Don’t Buy Lottery Tickets on This Day of the Week
Written by
Choncé Maddox
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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Americans spend billions each year playing the lottery. While many view it as harmless fun, some players look for edge cases like the “luckiest” day of the week to purchase a ticket hoping for a slight statistical boost.
But as we’ll see, despite some interesting patterns in jackpot-wins by day of week, the truth remains: every ticket has nearly identical odds and choosing one day over another is far less meaningful than it may seem.
Also find out what your chances are of winning the lottery.
The Myth of Lucky Days (and Why We Believe Them)
Many lottery players believe certain days are “lucky.” Maybe you buy your ticket on payday, Friday or the night before the drawing. Superstitions flourish like birthdays, “7s” or certain weekdays, but according to Jackpocket, a lot of people think that picking a certain day or time of week can improve their luck when it comes to winning. However, timing has no influence on your chances of winning a lottery prize.
In other words, owing to the fundamental randomness of drawings, the idea that buying on Tuesday is “better” than Saturday simply for timing doesn’t hold up mathematically.
Historical Data: Which Day Does Worst?
While the odds for each ticket remain the same, analysts have looked at historic jackpot wins and identified some patterns by day of week.
- According to an analysis by The Action Network, the jackpot game Powerball has its largest number of jackpot winners on Wednesdays, while Mega Millions jackpots most often fall on Fridays.
- For example, one report by OnFocus stated that for Powerball, there were 126 jackpots that hit on Wednesdays and for Mega Millions 119 jackpots on Fridays and noted that Mondays were the worst in terms of jackpot frequency.
From these data points, you could imply that Monday might be a comparatively “worse” day for jackpot wins (i.e., fewer winners historically). However, this also doesn’t mean your individual odds are better or worse on any day. It merely shows the distribution of large jackpot wins across days.
Why the Patterns Exist and Why They Don’t Really Change Your Odds
So why do we see more jackpots on certain days? Possible reasons include:
- Drawing schedule and rules. Many large U.S. games draw on specific days (for example Powerball draws on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays).
- Ticket-sale volume. Popular draws (with big jackpots) tend to attract more players, raising the probability that someone will win the jackpot.
- Random variation. Given millions of tickets and many draws, some days will naturally cluster more wins than others just by chance.
Yet (and this is key), each ticket’s chance of winning (especially the jackpot) is the same regardless of the day you buy it. Jackpocket confirmed this, stating that since the lottery depends entirely on chance, each ticket holds the same likelihood of winning.
Smart (and Safe) Advice for Lottery Players
Since the day of purchase doesn’t meaningfully change your odds, here are more useful guidelines:
- Treat it as entertainment, not an investment. If you’re buying a ticket, do it for fun and don’t expect it to solve financial goals.
- Set a budget and stick to it. Know how much you’re willing to spend on lottery tickets and don’t chase losses.
- Don’t believe in “due” wins or timing tricks. Every draw is independent. Using the gambler’s-fallacy (the idea that because you haven’t won you’re “due” to win) is a mistake.
- Consider better alternatives. That $2 to $10 you might spend on a ticket could instead go into savings, an emergency fund or investments where you actually build value over time.
- Pooling tickets is okay for fun, but understand it also splits the prize and doesn’t shift the odds for any individual ticket.
Should You Even Buy a Lottery Ticket?
If your goal is financial independence, wealth building or reliable returns, the lottery is not a sound strategy. The opportunity cost is real: the money you spend on tickets could instead be working for you via compounding interest, investments or debt-reduction. If you do buy tickets, do so knowingly: odds are extremely low and the best “winning day” is one where you’re making consistent, intentional money decisions, not hoping for luck.
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