These Mathematicians Claim This Is The Number of Lottery Tickets One Needs for a ‘Guaranteed Win’

British mathematicians David Stewart and David Cushing of the University of Manchester in July 2023 devised a strategic approach on how to win the UK national lottery but they stopped short of pledging a jackpot win.

The mathematicians devised an approach by using a mere 27 tickets from an overwhelmingly large pool of 45 million possibilities. Many people tried this approach and got different results.

In their research paper titled You Need 27 Tickets to Guarantee a Win on the UK National Lottery, David Stewart and David 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”.

The mathematicians recognized that 27 tickets may ensure a prize in any of the 45,057,474 possible draws. They then concluded that 27 stands as the optimal ticket count.

“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,” they further said in their paper.

They said they were surprised because their research was experimented with by those who buy lottery tickets.

It should be noted that even though the mathematicians did not pledge a jackpot win their paper outlines the minimum ticket count needed for a guaranteed win even if it amounted to a free play.

Their method leveraged finite geometry where they arranged numbers 1 to 59 in pairs or triplets on various geometric shapes. Each set of numbers, intricately connected by lines, crystallises into a sequence of six numbers that correspond to a lottery ticket.

Their findings in a way that leaves no doubt asserts that deploying 27 such tickets in a comprehensive manner will encompass all 59 numbers which will thus ensure the presence of at least one matching pair.