text: If you insist on flushing your money down the toilet called the lottery, then you would be better off betting the same numbers all the time.\n\nFirst, when you see the winning numbers on TV or in the paper, you would recognize your numbers. Less chance of you missing out on your chance to collect another $5.\n\nSecond, if you always bet the same numbers, and if you save your old tickets, and if you had a winning ticket, and if you lost that ticket, there is precident for recognizing that you were indeed the one who bought that winning ticket.\n\nOther than that, if the game isn't rigged, every combination of numbers is as likely to come up as any other.\n\nOne further note, people tend to use their birthdays and the birthdays of their family members when they pick their numbers. If the winning combination has numbers below 31, the winner is more likely to share the pot with someone else.  People are also more likely to pick numbers that make a pattern on the application form, like picking the numbers that go down the diagonal. That leads to splitting the pot, too.