CHARLESTON, W.V. — Larry Hughes of Kimball, West Virginia, may soon have relatives he never knew he had coming out to Kimball to visit him after winning $302,600 on Thursday night's Daily 4 drawing. West Virginia Lottery Director John Musgrave announced today that Hughes and his family came to Charleston on Friday to claim the prize.
Hughes played the numbers "1-2-3-4" 60 times on a straight bet, and the same numbers on a straight/box. Although he doesn't always bet $61, he bets the same numbers every day. The top prize in the Daily 4 is $5,000, but Hughes pushed his winnings over the $300,000 mark by betting the same numbers 61 times.
"This is a unique story," Randy Burnside, West Virginia Lottery public relations and drawing manager said. "We talked for about 20 minutes when he came up here to claim his winnings. He plays those same numbers every day, and from what I understand, he always plays at the Bantam Market in Welch."
"I play the 1-2-3-4 every day and I buy at least 60 tickets each day," Hughes was quoted as stating in a West Virginia Lottery press release. "I have been playing the West Virginia Lottery's Daily 4 game since it started and I never miss a day. I don't think you will find a better return on investment for $61 bucks."
Hughes, a contractor from Kimball, has won before with his lucky numbers, according to information supplied in a press release from the West Virginia Lottery. He won a total of $52,600 from the Daily 4 drawing on March 14, 2006 and he hit again for the same amount of winnings from the Jan. 12, 2008 drawing. Until Thursday, those were the only two times in the game's history that those numbers (1-2-3-4) popped out of the Daily 4 draw machine in numerical order, according to the W.Va. Lottery.
"I was working on a job in Bluefield and I sat down at 6:59 p.m., and told the guys that I hope my wife (Maria) calls in the next minute. If she does, our numbers came up. Then the phone rang and I didn't even have to answer to know what had happened." Kimball was quoted as stating in the Lottery Commission's press release.
"I don't know if he has any immediate plans," Burnside said. "He said that he and his wife were planning on taking a vacation. This might make a vacation a little better."
Burnside said that proceeds from the Lottery go to help education, projects for senior citizens, tourism, Homestead Exemptions, state parks and improvements for higher education, according to Burnside.
Congrats,Mr. Hughes!
60 bucks a day!!...holy cow...this is the dream hit.
Oh my goodness! I'm hyperventilating over this one, congrats to Mr. Hughes!
Congratulation Mr. Hughes
Huge Congrats
For some it's as easy as 1-2-3 & 4
Nice work.
It kinda puts a squelch to "How much would you play on a number?"
Proof that there is no use to playing small ball when you want to win!
Chalk one up for the systems players. This man was expecting a certain thing to happen, and it did.
60.00 dollars a day, no telling how long he has been playing......he may have broke even.
There is no better investment for $61 dollars? On a bet that pays out 50% and after taxes your real rate of return is 35%. This guy might be down $300000 betting this bet for as long as he has.
"Larry Hughes of Kimball, West Virginia, may soon have relatives he never knew he had coming out to Kimball to visit him after winning $302,600 on Thursday night's Daily 4 drawing."
Ain't that the truth.
no telling how long he has been playing
Really? No Telling? The article says the last time he hit was in 08................
$60 a day for 5 years is $109,500.
Most people do this as a hobby, for fun...... When they hit big its just a bonus.
big time payday for mr hughes! congrats to him on winning 300K!
In most states pick3 and pick4 can be played daily, with 365 days in a year, spending $60 a day mounts up to spending $21,900 a year. If he has only been doing it for ten years, then he's ahead not accounting for taxes.
Congrat's to Mr Hughes on his win. Nice payday. I think he could do without family visiiting that he never knew.
He states he played since the Pick 4 first started in WV. According to the WV lotto website, the Daily 4 goes back to Feb 1987.
Just to give a little context, if he's truly been spending $61/day for the past 26 years, he's spent over $578,000 for his $400,000+ return he's won in the past 7.
Plus, now he's gotta give Uncle Sammy his unearned cut.
Cool, congrats
First Washington State, 1 2 3 4 and now West Virginia.
Two makes three so where next?
WTG! mr,hughes
I guess it's just the THRILL of winning
i get excited when i win $15.00 not thinking about the $20.00 i spent
are you going to get $60.00 worth
The article also says Mr Hughs has been playing the Daily 4 since it started, which appears to be 1987 at the WVA website. $60 a day for 26 years is $569,400.
The article says...
"I play the 1-2-3-4 every day and I buy at least 60 tickets each day," Hughes was quoted as stating in a West Virginia Lottery press release. "I have been playing the West Virginia Lottery's Daily 4 game since it started and I never miss a day. I don't think you will find a better return on investment for $61 bucks."
--Jimmy4164
Edit: Oops - I see ameriken already pointed this out.
Right, but it doesn't change the fact that all he spent on the day that he won is $61.
$300k on a $61. investment cant be beaten. Its BETTER than you will ever do Jammy.
WV Daily 4 started 2/26/87, 9598 days until 6/6/13 draw, where he won 60x str $5000 + 1x str/box $2600 for total $302,600.
But analysis of the past amounts and his betting pattern suggests that for 3/14/06 and 1/12/08 draws he got 10x str $5000 + 1x str/box $2600 for total $52,600.
Playing 1-2-3-4 every day and 60 tickets each day conflicts with past amounts, so I would assume he was playing less in the past, $11 instead of $61.
Assuming $11 from 2/26/87 through 1/12/08, 7626 days at $11 equals $83,886. And then upping his play amount to $61 after the 2nd win from 1/13/08 thru 6/6/13, 1972 days at $61 equals $120,292.
Total spent: $204,178
Total won: $407,800
Not bad.
Congrats Larry!
NO NO NO if DUDE won 300,000 then after taxes he didn't even break even. He took a lost. Do the math.
Best thing to do to maximize winnings and minimize losses over a long period is to not play the $61 on the days your numbers don't come up, then put it all down on the days they do.
Easy!
I know, but look at all the money that he has put into it to get 300.000. He said hes been play everyday & paying 61.00 a day thats 578.890 for 26 years. Now he only won 300.000, he's has lost 278.890. HE DIDN'T WIN HE LOST MONEY.
Congrats Mr. Hughes on getting some of your money back.
And he has to pay taxes on the money he won so he's in the hole big time. He needs another big win to come out on top.
Good to hear stories like this, congrats!
So one has to wonder what was his motivation to play one number for 26 years at $61 dollars day, because really he lost even though he won. This is the first time I've ever heard of a lottery story where the winner of several hundred thousand dollars is still in the hole after winning.
Congrats Mr. Hughes. Keep in mind it is not 365 days that he plays, since West Va does not play on a Sunday.
Grats, makes me wonder how many other people play crazy numbers. Maybe this will make people play 1234 more often.
It wouldn't make any sense for him to have played $60 every day on the same number and collect $50,000 on the first two wins. The $60 he spends every day might include scratch-offs and other games, If he played at least a $1 straight/box every day, add another $2800 to the total wins because the combination was drawn 28 other times in the 8224 drawing history.
It may not be as hard as you think...... Only people who play the same numbers all the time can understand the sensation felt when the numbers are about to hit...................
I will put it this way, It doesn't surprise me AT ALL that he sat with his co-workers and said "When the phone rings in the next couple minutes, it will be my wife telling me that I won tonight lottery drawing"
A guy in AZ bought the same line 6 times and won $6 million.
That's why CA has pari mutuel pay-out. $200. could set them back $100 million otherwise.
Amazing. You people will assume whatever it takes to make his record consistent with your beliefs. The man said he played every day, AT LEAST $60 per day.
And Ronnie316 is the most incredulous of all. I guess that if he had a "Drip" investing account that after 10 years of decline, showed a -90% (negative) ROI, he would be unfazed if the day after the stock tanked to pennies, he could report that, ON THAT DAY, it went up from 20 cents to 30 cents, for a gain of $100 on a "Drip" of only $10. Poor guy.
The "snake oil" guys love him!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JH1N2Z4c_g
Thank you for adding "incredulous" to my list of accolades Jammy. I am truly honored.
This is why I nevr play my own numbers for huge JP games, to scared they would come up.
Ah yes, you're correct, I missed the no draws on Sunday part. Revised my previous post below, and also added the small wins that Stack pointed out, his profit is even better:
WV Daily 4 started 2/26/87, 9598 days, 8227 play days (6 days a week Mon-Sat) until 6/6/13 draw, where he won 60x str $5000 + 1x str/box $2600 for total $302,600.
But analysis of the past amounts and his betting pattern suggests that for 3/14/06 and 1/12/08 draws he got 10x str $5000 + 1x str/box $2600 for total $52,600.
Playing 1-2-3-4 every day and 60 tickets each day conflicts with past amounts, so I would assume he was playing less in the past, $11 instead of $61.
Assuming $11 from 2/26/87 through 1/12/08, 6537 play days at $11 equals $71,907. And then upping his play amount to $61 after the 2nd win from 1/14/08 thru 6/6/13, 1690 play days at $61 equals $103,090.
And also add $2800 in wins from 28 box-only hits from the $1 str/box bets along the way.
Total spent: $174,997
Total won: $410,600
Not bad.
Congrats Larry!
Just commit to playing them every draw, no matter how much it costs......
When you hit you can always say "This is the first time I ever played a lottery ticket".
I'm not pushing any beliefs, simply making an observation of fact: he did not play $60 straight on the two previous wins of $52,600. Could it be that on those two days alone, he only played $11 but every other day he played $61? Possible, but unlikely. Or did he play some other combination of 60 straight or box to get that exact amount of $52,600? Possible, but someone else can look it up, I just did the quick overall view.
When he said he plays $60 each day, I assume he means in recent history of the past several years. You can debate whether that is an accurate intepretation of his interview answer or not, I have no problem with that.
Also, for the record, I'm not a believer in systems nor do I in any way endorse his same number betting strategy. From the statistics and normal distribution, we can predict that most of the people that try to play this way will lose, and a few will lose big time. But a few will also profit, the small 0.1% of players.
Larry seems to be one of the lucky 0.1% of players, that's all. And those are the ones you typically hear about in winners stories anyway.
"Befief" is NOT Jammys strong suit.
I play 40 tickets every midday for .50 a piece in pa. Its never been drawn str8 midday.
I intended to cash in when it hits. 1234 Im all over it. Have been for a few months.
$302,600.00 won, He must have had a box bet in there for the extra $100.00
The 1234 combination has hit West Virginia 31 times with all available records at Lottey Post. So If he drops 50 cents box every day he picked up $3,100.00 in small change.
Congrats to the winner.
Yep,
Know when
huh you don't want your #'s to come up? I am confused.
Also to the person who said he is in the whole after taxes he won big amounts twice before so it's not just the 300K now.
I'm glad for the guy, who cares how much he spent and over analyzing his wins vs losses? Be happy for him and stay positive, keep doing your statistical analysis here and just know one day, you too will have a win like he did!
Exactly my thought. I've been betting some numbers for 20 years, but I don't spend $61 a day. If he's been playing for 10 years then he just about broke even.
Of course I'm happy for the guy. It's just that Florida has a lot of people who are spending their rent and food money on the lottery and now we have Powerball and MegaMillions.
Nothing wrong with having choices in a free society, but saying $61 a day on a pick-4 (and the same number) is a good investment is very misleading. There was a woman who won a lot by doing the same thing. I forget where she lived, but I remember reading about her on Lottery Post a few years ago. This doesn't happen very often.
I'll probably break even when I finally hit my Florida Fantasy-5 numbers as they're lowering me into my grave.
OTOH, there might be 20 winners that night. So I know what it's like to play the same numbers and hope for a big win. I'm only saying that it's a little crazy to blow over $60 bucks a day on one pick-4 combination. Just my opinion.
Well, now he can start playing another number! (or continue to play 1-2-3-4)
helpmewin,
Naw. I 'went wild' and bet $1 Straight and $1 Straight Box. Usually I just bet Straight box.
Didn't hit.
Well Jon D, we don't know for sure what this winner's expenditures were, but if we accept what you conjecture as exactly what transpired, what you [and others] have done is demonstrate how POSSIBLE it is to win large sums of money in the lootery, PURELY through the randomness of the draw. I have demonstrated this in other ways with a simulation, but the results were dismissed here by people who believe they know better. For those who haven't seen it, click HERE.
Stack47, this is your cue, right? You will tell us yet again how no "serious" lottery player would play 5 $1 Quick Picks every day for 5 years. And when you're through, you will then explain how reasonable and acceptable it was for Mr. Hughes to play 1234 for $60 [almost] every day for 26 years. And when you're done doing that, I hope you will spend some time with this simulator and notice how the ROI for Quick Picks is the same as that for static self pick numbers. Have fun! It's RANDOM folks!
http://www.justwebware.com/powerball/powerball.html
--Jimmy4164
Am I missing something here? What about taxes?
this might be a Great idea i just Looked and in 30 days 3 states had hit 1 str888 2 box
in 1yr 40 states had 4 str888's 36 box hits.
I concur that this is basically random luck.
And the luck is really in the 1-2-3-4 in West Virginia being hit 3 times in 8227 draws. Anyone playing 1-2-3-4 in WV since the beginning, whether it be $1 per draw or $60 per draw would be turning a profit and be part of that 0.1% of winners.
It's simply because the number fell 3 times more than it was likely to appear. With the $5000 straight prize, you have a guaranteed profit in that situation. I'm sure you could just as easily, or more easily, do your simulation on just the numbers instead of people and quick picks, and find those small percentage of numbers that will pay a profit just through chance.
In fact, if someone did play 1-2-3-4 at $60 per day since the start, they'd have $900,000 in winnings against $493,620 in wagers. But if some poor schmuck played 9-9-9-9 instead, they be out all of that $493,620 with not a single dime in winnings to show for it, the other end of the normal distribution.
The reason Larry made the news is because of the coincidence of picking the lucky number to sit on, and using large wagers on that number. Still a good story though.
my thoughts exactly!!!!
Way to go!!! That's the point I try to stress to people: Play the same numbers DAILY.
"When he said he plays $60 each day, I assume he means in recent history of the past several years."
Just the fact he bet $61 the drawing he won on means he doesn't bet "$60 each day". And there are other facts including twice when he bet $11 and won $52,600 that must be considered. IMO, your assumption are based on what is known from the article.
"Also, for the record, I'm not a believer in systems nor do I in any way endorse his same number betting strategy."
Even though all of following this story probably believe Hughes' was very lucky, one poster felt the need to tell you what we already knew. Most state lotteries have rules preventing a large number of players using Hughes' strategy by placing a limit on the number of tickets they will sell on on one straight pick-4 number.
"And those are the ones you typically hear about in winners stories anyway."
I didn't read any stories about PB line jumping players who won nothing or any stories about Hughes when he bet $60 on 1234 and won nothing.
WTG !!!! I am the next big pick 4 winner ...I AM ! lol
He paid taxes, but if he was betting $60 a day, he could deduct about $18,720 in the years he won in gambling losses.
WOW!!! This is what is called, PURE DEDICATION or FREAKING ADDICTION, depending on what side of the fence you are. "Congrats my man."
1st of all I would like to congratulate Larry on his win.
2nd I don't like stories like this because it brings the illusion of winning big. I've read other posts and people are commenting on him spending 61 dollars on the number everyday. If you read the article carefully you will see he also said he spent atleast $60 a day. He didn't say he spent 60 a day on just that number. If you look back to the other wins he spent $11 on those wins, which meant he could have spent the other $49 on other numbers or lottery products. For all those calculating he has spent a minimum of $569,400 and with that number he has won a total of $275,265 on straight hits after taxes and approximately $2500 on box hits. $61 being used as a good investment is correct if someone doesn't play much and plays it or someone who hits a lot and decides to put more on a number they have a feeling about but not for someone who plays a minimum of $60 a day and doesn't win.
Congratulations to him! With one drawing per day it was better for him to spend the $60 on just the evening rather than Midday and Evening!
It's always best to follow your instincts and play only with money you can afford to lose , i'm sure thats what he did here or else he would not have been spending $60 per draw on the same number! Well deserved win for this man.
I'd spend $20 on one number max and thats about it but no more.A few times a week i'll play "8111" .50 cents box 40 times seperate tickets, looking for a $24,000 tax free win. This number still didnt hit box in over 23 years here in NY since December 14th, 1989 so i'm hoping i'll be lucky and catch it when it finally comes back after taking a 23 year break. Hopefully I end up with the same as this man.
That's great work right there.
wow congrats to him .. awesome bet .
I agree he may or may not have broke even, but I bet it feels good to get such a big win like that. Congrats to him.
I went to put $5 on 1111 on Nov 11 and the numbers were "sold out" in my state.
He definitely inspired me by reading this because I won $1,830.00 on 6/18 by playing "211" on the florida lottery. I played 3 straight and 1 straight box ..I know it wasn't 61 times but I was happy I hit to pay off some of these bills.
Perseverance is the key! I read about the law of attraction and it is indeed true, if you believe something good will happen it will definitely happen to you. Let's be optimistic and keep on playing!