Discussion How the hell can some people be so lucky? Lottery winner discussion.

[bankai]

This is kind of crazy. I've heard of this lady before, but I just shook my head. I think it's time to discuss this. Some people have all the shitty luck in the world and then there are people like her. Joan Ginther....


I would have been happy to have won any of these lotteries just once. But she was able to pull it off again and again.

Joan Ginther was an American four-time lottery winner. She first won the lottery in 1993, when she won $5.4 million in Lotto Texas (equivalent to about $11.8M in 2024). Her next win came in 2006 when she won $2 million in the Holiday Millionaire scratch-off. Her third win happened in 2008, when she won $3 million from a Millions and Millions ticket. In 2010, she won $10 million, her largest prize, bringing her total winnings to $20.4 million.[1] According to mathematicians asked by the Associated Press, the odds of winning this many times were one in 18 times 10 to the power 24,[2] but this was apparently a miscalculation.[3] All of her winning tickets were purchased in Texas, and two of them were bought from the same convenience store in Bishop, Texas.[4] Prior to her death she lived in Las Vegas, Nevada and preferred to keep a low profile.

 

[DivineSpark]

WTF, winning like that? Maybe she had some psychic abilities

 

[wham311]

This is kind of crazy. I've heard of this lady before, but I just shook my head. I think it's time to discuss this. Some people have all the shitty luck in the world and then there are people like her. Joan Ginther....


I would have been happy to have won any of these lotteries just once. But she was able to pull it off again and again.

Joan Ginther was an American four-time lottery winner. She first won the lottery in 1993, when she won $5.4 million in Lotto Texas (equivalent to about $11.8M in 2024). Her next win came in 2006 when she won $2 million in the Holiday Millionaire scratch-off. Her third win happened in 2008, when she won $3 million from a Millions and Millions ticket. In 2010, she won $10 million, her largest prize, bringing her total winnings to $20.4 million.[1] According to mathematicians asked by the Associated Press, the odds of winning this many times were one in 18 times 10 to the power 24,[2] but this was apparently a miscalculation.[3] All of her winning tickets were purchased in Texas, and two of them were bought from the same convenience store in Bishop, Texas.[4] Prior to her death she lived in Las Vegas, Nevada and preferred to keep a low profile.

It is fucking unbelievable there's people like this and then me.

 

[DivineSpark]

It is bigger chance to die in accident than win in lottery.....think about it.

 

[bankai]

WTF, winning like that? Maybe she had some psychic abilities

No, but that's just ridiculous though. Doesn't make any sense. And also highlights how cruel and unfair life is.

 

[whywere]

All I can say is WOW! and good for her.

Thank you for the very interesting post, very nice indeed.

Walter

 

[noname223]

There are stories of lottery winners who died a few years after their win from cancer. Or where the win retrospectively ruined their life for example by getting into contact to drugs and false friends.

 

[niceday]

hmm, it gives hope, since I'm normally used to these kinds of stories being anything but straightforward.

 

[bankai]

There are stories of lottery winners who died a few years after their win from cancer. Or where the win retrospectively ruined their life for example by getting into contact to drugs and false friends.

Yeah, but those are people who are already prone to bad decisions, and the person who got cancer would have gotten cancer regardless of whether they won the lottery or not. If you invest the money wisely, you will be rich for life. And you can pass that on to your family or children.

People who do drugs as a result of winning money would have done them anyway, or would have made other bad choices.The lottery will change your life. If you're a normal person, it'll change your family's life too. They'll never have to worry about getting hospitalized or even having to work a job to survive.

 

[Kalista]

odds like these are astronomical. while it's not impossible, they are extremely improbable. more reasonable to question the legitimacy of the lottery and her methods than questioning her 'luck.'
apparently, she had a background in statistics which may have helped her identify patterns on shipped batches of scratchers and when to buy them. it also needs to be emphasized that she purchased millions worth of tickets to win the amount that she got. she took away the winning tickets from a batch of scratches and from everyone else participating in order to win.
i've seen news of someone spending 10k worth of tickets to win a different lottery. you would need to spend a lot in order to win, but some do get extremely lucky with one or three tickets. the number of tickets you hold gives you more iterations to obtain the winning ticket.

better to not treat this emotionally and instead identify how the system can be outmaneuvered so you can win however much for yourself. the lottery is a sick joke on many people who are struggling financially in the first place, so learn to take advantage of it. they're dangling millions or billions of dollars in front of people who desperately need money to ease life significantly. no need to 'play by the rules.'

 

[Forever Sleep]

That is pretty unbelievable. A bit like people who get struck by lightening more than once. Not that that's lucky. I'd start to take that personally... Maybe start living a more religious life- just in case.

 

[The Morningstar]

odds like these are astronomical. while it's not impossible, they are extremely improbable. more reasonable to question the legitimacy of the lottery and her methods than questioning her 'luck.'
apparently, she had a background in statistics which may have helped her identify patterns on shipped batches of scratchers and when to buy them. it also needs to be emphasized that she purchased millions worth of tickets to win the amount that she got. she took away the winning tickets from a batch of scratches and from everyone else participating in order to win.
i've seen news of someone spending 10k worth of tickets to win a different lottery. you would need to spend a lot in order to win, but some do get extremely lucky with one or three tickets. the number of tickets you hold gives you more iterations to obtain the winning ticket.

better to not treat this emotionally and instead identify how the system can be outmaneuvered so you can win however much for yourself. the lottery is a sick joke on many people who are struggling financially in the first place, so learn to take advantage of it. they're dangling millions or billions of dollars in front of people who desperately need money to ease life significantly. no need to 'play by the rules.'

Reminds me of the story behind the movie Jerry and Marge Go Large:

‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’: Retirees made town rich gaming the lottery

Jerry and Marge Selbee made millions off a legal lottery loophole. Their unlikely tale is told in a new movie out Friday.

nypost.com

The main character figures out how to game several lotto systems using math.
Modern lotteries, at least in the states, have mathematicians running things so that loopholes are closed. It's possible that lady gamed the system before it was fixed and was smart enough to never admit it. That's the kind of shit you take to your grave, after all.
Or Hell, maybe she was involved in money laundering or just plain lucky. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[LetMeOut67]

To them that have shall be given.

That's how life works.

The Euromillions jackpot is up to £210m Tuesday night.
It'd be quite nice to win. But I feel that many people already won the lottery by getting a life worth living , unlike all of us on here.