9.31 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

The lucky ones who won the lotterey – twice

Published

What are the odds of winning a lottery? Then again, what are the odds of winning a lottery twice? Wait – now guess, what are the odds of winning the same lottery twice on the same set of numbers?

We’ll tell you – it’s 5.4 trillion to one.
Against all odds: 5.4 trillion to 1
Punter Mike McDermott has successfully braved the 5.4-trillion-to-1 odds and bagged the same lottery twice with the same set of five two-digit numbers – and the bonus ball.
Unbelievable stuff. “I really am in disbelief,” the 50-year-old electrician admitted as he toasted his success with champagne. “I thought it was simply impossible to win twice like this – I can’t believe such incredible luck.”
McDermott is planning retirement to the sunshine island of his dreams after winning the lottery for the second time with the same numbers.
In June 2011, he and his wife Helen were ecstatic when the numbers – 15,16,18,28 36, and 49 – came up as the numbers plus the bonus ball, scooping £194,501.
Out of sheer habit, McDermott kept doing the same numbers, without any real hope of netting another fortune.
But later last year, he was staggered when he checked the lottery result and saw he had won again with five numbers plus the bonus ball – only this time, his prize was £121,157.
The odds of his first win were 2,330,636 to one. Granted, someone had to win – and he did.
But the second time, the odds shot up to 5,400,000,000,000 to 1. Yes, that’s 5.4 trillion to one.
“People say that things always come in threes, so I will definitely be keeping my numbers. I now believe that anything is possible.”
Do you think he’ll win again? Don’t be so sure.
Woman wins $1 million – twice in same lottery
More recently, on April 7, a Virginia woman found out she won $1 million in a lottery drawing. And then she won again.
Virginia Fike of Berryville, Virginia, had the good luck to buy not one but two lottery tickets from a truck stop that both turned out to be $1 million winners, matching five of the six Powerball numbers. Lottery officials presented her with a $2 million check on Friday.
Fike said she found out that she had won – and won again – while sitting in a hospital room with her mother, according to a statement distributed by the Virginia lottery.
“I saw a scroll on TV about there being two $1 million winners,” she said. “I looked at my mom and said ‘Wouldn't it be funny if it was us?’”
She said she planned on using the money to “take care of my parents” and pay bills.
For selling the tickets, the lottery awarded a $20,000 bonus to the Olde Stone Truck Stop.
To win the full Powerball jackpot, which currently stands at $131 million, a ticket must match the numbers on all five white balls in the drawing, plus the red Powerball. The $1 million cash prize is awarded for a ticket that matches the five numbers on the white balls, in any order.
The odds of winning $1 million? One in 5,153,632.65. The drawing takes place every Wednesday and Saturday night.
“I just love the jackpot games and I play when I can afford it,” Fike said in the statement.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time that a winner has bagged the lottery twice, but what makes some cases beyond belief is the fact that people have won the same lottery on the same set of numbers more than once.
France Loto Winner Takes It Twice
An unnamed France Loto player from the Southern city of Montpellier won the jackpot twice – both times by playing the same line of numbers.
His first France Loto win was in 1996 when he took home the top prize of €2.8 million. Most lottery players would have called it a day after taking home the jackpot, but not our anonymous winner.
He carried on playing the same set of randomly chosen numbers that he had been playing since the lottery was first introduced in 1976.
His faith in those numbers was rewarded again when he took home an unbelievable second recently – a jackpot win of €3 million.
Guess what – he’s still playing, with the same set of numbers.
For those of you wondering, the chances of the same player winning twice with the same six numbers are 1 in 363 billion.