Lotto Number Trends: The Most Common Numbers to Play

For some, choosing birthdays, dates, telephone numbers, or other numbers that are significant to them is the way to go. They have a strict set of numbers, and they stick with them. For other players, they will pick numbers based on their frequency of appearing in draws, so-called hot and cold numbers, or they’ll select the most popular numbers.

What does this mean, though? Join us as we explore the most common lotto numbers and explain why people just love to play lottery games with them.

The Most Drawn Numbers

It is worth noting that the term “most popular numbers” may mean several things. On the one hand, we could be talking about the numbers selected by most players – in short, the ones they have in common. However, we may also be talking about the “most popular numbers” in terms of their appearances (or lack of them) in a draw.

We’ll define them like so:

• Most Common Numbers: These are numbers that appear regularly in draws. They tend to show up more often than not. The only scientific and mathematical reason for this is pure happenstance and chance. However, people who believe in the power of numbers (numerologists) may see these regularly appearing numbers as a sign that you should go with them.
• Most Popular Numbers: These are the most popular among players. For instance, seven being a universally lucky number, many players share that number in common on their tickets. Therefore, seven is deemed to be a popular number.

Next, let’s look at some raw data from recent studies to see how hot and cold numbers work.

Hot and Cold Numbers

Hot and cold numbers aren’t unique to lotteries. They can appear in many number-betting games, including craps and, more commonly, roulette. Hot and cold numbers are often used by bettors who believe in numbers. Here’s what they mean:

• Hot Numbers: The same as the “most common numbers” defined above. They are the numbers that most frequently show up in draws.
• Cold Numbers: By contrast, cold numbers are those that haven’t shown up regularly or haven’t appeared for a long time. They may also be called “overdue numbers”.

According to a recent study that took in various worldwide lotteries, the most common numbers appearing in lotteries might surprise you. Here are their findings:

Sadly, each list will need context. You’ll need to find out how many lotteries were recorded to determine the stats and which ones. However, you get the idea that some numbers appear more frequently than others. Moreover, there isn’t a seven in the top ten drawn numbers.

Of course, these stats will continually change with each new draw, so it is important to stay abreast of the situation from week to week if you intend on playing commonly drawn or hot numbers on the lotto. 

Other Ways to Pick Numbers

There are other ways to pick lottery numbers, too. As mentioned, you’ve got cold numbers. Aside from hot and cold numbers, any of the following ways may suffice for lottery players interested in lists:

• Least Picked: The least chosen numbers amongst most tickets or the least commonly occurring numbers in draws.
• Most Picked: The most popular numbers appearing on most tickets or the most common numbers in draws.
• Most Common Pairs: The two numbers that statistically appear together the most in lottery draws.
• Most Common Consecutive Pairs: A pair of two sequential numbers appear together the most in lottery draws.
• Most Common Triplet: The three numbers that statistically appear the most in lottery draws.
• Most Common Consecutive Triplets: A pair of three numbers that are sequential and appear together the most in lottery draws.

We’ve taken some data (of the most popular numbers) from a study for South Africa’s National Lottery to showcase better what we mean:

Important Things to Remember About Common Lotto Numbers

You should remember that lotteries are games of chance – the ultimate games of chance, for that matter. Before you bet on lottos, it is worth noting these observations. 

• Lotteries are pure games of chance. Any numbers can appear. You have just as much chance of winning with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 as you do with 2, 8, 16, 23, 30, 48. The latter seems to be the most common number combo for South African bettors.
• Lotto stats are just that, stats. They showcase what “has” happened but not “will” happen. Don’t take them at face value. They cannot guarantee wins.
• If you do choose to pick your numbers, whatever you do, stick with them, and don’t miss a draw. Nothing will break your heart faster than seeing your regular numbers come up, and you’ve either changed them or not bothered to play.
• Be careful when looking at lotto stats. Not every number listed will feature in your lottery game. For instance, 58 appears in our table above, but it isn’t common to many worldwide lottos. Try to use stats that are relevant to your national lottery.

Should I Bet on the Lotto with Common Numbers?

Ultimately, given how lotteries are games of chance, it doesn’t scientifically or mathematically matter which numbers you pick or how. They all have the same chance of being drawn. However, since you still need to come up with a set of numbers for your lottery ticket anyway, choosing between hot, cold, random, or significant numbers is equally as good a way to do it as any other.