"I knew it was going to come. I just didn't know when."
By Kate Northrop
PETERSBURG, Va. — The odds of winning the top prize in the Virginia Lottery's Pick 4 game are 1 in 10,000, and a Virginia man who bought 40 identical tickets for one drawing just knew he was going to beat those odds.
Michael Raines of Petersburg, Virginia, bought 40 tickets, all with the same numbers, for the Pick 4 night drawing on June 8 and ended up boosting a would-be $5,000 top prize to $200,000.
"I knew it was going to come," Raines told the Lottery. "I just didn't know when."
Beating the odds of 1 in 10,000 by matching all drawn numbers in exact order in Pick 4 will net a top prize of $5,000. With a play costing $1 each, Raines' $40 investment in that one particular drawing paid off handsomely.
"It's my time to shine!" Raines exclaimed when he claimed his prize.
The winner, who works as a dump truck operator, bought every ticket at Little Food Market on Halifax Street in Petersburg. He said that he chose the four numbers, 1-2-2-0, to commemorate the day his mother passed away.
"It's like she was looking out for me," he said.
Players who want to try their luck at Pick 4 can purchase a play for $1. Drawings take place twice a day at 1:59 pm and 11:00 pm EST.
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RIP to his Mom!
Man that was a nice win. Yes, your Mom was looking down from Heaven!
1220 either Jan 2 2020 or 12/2020 21 months or 12 months he was into this number a long time. Basically one thousand a month. Still a profitable endeavour. Commitment and budget way to go!
Am beat from Jury Duty, but my eyes read forty tickets bought on 8 JUN?
What we don't know is if he played it 40 tickets midday and evening and for how long? We know he only played it straight. Maybe only evening. Either way it's showing a profit. Seems like a good strategy, now if only I can choose a number that will come out within the next two weeks
Exactly why i am going to god willing keep winning multi-x a year my fave game, the P4, yep.
#SMARTHustler #SmartGambler i love doing this, and just waiting for my next, and i am good to go. He was so smart.
i been waiting on this 1 here in NC, won it in California few x straight, in one drawing 1120 and 1021 and 1220. always.
I am loving people who win the P4 game(s)i really do. He deserve this Real big jackpot, for him."
Better odds, than rigged MB and or PB on any given day/night. (Quoting dad.)
i am so happy he was so smart to keep it up.
Love this so much, CONGRATS... Now be smart, make it last a long LONG time, invest $$$
love this story.
G-night.
Like instructors used to say for a test...don't read into the question on an examination. Article, which was well written said he bought forty tickets on 8 JUN and not for a many different days/different times of the day.
Imagine if he bought 400 tickets?
Your missing the point The number he was playing was a date. The date of his mom's passing. The number 1220. Assuming it was in 2020, he had to have been playing it for a while. Congrats to him for his belief and persistence
I'm a bit on the old side and memory is not what it used to be. I seem to recall this multiple win thing is almost always in Virginia. anyone else seen this in other states?
Good for him.
ToeKnee
The same thing happens in other states, but some states (like Virginia) are better than others at making the news media aware of it when it happens.
Congrats Michael....
..... You were due
VA website and this article throws your theory out with the tub water. Nowhere in either article does it say 'he's been playing for a while.' He was one and done. Adios.
$40 on the Pick-4(same number set) is the equivalent of putting $400 on Pick-3. Most folks don't do it that way on Pick-3. The winner is one of handful of people who knows that the only way to win a jackpot match is by playing either Pick-3 or Pick-4. Although we do not know how long the winner was playing before he hit it big. I would love to see someone used the Pick-3 or Pick-4 game to win $10 Million to $20 Million in total winnings.
Hey bleudog did you read the part where Mr Rained says I knew it was gonna come out I just didn't know when. That doesn't sound like one and done
Congrats Michael, hope you do it again.
Your dad erroneously thinks that certain states always win and poor little NC never does so it must be rigged. I suppose selling 50 times as many tickets in those larger population states has nothing to do with it. Tell him it does not matter what state you live in. People cannot possibly be this stupid about this theory. There is no such thing as a lucky state, town, city, store or county. It is all 100% luck.
I remember that too.
"don't read into the question on an examination."
Good advice, but ...
"Nowhere in either article does it say"
It doesn't say anything either way, so a conclusion either way requires reading in something that's not there. Like Tony, I think it's fairly safe to read between the lines and figure the comment about not knowing when it would come suggests a strong possibility of playing over a period of time. What's certain is that even if he's been spending $40 twice a day for a year or two he's still ahead of the game.