RATHER  (OR NOT) - If the Lotto remains an emblematic game despite its 40  years, it is not the one where we have the best chance of winning.

To  celebrate the 40 years of the Lotto, the French Games (FDJ) has  expected Friday a pot more important than usual: at least 15 million  euros, something to salivate players. But how lucky are they to win something? And above all, would not it have been better to turn to other games of money? Europe 1 reviews the games according to the odds of winning.

These games where we are most likely to win. If the players cross their fingers when they buy a scratch game or fill a lotto grid, the FDJ leaves no room for chance. Probability to win a lot, to win the jackpot, average sum paid to the player, etc. : everything is calculated upstream, which allows to know which games offer the greatest chance of winning.

Those who do not like losing have an interest in favoring scratch games: on average, one ticket out of four is a winner. But  each game has its own statistics: a cash ticket on 3.87 is a winner,  while this is the case only one ticket on 4.24 for the Banco. However, playing Lotto is riskier: a player has a chance in six to win something. If he favors the Euromillions, his chances of winning are even lower: one in thirteen.

And those where we are most likely to win the jackpot. Here too, the FDJ leaves nothing to chance. Thus,  a player in the Lotto has a 19 million chance of winning the jackpot,  while a player in the Euromillions has only one in 116 million since  this lottery is open to a good part of the European States from West.

Once again, the ratio is much more favorable for scratching games. Playing Banco means having a 750,000 chance of winning the jackpot. The odds go to one chance on 1.125 million for the Astro and 1 chance on 5 million for the game Cash.

But less risky games pay less. Reading these figures, we could be tempted to no longer play the Lotto to favor only scratch games. Except  that these different probabilities have a meaning: when the chances of  winning increase, the amount of the jackpot decreases. We  understand why we are six times more likely to win the maximum gain by  playing the Banco than playing Cash: the jackpot of the Banco is only  1,000 euros, against 500,000 euros for cash. Each  type of game therefore corresponds to a player profile: scratch games  for those who like to win often but little, the Lotto for those who are  ready to win very rarely in the hope of winning a bigger bet. In any case, for 10 euros wagered, a player does not recover average 6.60 euros.