We’ve always said people who play the lottery are just bad at math, considering the astronomical odds against winning, 1 in 292,201,338. But as the saying goes:  You gotta be in it to win it.  So if you are considering playing the lottery, here are some tips from someone who has won…seven times. Oh, we’ve linked to an LA Times page which has a “lottery simulator” at the bottom of the story.

An Orlando man is offering up some tips on how to win the Powerball jackpot, which is up to a record $900 million. Seven-time Lottery Game Grand Prize winner Richard Lustig has some advice on how to increase one’s odds of winning. “Luck has nothing to do with it,” he told WKMG Orlando.

He advises treating the lottery like it’s a job, playing each and every week, according to WKMG. “Playing smart” each week includes sticking to a budget and only buying the amount of tickets one can afford. “You don’t want to wake up Thursday morning and realize you’re a loser and then pull your hair out trying to replace the money you spent,” he told WKMG.

Here are four rules he says to stick to (via WPTV):

Pick your own numbers instead of having the machine do it for you
Research and see if your numbers have won before
Select your ten sets of numbers and keep those if you continue buying tickets
Buy as many tickets as you can afford
Lustig also spoke with Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” advising lotto hopefuls against Quick Picks.

“Always pick the same numbers,” he said on Tuesday. “Don’t play Quick Picks. When you play Quick Picks, your odds are always going to be at their worst.”

Lustig recommends staying away from sequences that have already come up, according to Fox 4 WFTX-TV. Lottery players can research past winning numbers online. “Luck has absolutely nothing to do with it,” he said. “How can anybody in their right mind say this guy’s won seven times he’s just a lucky guy? Come on. Nobody can be that lucky.”

The drawing is tonight (Sat) at 9:59 Central Time – cut-off time for buying a tickets is one hour beforehand.

Just for fun, we’ve linked to a ‘Lottery Simulator” on the LA Times page which lets you put in your favorite numbers and ‘pretend’ to play the lottery.  CLICK HERE TO PLAY