How to Pick Your Powerball Lottery Numbers

— -- Struggling to pick your numbers for tonight's massive Powerball jackpot?

Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Leave the Number-Picking to the Computer

Rather than picking numbers based on birthdays, anniversaries or other meaningful dates, lottery organizers note that the majority of past winners have left the big decisions up to the computer.

About 70 percent of past winners used Quick Picks, the computer system that spits out numbers, according to the official Powerball website.

"Does this mean that you are more likely to win with a computer pick ticket? Maybe," the site states.

When Does Picking Your Own Numbers Make a Difference?

If you play the lottery regularly, it is important to pick your own numbers and to stick to that same combination every time you play, lottery expert Richard Lustig said.

"Never ever, ever change those numbers," Lustig told ABC News.

Lustig knows a thing or two about successful lottery bids because he has won seven lottery game grand prizes in his lifetime. So he plays regularly and has theories about ways that people should research their numbers and determine whether their selections work.

But, for more infrequent players who are only drawn in with extreme jackpots, there is less of a science involved.

"The only advice I can really give people is buy as many tickets as you can afford," Lustig said.

Are Certain Numbers Luckier Than Others?

If you opt to pick your own numbers, you might want to include 8, 54, 14, 39 and 13. These numbers are the most frequently drawn numbers, according to an ABC News analysis of past winning Powerball tickets.

Some States Have Had Better Histories Than Others

While all lottery tickets are created equal, there may be something in the water in Pennsylvania because 16 previous jackpot winners from the past 13 years all bought their tickets in the Keystone state.

What Are the Odds of Actually Winning

Sadly, the odds of winning tonight's Powerball are not good. Ticket holders have a 1 in 292,201,338 shot of winning the grand prize, according to the Powerball website. Your chances of winning a seven-figure payout are a little bit better: 1 in 11,688,053.

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