A Virginia woman won the lottery 30 times in one day, taking home $150,000 for her efforts.
As WTVR-TV in Richmond reports, Deborah Brown said she just had a “special feeling” when she bought $20 worth of Virginia Lottery tickets back on February 11. She later bought another $10 worth because she was feeling so good about her wager.
By now, you may be wondering how it’s even possible for someone to win the lottery 30 times in one day. In Brown’s case, there are two parts to the answer.
First, when most people think of state lotteries, they think of either (or both) of two things: huge jackpots of almost unimaginable wealth that come up a few times per year via online, multi-state lottery games such as Powerball or Mega Millions, and instant scratch-off tickets. But in fact, for almost as long as state lotteries have been a thing, their bread and butter has been the smaller, daily games, where players wager that their three-number or four-number combination will come up in exchange for a small prize in the hundreds or low thousands of dollars.
Second, it’s possible to play the same numbers multiple times for one draw, and each winning ticket is worth the advertised prize (in the case of games like Pick 3 or Pick 4) or an equal share of a split jackpot in the case of shared-jackpot games like Mega Millions or Powerball. For an example of the latter, if someone plays the same combination of numbers on two Mega Millions tickets, he or she would win an equal share of the jackpot with both tickets.
Some people have all the luck! A woman won the Virginia lottery 30 times in one day! https://t.co/AYnyYzFJdr #fox59morning
— FOX59 News (@FOX59) March 11, 2019
Brown used both of those things to her advantage. Playing a Pick 4 game, she wagered $30 worth of $1 tickets against a $5,000 prize for each of them. Secondly, she played the same four numbers — 1-0-3-1 — 30 times.
Why those numbers? She just had a feeling, she says.
“A couple of times during the day, I saw those numbers.”
As it turned out, her feeling was right. Her numbers did indeed come up, and each of her 30 tickets was worth $5,000, leaving Ms. Brown with a check for $150,000.
“I nearly had a heart attack!”
In a statement, a Virginia Lottery spokesperson said that the lucky winner is trying to figure out what to do with her newfound scratch.
“Ms. Brown said she has no immediate plans for her winnings, but she’s considering some home renovation.”
The Lottery also noted that the odds of a player matching all four numbers in order in a Pick 4 game are one in 10,000.
