Quick Pick or Your Own Numbers? The Odds Are the Same (Here’s the One Real Difference)

Please note: lottery draws are random, and nothing on this site can predict them or improve your chances. This article explains why. The generator below is for fun and isn’t connected to the lottery. You must be 18 or older to play.

The short version

Your own numbers and Quick Pick numbers have exactly the same chance of winning.
No pattern, lucky number or “random-looking” choice beats any other.
The one real difference is sharing: popular picks may be shared by more winners.
Choose however you like. It’s the amount you spend that matters.

Why the odds are identical

In every draw, each valid combination of numbers has exactly the same chance of being drawn. It’s as true of 1-2-3-4-5-6 as it is of any “random-looking” set. A Quick Pick is simply a combination chosen for you by a computer, and your own numbers are a combination you chose. Both are just one combination among all the possible ones.

In Lotto, for example, there are 20,358,520 possible combinations of 6 numbers from 52, so every ticket, however it was chosen, has a 1 in 20,358,520 chance of matching them all. Our odds guide has the figures for every game.

The draw has no way of knowing how a ticket was chosen, and it has no memory of past draws. See why every draw is independent.

Why the debate won’t go away

Own numbers feel meaningful. Birthdays and lucky numbers make the ticket feel personal, and “what if my numbers come up and I hadn’t played them?” is a powerful worry.
Quick Picks feel “properly random”. People assume a computer’s choice must be better, but every combination is equally likely anyway.
Stories mislead. If most tickets are Quick Picks, most winning tickets will be Quick Picks too, which says nothing about whether they’re luckier.

The one real difference: who else picked them

Here’s the one place your choice can matter, and it has nothing to do with your chance of winning. When a jackpot is won, it’s shared between everyone who matched. If many players choose the same numbers, a draw of those numbers would have more winners sharing the prize.

The classic example is “birthday numbers”. Dates only go up to 31, so players who use birthdays tend to bunch their picks in the range 1 to 31. That’s a general observation reported for lotteries elsewhere, and we can’t say how common it is among South African players. If it’s true, a set of numbers that’s all 1 to 31 could be shared by more people than a set that includes higher numbers.

Note what this does and doesn’t mean. A “birthday” combination is no less likely to be drawn than any other. It’s only that, if it’s drawn, you might have more company. Choosing numbers above 31, or a Quick Pick, might reduce the chance of sharing, but it doesn’t improve your chance of winning.

What our draws show

We can at least check whether draws made up entirely of numbers from 1 to 31 have paid out the top prize more often than other draws, which is what you’d expect to see if many players favour those numbers. Here’s what we found in our archive:

How often the top division was won in draws made up only of numbers from 1 to 31, compared with other draws
Game	Draws with every number from 1 to 31 (expected share)	Top prize won in those draws	Top prize won in all other draws
Daily Lotto	272 of 557 (48.8%; expected about 45.1%)	235 of 272 (86%)	245 of 285 (86%)

These samples are small, especially for the draws made up only of numbers from 1 to 31, so differences can easily be chance and shouldn’t be over-read. The share of draws with every number from 1 to 31 should be close to the “expected” figure, because the draw itself is random. These are counts from past draws in our archive and aren’t a forecast.

The point of the comparison is to show how you might test an idea like this, not to prove it. Whatever the figures show, the key fact is unchanged: every combination has the same chance of being drawn.

Try it: a Quick Pick generator

Choose a game format and generate numbers for fun. This isn’t connected to the lottery, so it doesn’t buy or enter anything. It just picks numbers at random using your browser’s random number generator, and it doesn’t include any extra ball.

Game format

Press the button to generate a set of numbers.

Try it: check your own numbers

Type a set of numbers and see whether they fall into any of the patterns that other players tend to choose. It doesn’t say anything about your chance of winning, which is the same for every set, only about how obvious the numbers look.

Your numbers, separated by spaces or commas

Enter some numbers to check them.

So how should I choose?

Choose in whatever way you enjoy. Own numbers, Quick Pick, birthdays: all have identical chances.
If you’d like to reduce the chance of sharing, you might favour numbers above 31 or a Quick Pick. That’s a small, speculative effect, and it doesn’t improve your odds of winning.
Don’t fret about changing numbers or sticking to them. Neither matters to the odds.
Don’t buy extra tickets because a set “feels lucky”. Spend by your budget instead. See how to set a responsible lottery budget.

For why no number is ever “due”, see why “due” numbers don’t exist. And for what randomness looks like, see lottery randomness explained.

Playing sensibly

How you choose your numbers is the least important decision you’ll make. A ticket is entertainment with a cost, not a way to earn money. Set a fixed budget you’re happy to lose, never chase losses and never borrow to play. If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, free and confidential help is available from the National Responsible Gambling Programme on 0800 006 008 (please double-check the number on their official website). Read our responsible play page

Frequently asked questions

Do Quick Picks have better odds than my own numbers?

No. Every valid combination has exactly the same chance of being drawn, whether it comes from a Quick Pick or from your own choice.

Do my own numbers have better odds than a Quick Pick?

No, for the same reason. A set of numbers that means something to you is no more likely to be drawn than a random one.

So is there any real difference?

Only a practical one. Some popular choices, like birthdays, may be shared by many players, so if they came up, the prize could be split more ways. That doesn’t change your chance of winning, only how many others might win alongside you.

Do most jackpots go to Quick Picks?

If most tickets sold are Quick Picks, most winning tickets will be too. That says nothing about whether Quick Picks are luckier.

Should I keep playing the same numbers every week?

You can, but it makes no difference to your odds. Changing them makes no difference either. Don’t believe that you must keep playing them for fear they’ll come up when you don’t.

Is there a “best” way to choose numbers?

No. Choose in whatever way you enjoy. The only thing that matters for your wallet is how much you spend.

Related guides

TechChamp is an independent information site. We aren’t affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by the South African National Lottery, Ithuba or any official operator, and we don’t sell tickets.