Buying Every Lottery Combination: Is It Possible?
Some people wonder if buying every possible number combination in a lottery draw could result in a guaranteed win. This idea tends to come up when people hear about large jackpots, or see stories about groups attempting this in other countries.
In this guide, we’ll focus specifically on the UK National Lottery’s Lotto game. We’ll look at how the game works, how many number combinations exist, how much it would cost to enter them all, and whether it has ever been successfully done. This content is written to help you understand the mechanics of the game and highlight the practical and legal barriers of attempting to cover all outcomes.
How Many Possible Lottery Combinations Are There?
In the UK National Lottery’s Lotto game, you choose six different numbers from a set of 59. No number is repeated within a single line. The number of possible combinations is calculated using a mathematical formula known as “combinations” or “n choose k”. In this case, it’s 59 and you choose 6.
The total number of possible six-number combinations is exactly 45,057,474. Each unique line has an equal chance of being drawn, meaning the probability of any one line matching all six winning numbers is 1 in 45,057,474. Even if a different line shares five or four of the same numbers, it counts as a separate result.
These odds apply only to the standard Lotto draw. Other National Lottery games like the EuroMillions, Set For Life or Thunderball follow different structures and potential prize tiers. The numbers to pick from, ticket prices, and the prize breakdown can vary between games. If you’re considering a different game, it can be worth reading through the specific rules and payout tables for that game before playing.
Does Buying More Tickets Increase Your Odds of Winning?
Buying more Lotto tickets does increase your number of entries, which means you’ll have more chances of matching potential winning numbers. However, the odds for each individual ticket remain the same. For example, purchasing 5 entries gives you 5 chances out of 45,057,474.
This is similar to entering a large raffle. The more entries you have, the more you improve your chances of possibly winning. But with so many total entries, even buying several lines only shifts the odds by a small amount. No matter how many tickets you purchase, there is no guarantee of winning, as the outcome is random.
Lotto tickets in the UK currently cost £2 per line. While buying a few extra lines might not seem expensive, entering large quantities can become costly. It’s important to keep this in mind, especially as all gambling carries risk.
Can You Buy Every Possible Lottery Ticket Combination?
In theory, yes. You could attempt to enter every possible Lotto combination, which would require playing all 45,057,474 lines. At £2 per line, this would come to £90,114,948. But several practical limitations make this nearly impossible in the UK.
Firstly, there are restrictions on how many lines you can play in one go. A standard Lotto play slip allows for up to 7 lines, and most retailers only accept up to 10 slips per transaction, giving a maximum of 70 lines per purchase. To enter every combination, you’d need over 643,000 separate purchases.
In addition, both in-store and online systems have security checks designed to detect and prevent any unusual buying activity. This includes large-scale transactions, particularly if they are processed in a short time. Most online platforms also have limits in place to help people manage their gambling activity, such as deposit caps and time restrictions.
Even if someone could find a way to purchase all 45 million lines, they’d still face challenges with payment processing, printing and distributing the tickets, and meeting the draw entry cut-off time.
What Would Happen If You Bought Every Lottery Ticket?
If you did somehow manage to enter every single Lotto combination, then one of your lines would match all six numbers drawn. This means you would receive the jackpot. However, the financial return would depend entirely on the size of that jackpot and whether you have to share it.
Jackpots in the UK Lotto vary depending on ticket sales and whether the top prize has rolled over from a previous draw. A typical jackpot might be between £2 million and £20 million. But if another player also matches the winning numbers, you would have to split the prize with them.
You could also receive smaller prizes for matching fewer numbers, such as three, four or five, across the remaining combinations. While this adds up, the total of these smaller prizes is unlikely to cover the £90 million cost of buying every line. The actual value of the potential return would be significantly lower, unless the jackpot was unusually high and no other player shared it.
Has Anyone Ever Bought Every Lottery Ticket?
No one has ever successfully bought every Lotto ticket combination in the UK. The infrastructure in place for the National Lottery includes multiple safeguards to prevent such attempts. There are transaction monitoring systems, ticket purchase limits, and operational controls that make mass purchases unworkable.
There was a well-known attempt outside of the UK in the early 1990s. A syndicate led by Romanian-Australian economist Stefan Mandel managed to buy every combination in a small Australian lottery where the number of combinations was much lower. Their attempt was successful, but only due to looser rules, smaller draw sizes, and paper-based ticketing systems.
Modern digital systems, especially in the UK, are built to prevent similar attempts. With larger pools of numbers and more advanced fraud prevention, replicating Mandel’s method under today’s lottery systems would be extremely unlikely.
The Guy Who Bought All Lottery Combinations
Stefan Mandel’s name often comes up in discussions about lottery strategies. Working with a team of investors, he built a model that focused on lotteries with low entry combinations and high enough jackpots to make the effort worthwhile. One of his successful attempts involved printing and distributing hundreds of thousands of tickets for a state-run lottery in Australia.
His methods, while legal at the time, relied heavily on scale, coordination, and a lack of digital oversight. This situation would be very difficult to recreate now, particularly in countries like the UK, where gambling systems are regulated to prevent manipulation.
There have been unconfirmed reports of other syndicates attempting similar strategies elsewhere, including the United States. However, these were done under very specific conditions and are not directly comparable to the UK National Lottery’s current setup.
Gambling on the lottery, like all betting, involves chance. There is no method that can guarantee an outcome, and no strategy that can remove the randomness of the draw. If you choose to play, make sure you set limits that work for you, and only spend what you are comfortable with. For tools, support, or advice on safer gambling, you can visit BeGambleAware.org.
*All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to these games are subject to change at any time. Game features mentioned may not be available in some jurisdictions.
**The information provided in this blog is intended for educational purposes and should not be construed as betting advice or a guarantee of success. Always gamble responsibly.