14, 36, 48 - Luckiest lottery choices!

New York, Jan 25 (ANI): 14, 36 and 48-these are the three numbers that could prove the luckiest in lottery.

Those three numbers have hit more than any others among the 414 winning Mega Millions tickets sold between 2005 and Jan. 12.

And since June 24, 2005, when the latest version of the game launched, the numbers have appeared on the winning six-number combinations the most often.

The above finding comes from an analysis of Mega Millions payouts compiled by Matthew Vea, a consultant in Ernst and Young's financial services department in Midtown, who looked at the results of every drawing over the last 4 and half years.

In the Mega Millions Lottery, with odds of more than 175 million to 1, jackpots routinely reach hundreds of millions.

And the number 14 has been found to be a big winner-not only has it appeared on 48 of the 414 winning tickets since 2005 (a rate of more than 11 percent), it's been the second-hottest number during the last three months.

Vea's analysis showed that 14 averaged just 30.2 days between appearances on somebody's lucky ducat, reports the New York Post.

The number 36 also popped up 48 times since 2005, while 48 appeared 47 times.

Three others- 53, 5 and 46- hit 46 times. (ANI)