Many people who play lotto wonder that lotto and lottery are two different types of games. In fact, they are the same type of lottery but called by different names in different parts of the world. Generally the British and Europeans call it lotto and the North Americans used to call it lottery. However, these days it is called lotto universally.
Every country has a governing body that is either the local, regional, provincial or central that oversees the lottery operations. In most big countries all over the world there are several states that have individual lottery corporations that unite under one large agency and conduct the lottery business. For example in the US almost all states have their own lotteries like South Dakota lottery, New Jersey lottery, Delaware lottery, etc. In fact, all states have their own version of lottery. The proceeds from lottery are used to contribute to the state exchequer and a lot of good developmental activities are financed by the funds thus generated.
Lotto 649 lottery is the most popular format of the game and is played in almost all countries around the world where gambling is not a taboo. It was also the first type of lottery game to be played in an organized manner. In lotto 649 the players choose a set of six numbers from 1 – 49 and another number that is termed as the bonus. The winning numbers are drawn on predetermined days of the week either with the help of a machine or by a computer. Players buy tickets from retailers where a lottery terminal is installed and connected to a central computer which records the chosen numbers and prints out a ticket that is given to the customer. If all the six numbers chosen by the customer match the ones drawn by the computer, the ticket holder is declared the winner of the mega jackpot, which may be worth millions of dollars. Players who are unable to decide which numbers to play can opt for the quick pick option in which the computer assigns a set of six numbers randomly chosen to the customer.
Prizes are awarded in many categories like 6/6 here all the six numbers match the winning numbers and this is called the jackpot. 5/6+, in this five out of six numbers plus the bonus matches the winning combination, similarly there are 5/6,4/6,3/6 and 2/6+
This is purely a game of luck and people should reconcile to it as such. However, there are many who have devised systems and methods that attempt to beat the system or crack the code. No mathematical model or computer program has been able to successfully predict the winning combinations till date. However certain strategies like hot and cold numbers, or frequently drawn numbers have proved successful to the extent that they improve the odds of the players. Some players prefer to form groups and play predetermined combinations; this is also called as syndicate. Many syndicates have won major jackpots around the world and have proved to be a very successful strategy.
The lottery corporations, that oversee the lottery operations in any country, use sophisticated methods to ensure that the computers and machine that draw the winning numbers are beyond reproach.