In theory, roughly one-third (33.3%) of the 13,983,816 possible combinations in the 49-ball UK National Lottery are even, and 33.3.% are odd. In practice, in over 300 draws on the UK National Lottery 49-ball Lottery averaged 32.0%.

As you will see from the table below, just three combinations account for 81.1% of all possible combinations. This means that in 4 weeks out of 5 the winning numbers should fall into this pattern. As you can see, putting 9 odd numbers or 9 even numbers in your selection of 12 would be a disaster. Because “all odd” or “all even” lottery numbers, on average, are drawn less than twice in every 100 draws.

Therefore you should ensure that 50% of the lottery numbers in each set are even and 50% odd. If you play 12 numbers which include 6 odd numbers and 6 even numbers - then only one lottery game can be all even numbers and only one game can be all odd numbers. You can maximise the 3-odd/3-even and 2-4 & 4-2 games; which is the smartest way to play the UK National Lottery, because it imitates what happens in the real world.