It only takes a handful of jokers playing "1 2 3 4 5 6 7" to really ruin the payout for you.

I was about to say this. However, picking a non-obvious run might do it for you, say 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. This sort of skirts the obvious runs but still is something the average person won't pick. At least I'd think so. I'm no lottery wizard or anything.