How Can You Win the Lottery? Here Are Some Tips — Dollars and Sense [VIDEO]

The jackpot for the multi-state Mega Millions lottery now stands at $363 million, causing even those who don’t normally play to throw their hopeful hats into the ring for Tuesday night’s drawing.

Are there things you can do to boost your chances of winning?

Since the lottery is always drawn from the same set of numbers, the odds of cashing in the big prize are about one in 176 million — regardless of how many people buy tickets — but seven-time lottery winner Richard Lustig, who’s won over $1 million in prizes so far, has shared some of his tips for success:

1. Don’t get crazy. If you’re going to buy tickets, spend only what you can comfortably afford to lose.
2. Instead of letting the machine pick your numbers, choose them yourself.
3. Before selecting those numbers, check online to be sure your chosen set hasn’t come up before.
4. Have a strategy, and stick with it.

[ABC News]