Washington Mega Millions lottery player is lucky 10 times over

Jan 21, 2005, 9:45 am (9 comments)

Mega Millions

Seattle man takes home $1.75 million with multiple winning tickets

Archie Herring of Seattle, Washington just missed winning this weeks huge $130 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot, correctly guessing five of the six numbers drawn but missing the all-important Mega Ball number.

He is crying all the way to the bank.

Herring, 68, played his five-number combination on 10 separate tickets, each one good for a second prize of $175,000, or a total of $1.75 million.

Herring brought his winning tickets into the Washington Lotterys Seattle office Wednesday and walked away with a check of $1,312,500 after taxes.

"I would have liked to have won the big jackpot, but Im very happy about this," Herring said, according to a statement issued by the lottery.

Herring, a longtime lottery player, has a system that finally paid off this week. Herring explained that he tracks the twice-weekly Mega Millions drawings in an effort to figure out what combination of numbers is likely to come up next.

Once he settles on a five-number combination, he generally plays it five times, each with a different Mega Ball number. This week he played his combination 10 times because of the unusually large jackpot. He correctly guessed the numbers 10, 23, 28, 39 and 51 but missed the Mega Ball number 5.

System or no system, the odds against guessing five numbers correctly are more than 2.6 million to 1. The odds against guessing five numbers plus the Mega Ball are 135 million to 1.

We checked with lottery officials in other states, and nobody has ever had it played that way and hit like that, said Lee Lee, a spokeswoman for the Washington Lottery.

Herring, who is retired, said he is considering buying a new sport-utility vehicle and taking a vacation to Aruba, and he plans to donate 10 percent to churches. He also told lottery officials he plans to continue playing the lottery just for fun.

He was declining media interview requests, a lottery official said.

A married couple in Georgia told reporters they had purchased the $130 million jackpot winner. Officials said a single winning ticket had been sold in Washington, Ga., but as of the close of business Thursday nobody had come forward to present it for validation.

Lottery Post Staff

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Todd's avatarTodd

Washington Winner:  If you're a Lottery Post member, let us know!

four4me

I kinda wonder if he played separate tickets with different mega ball numbers or all the same #'s. I would be happy I won the 5 spot but would be kicking my self for not selecting the right mega ball. Congrats to him. Great win. I sometimes use the same numbers with separate mega balls also.

Todd can't you check his name in your archives files to see if he is a lottery post member. Hummn!

qutgnt

That guy can make a mint selling his picks or system now.  Even though I believe with all the lotto tickets bought each year a story like this was due. To bad he didnt play 52 bucks worth of tickets.  This guy should hire a publicist, design a sleek website and just have his picture on it holding all his checks.  Its a goldmine!

Todd's avatarTodd

I don't collect actual people's names, just the Usernames that they create. 

four4me

I not implying that you collect names. Gosh I wish I would know the right words to use. When we signed up on lottery post. I cant remember back that far didn't we have to supply contact information. When we joined lottery post. How are you able to differentiate who the people are that you have to constantly kick off of here for joining under different screen names? You know the ones that are always causing problems and such. Unless you are just using ip addresses for that I would assume that you would have to have some kind of way of knowing who people are.

CASH Only

That strategy would not have worked in Quinto.

Todd's avatarTodd
Quote: Originally posted by four4me on January 21, 2005


I not implying that you collect names. Gosh I wish I would know the right words to use. When we signed up on lottery post. I cant remember back that far didn't we have to supply contact information. When we joined lottery post. How are you able to differentiate who the people are that you have to constantly kick off of here for joining under different screen names? You know the ones that are always causing problems and such. Unless you are just using ip addresses for that I would assume that you would have to have some kind of way of knowing who people are.



I have my methods, but if I gave away this info, then the "bad guys" would know how to avoid my methods!

I knew what you meant about info I collect when people register.  I don't take people's names during registration - only their e-mail address.

four4me

Thanks for the input boss man. Good luck in tonight drawings.

JAG331

Mega congrats to the Washington winner!  I'd buy his system in an instant!

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