Winning the lottery can be a huge, life-changing event. Imagine you'd just won millions of pounds - what would you do with the cash?

All lottery winners are lucky, but some are luckier than others - such as this EuroMillions winner who bagged an incredible £93 million jackpot.

While most of us won't win the main prize, there's still a chance you could bag a hefty windfall if a few of your numbers come up. And while we can't guarantee a lottery win, there are some things you can do to boost your chances. We can also show you how to increase your chances of winning big if your numbers do come through.

Feeling lucky? Here are 8 tips that may just help boost your chances of winning, courtesy of lottoland.co.uk.

The odds of winning the jackpot in the UK Lotto are one of the hardest in the world of lottery. So someone will win the next big prize in the UK Lotto and chances are it may not be you. Many experts say that you are more likely to get killed by a shark than winning the lottery. National Lottery: Do this to boost your chances of winning tonight's £57.8 million Lotto jackpot A maths expert has revealed tips for choosing the right numbers ahead of the must-win draw mirror.

Lotto offers players a fantastic 1 in 9.3 chance of winning any prize! The table below outlines the odds of winning each of the six available prize tiers, from Match 2 up to the jackpot: The How to Play page outlines the average prize amounts awarded in each tier. In National Lottery terms, where being given a new ticket counts as a prize - that works out as a 100% chance of winning. And, while the prizes are smaller, there might even be a lottery that's.

Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all

1. Stick to your guns

Know your lucky numbers, and stick to them. If you have lucky numbers that mean something to you (perhaps the special birthdays of your loved ones or memorable dates) that you want to use on a weekly basis, by all means do.

Obviously playing regularly will boost your chances (there is no worse feeling than seeing your winning numbers on the week you forgot to buy your ticket!) The other strategy is to play less often, but when you do play, buy more tickets - which will increase your chances for that particular draw. Some people use this method and only play when the jackpot is particularly large.

Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning

2. Play numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks

Play numbers over 31 or using Quick Picks. This is a trick employed by most veteran lottery players. It won't improve your chances of winning the lottery but, if you DO win, it is likely to increase how much you win. Why? Studies show that most people play numbers based on special days of the month such as birthdays and anniversaries. Therefore, by picking numbers over 31 or using random Quick Picks, you'll decrease your chances of splitting a big prize.

Related: Unclaimed lottery winnings - how to make sure you never lose out on a jackpot

3. Consider setting up a lottery syndicate

Consider setting up a lottery syndicate with a group of friends or colleagues. By each of you contributing a small amount each week, you can multiply your chances of grabbing a jackpot and perhaps grow closer to your mates in the process. It should come as no surprise that most of the largest lottery jackpots of all time have been won by syndicates buying group tickets in bulk, in fact it is estimated that at least 1 out of every 7 £1 million lotto prizes have been won by a syndicate.

Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world

4. Certain numbers DO come up more often than others

Although it has no mathematical significance, certain numbers DO come up more often than others in lottery draws.

The top seven numbers to pop up since the National Lottery launched in 1994 have been 23, 40, 44, 38, 30 and 33.

Interestingly, the notoriously unlucky number 13 has been drawn much less than other numbers in several major international lotteries.

Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all

5. Time the purchase of your ticket

Some believe that the time at which you purchase your lottery ticket is key to whether or not you win your desired jackpot. Mathematically it shouldn't make a difference - but statistics do show that jackpot winners tend to purchase their tickets on Friday evenings.

So it might be an idea to pick up your ticket the next time you're heading out to the pub after work!

Related: These are the UK lotteries that give you the best chance of winning

6. Move to Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham

Yes, Romford, Dumfries or Birmingham is where it's at for lottery winnings.

Romford in Essex boasts the most 'significant' lottery winners per 1,000 people in the UK (that is, people who have won prizes of £50,000 or more).

Dumfries in Scotland has the most lottery millionaires per 1,000 people of anywhere in Britain.

Birmingham has the greatest overall number of lottery millionaires for any post code in the country.

Related: Incredible lottery stories from around the world

7. Play the National Lottery from October onwards

In October, the National Lottery added 10 more balls to its lottery machines (going up from 49 to 59).

Although this means that the odds of winning the main jackpot lengthen, the introduction of a new 'Millionaire's Raffle' will create at least two new millionaires each week (one on Wednesday, one on Saturday). This ensures that your chance of winning a million pounds increases from 14 million-to-one to 10 million-to-one.

Your chance of winning a smaller sum of money will also increase - from a one in 54 chance, to one in 9.3.

Related: Unclaimed lottery winnings - how to make sure you never lose out on a jackpot

8. Have a budget and stick to it

People are all too often inclined to forget that participating in lotteries is a form of gambling. It can be addictive, and if played too often it could cost you a substantial amount of money.

Take into account your disposable income and other outgoings and set yourself a weekly or monthly budget for how much you want to spend on scratch cards, lottery tickets and online lotto games. Not only will this help you sensibly balance your finances, it could also mean that any small wins you make on scratch cards are spent on something other than just more scratch cards!

Related: 21 lottery winners who blew it all

You win Lotto prizes by matching your selected numbers to the winning numbers – there’s millions of pounds of prize money at stake in every draw. The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 45,057,474, and overall the chances of winning a prize are better than 1 in 10. Find out more about the odds of winning Lotto.

Prize Categories

To win a prize, you must match at least two of the six main numbers. The prizes increase in value as you match more numbers, culminating in the ‘Match 6’ jackpot award. The following table shows all the Lotto odds, prizes and how to win.

The Lotto jackpot starts at £2 million on a Wednesday and £3.8 million on a Saturday. It is shared between all players who match six numbers in the same draw, or rolls over to the next draw if there are no winners. Take a look at the biggest Lotto winners of all time.

There are fixed prizes in all the tiers below the jackpot, ranging from a free Lucky Dip for matching two numbers to £1 million for matching five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball. The Bonus Ball is only relevant if you match five of the main balls.

The jackpot can only roll over for a maximum of five consecutive draws. A Must Be Won draw will then be held in the following draw, which guarantees that the jackpot money will be given away even if there are no Match 6 winners. If a rolldown occurs, lower prizes can be boosted significantly.

Prize Capping

If the number of jackpot winners in a certain draw means that the individual prize amounts fall below £1 million, the jackpot will be topped up so that each player receives £1 million. The amount of money that can be added to the jackpot in this way is capped at £7 million, so in very rare cases, it may be that jackpot winners receive less than £1 million each.

Odds Of Winning National Lottery Uk Jackpot

All other cash awards - from Match 3 to Match 5 + Bonus - can also be capped in very rare circumstances when winners cannot be paid the standard prize. The total capped prize fund equates to 35.82 percent of ticket sales, plus £35 million. If prizes do have to be capped, all winners below the jackpot will receive at least £2 or a Lucky Dip.

Odds Of Winning The National Lottery Uk Lotto

Reserve Prize Fund

Half of the money raised from ticket sales is put towards Lotto prizes. A small portion of that revenue – 8.78% - is kept in a reserve fund that can be used to bolster prize amounts when special promotions take place.

Improving Your Lotto Odds

Each line of Lotto numbers has an identical chance of winning. The only way to improve your odds is to get more entries. An affordable way to do this is to play in a syndicate so that you split the cost with others and boost your odds at the same time. Go to the Syndicates section for more information.

Odds Of Winning The National Lottery Uk Today

Taxes on Winnings

Odds Of Winning The National Lottery Uk

UK lottery prizes are not subject to tax, but there are exceptions. The interest that accrues on a prize, for example, may have to be taxed as part of your normal income tax if it is sufficiently large. If you wish to give anyone a share of your winnings, you should also be aware that they may have to pay Inheritance Tax if you die within seven years. If you play from overseas, you may be liable for withholdings in your own country. You should check with a financial expert if you have queries about tax as it is a complex issue that does depend on individual circumstances.