The odds of being struck by lightning in the US in a given year are 1.2 million to 1. Pretty high odds, though that didn’t stop former park ranger Roy Sullivan from being struck by lightning a grand total of seven times in his lifetime. If you live to be 80 years old, you have a 1 in 15,300 chance of suffering this undoubtedly painful fate. As in the case of Mr Sullivan, your odds of being struck by lightning are increased if you work outdoors in a national park in an area prone to thunderstorms.
The same is true for winning the lottery. While the odds are high (one in 302.5 million to win the Mega Millions jackpot), you certainly can’t win unless you buy a ticket. However, history is full of people defying the long odds and winning the lottery—not once but multiple times. In this blog, we will share some incredible stories of people who not only won the lottery once, they did it repeatedly.
Lucky for life (times two!)
In 2014, Kenneth J. Stokes’ family gifted him a season pass to the Massachusetts State Lottery’s Lucky for Life draw.
The prize for each draw was $25,000 a year for 20 years. Unfortunately, the day before one of the draws, Mr Stokes had forgotten about his season pass and purchased another lottery ticket for the draw – using the same numbers as his season pass ticket.
The following morning, lottery officials phoned him with the good news that he was one of two lucky grand prize winners. Following the call, he realized he had two tickets with the same numbers. So he called the lottery official back and explained that he had both winning tickets.
Mr Stokes chose the one-time cash payment option for his winning tickets, meaning he took home $546,000 (after tax).
Two in a row
Between 1969 and 1973, Roy Sullivan was struck four times by lightning. In just 11 days in 2021, one lucky man from South Carolina won impressive amounts playing Mega Millions.
In July, the man won $40,000 and decided to buy another ticket for the same lottery later that month. This time, he won a staggering $3 million.
Amazingly, he purchased both lottery tickets from the same gas station, which netted the business commissions of $400 and $30,000 for each of the fortunate man’s two wins. While many people would stop playing the lottery after one win, this story shows what could happen if you keep playing.
‘$2,000,000 Richer’ for a second time
In 2021, some years after winning the top prize in the $2 million Richer lottery in Maryland, a retired utility worker managed to do it again.
The unidentified man bought two tickets for the lottery last year and amazingly was a winner with both of them. The first ticket netted him $100, while the second revealed him to be the winner of the $2 million jackpot for the second time.
Having brought his family on vacation and financed his retirement with the first $2 million, the man said he would take another family vacation and pay for home improvements following this follow-up success.
Winning the lottery 30 times in one day
To win the lottery twice must be a fantastic feeling, but imagine how good it would feel to win it 30 times a day! This happened to Deborah Brown from Virginia in 2019 when she played the Virginia Lottery.
Having had a good feeling about some particular numbers, Ms Brown bought no less than 30 Pick 4 tickets with the same numbers in the same order, 1-0-3-1. Each ticket cost just $1, and when her numbers were drawn, she netted a cool $150,000.
Ms Brown said she nearly had a heart attack when she realized she had won the lottery 30 times. While she didn’t know how to spend her winnings immediately, she said home improvements would be high on her agenda. The odds of matching the four numbers in that exact order are 1 in 10,000.
Good luck strikes twice
We’ve already brought you the incredible story of Kenneth J. Stokes in Massachusetts, and now we have a strikingly similar tale from North Carolina.
In 2021 in Fayetteville, Scotty Thomas was at home watching a basketball game on his television. He couldn’t remember if he had already purchased a ticket for the Lucky for Life lottery draw, so he decided to go online to buy one.
It turns out that he had already bought a lottery ticket and picked the same numbers for both. As a result, Mr Thomas won the lottery’s second-highest prize, $25,000 yearly for the rest of his life. Given that he had two tickets with the same numbers, he had instantly doubled his winnings.
Like Mr Stokes in Massachusetts, he opted for the lump-sum payment of $551,850 (after tax). Then, collecting his winnings, he said that he plans to pay off bills, invest in his business, buy a house, and help his family. Talk about good luck!
You, too, can win the lottery
If you dream of winning a life-changing amount, now is the time to play the Win Millions Lotto. With guaranteed jackpots, same-day payouts, and absolute transparency, you’ll love the excitement of playing.
As the above stories all highlight, you can’t win it unless you are in it. But you never know; it could be you!
Disclaimer: Win Millions Lotto is a licensed and regulated online lottery site. Please play responsibly and adhere to the legal gambling age in your jurisdiction.
