I know there was a guy who worked out that while you couldn't buy enought tickets to guarantee a winning ticket on the lottery, you could buy enough to get enough second and third tier prizes to ensure a profit when you played. I'd need to dig the story out again. He picked the numbers to maximise his win chances across all the tickets.I've won the lottery a few times myself, but it's always a very small amount. I'm still hoping for the big one one of these days and if there are any real tips to help increase my odds then I'm very happy to hear them and try them out for myself.