose numbers”.

She said: “Players prefer small numbers less than 30, either because of small lucky numbers or because they are victims of the birthday-number effect.

“Because lotto games are pari-mutuel — with the cash prize split between all winners — these preferences result in poor ticket choices in terms of achieving below-average returns.”

Her study, in the Journal of Gambling Studies, also found that 65 per cent of women used their birthday in their numbers, compared to 55 per cent of men.

The odds of winning the UK’s Lotto is about 45million-to-one.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk