The Lotto numbers to avoid: Going for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 will only bring you a tiny windfall About 10,000 people choose that combination of numbers each week Tonight's estimated £3.8m jackpot would be £380 each if they come up They are the easiest Lotto numbers to pick and they have just as much chance of winning as any other sequence. But going for 1,2,3,4,5,6 will only bring you a tiny windfall - even if all the numbers come up. That is because about 10,000 people choose that option each week, according to Dr Simon Cox of Southampton University. Tonight's Lotto jackpot is an estimated £3.8million, meaning each person would win just £380 if those numbers were drawn. Anyone wishing to join Railston and Violet Watkins, who won £1.2million in March last year, in the millionaire's club should avoid picking 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 if they want a big jackpot Choosing ones that form shapes across the tickets cause similar issues as many people opt for diagonal or symmetrical patterns. It seems the only thing you can do to really improve your chances of becoming a millionaire is to avoid the numbers that other people select. In 1995 a jackpot of £16million was shared between 133 people, all of whom had picked a set of numbers from the central columns on the ticket. Far from becoming millionaires dreaming of yachts and second homes, each winner pocketed a rather less impressive £120,300. "There is no scientific way of predicting the winning numbers in advance but choosing unpopular sets of numbers increases one's return in the long term," said Dr Cox, an expert in algorithms - mathematical problem solving. The best method is to pick significant personal dates or let fate decide by simply buying a lucky dip. But the strategy of choosing less popular numbers does not guarantee success, either, a Camelot spokesman said. 'You can't forget that a lot of people don't choose their lottery numbers at all and go for lucky dips instead. There are a lot of people who choose dates that are important to them so if there is a combination with numbers under 12 we tend to see more winners. Dozens of online "experts" have tried to identify "hot" numbers or "cold" numbers in their quest to join the 3,200 millionaires created by Camelot over the last 19 years. Picking unpopular lottery numbers increases the chance of a large windfall, says Dr Simon Cox of Southampton University The "unlucky" number 13 has only been drawn 189 times since the lottery was launched in 1994 - only number 20 has been picked more rarely. The most frequently drawn number is ball number 44 which has appeared 248 times, followed closely by 23 and 38 with 246 appearances each. Some players advocate choosing these numbers because they appear so regularly, others avoid them in the belief that their winning streak is bound to end. Research has also shown that multiples of numbers, particularly those of "lucky" number seven are popular among British players. In trying to luck your way into the millionaire's club, only one fact can be certain - the numbers really are random. The National Lottery Commission conducts regular tests to make sure all 49 balls are unbiased. Despite all the tricks the odds of predicting the six numbers to be drawn is the same every single week - just one in 13,983,816.