Two British mathematicians, David Stewart and David Cushing, last year in the month of July, decoded a strategic approach on how to win the UK national lottery.
The method devised by the two involved purchasing just 27 tickets from a pool of over 45 million possibilities.
To their surprise, their discovery became a major hit worldwide with many people trying the approach which yielded varied results.
The two mathematicians Stewart and Cushing from the University of Manchester do not guarantee a jackpot win, however, they claim that 27 is the minimum number of tickets required which if not a jackpot, can at least guarantee some kind of win.
In their research paper titled You Need 27 Tickets to Guarantee a Win on the UK National Lottery, Stewart and Cushing write, “In the UK National Lottery, players purchase tickets comprising their choices of six different numbers between 1 and 59. During the draw, six balls are randomly selected without replacement from a set numbered from 1 to 59.”
They mentioned in their research paper how 27 tickets may ensure a prize in 45,057,474 possible draws placing it as an optimal number of tickets required.
“A prize is awarded to any player who matches at least two of the six drawn numbers. We identify 27 tickets that guarantee a prize, regardless of which of the 45,057,474 possible draws occurs. Moreover, we determine that 27 is the optimal number of tickets required, as achieving the same guarantee with 26 tickets is not possible,” said the mathematicians.
To determine the unique combinations, Stewart and Cushing applied a mathematical technique known as finite geometry. This approach involves arranging one to 59 either in pairs or triplets on various geometric shapes.
Thereafter, each set of numbers is connected to lines, further creating a sequence of six numbers, which equals one lottery ticket.
As per their findings, it requires 27 of these tickets to enclose all 59 numbers and make sure that at least one pair will match in any of the draws.
(With inputs from agencies)
