The lottery is a game of chance that awards prizes based on an entirely random process. People often play the lottery in hopes of winning big, but most of the time it just won’t happen. There are, however, some things you can do to increase your odds of winning, like buying more tickets. But be careful: The more tickets you buy, the more your investment goes up—and the payouts might vary.

Lotteries have long been a popular source of state revenue. When the Dutch introduced them in the 17th century, they were hailed as a painless form of taxation. Since then, they have become a fixture of American culture—billboards on the highway beckon with promises of instant wealth and lottery winners. But the truth is that most state lotteries rely on super users, getting 70 to 80 percent of their revenue from 10 percent of players, according to one report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. And while there is, to some extent, an inextricable human impulse to gamble and hope for the best, the fact is that lottery winners are usually not very happy.

In his book, How to Win the Lottery: The Insider’s Guide to Winning the Powerball, Mega Millions and Other Large Prizes, professor of statistics Mark Glickman suggests using a system that will improve your chances by selecting numbers based on significant dates (like birthdays or anniversaries) instead of sequential numbers like 1-2-3-4-5-6. But he cautions that even this strategy won’t increase your odds of winning by very much. In reality, your odds of winning are essentially the same no matter what number combination you choose.

Another popular tip for increasing your odds is to mix up your numbers—that is, pick three or more odd digits and two or more even digits. But Glickman notes that this method won’t do much good unless the numbers you pick are infrequent, which is why most lottery players stick with their lucky numbers rather than playing an unfamiliar set of numbers.

If you want to maximize your chances of winning, he says, you should also look for patterns on past lottery draws. You can do this by analyzing a past lottery ticket, noting how many times each digit repeats and looking for “singletons,” or digits that appear only once. A group of singletons is a sign that a drawing is likely to be a winner, Glickman says.

There’s no guarantee that any of these strategies will work, but they might give you a better understanding of how the lottery works and how to maximize your chances of winning. In any case, remember that most of the money outside of your winnings goes to your state, which has complete control over how it spends its lottery revenue. Some states put it into support centers for gambling addiction and recovery, while others use it to fund projects such as roadwork or bridgework.