Whether to use the quick pick selection or your own numbers can be a bit of an age-old debate when it comes to entering the lottery.
A longstanding adage states, ‘different strokes for different folks’ – and this couldn’t really ring much truer for random versus planned digits. This applies to Powerball numbers, Lotto numbers and others.
The reality is that both approaches can bring financial victories, but others might not. There are no guarantees. The interest sits within the motivation behind each. Many people, for instance, like to plan their numbers for their lottery entries around anniversaries, milestones and other landmarks in their lives and those of others. Sometimes it’s a straight fit. For example, April is the fourth month in the year and could represent the digit ‘4’. Other times, it’s a bit more complex. For example, a birthday on the second day of the fifth month could be the combined representation ‘25’.
In terms of the value brought by entering with randomised numbers, there are plenty of examples here. Here is a look at few of interest.
As recently as May 2022, a woman from Durban opted for the quick pick selection when entering the Lotto and landed a fat prize of R39 million for her random selection. “This is my first time winning such a significant amount. We are extremely grateful and excited,” she said at the time.
In August 2021, another Durbanite, this time a 23-year-old student, bagged a R3 million prize in the lottery. Indeed, she used the quick pick selection as well.
“When I found it in my purse. I decided to visit my nearest local store to validate the ticket, where the cashier advised me to go to claim my winnings,” she enthused.
“My wish has always been to build my mother her dream home where she can retire. I am also currently completing a course in business management and the winnings will go towards achieving many of my dreams. I want to complete my studies, invest and spoil my siblings.”
And then there was 2019’s Mitchells Plain man, whose decision to buy a quick-pick ticket in Cape Town brought him R61 million in the Lotto. He had a rather different approach to random numbers, which in some ways appeared quite ordered.
He mentioned back then: “When I play a quick pick selection method and the ticket doesn’t win, I never throw it away. I always use that ticket to carefully pick my next set of numbers.
“It is usually the numbers that did not come up in the previous draws. I have a drawer full of lottery tickets and each time I want to select my own numbers, I pull them out and use them as clues to guess the winning numbers. This time, however, the quick pick method worked.”
Those are just a sample size of people who have entered and won the lottery by letting random numbers do the business for them. It’s an interesting approach and one you might relate to.
