Winner credits studying years' worth of data for $118,000 Lotto 6/49 win
By Kate Northrop
LINDSAY, Canada — A Canadian lottery winner says he won the lottery after looking at data of past drawings he compiled on an Excel spreadsheet.
What others might attribute to sheer luck, a lottery winner from Ontario says its thanks to his attention to detail and spreadsheet skills that earned him a $118,000 (US$ 87,666) Lotto 6/49 prize.
Rendall Pennie of Kirkfield is $118,000 richer after dedicating time to figuring out which numbers are the best to play in the lottery.
His strategy might not be the most complicated one, but it certainly involves an extensive collection of lottery results.
"I've been playing Lotto 6/49 since it came out," the construction worker told the Ontario Lottery while collecting his prize. "I put together an Excel sheet with all the winning numbers and analyze the data to pick the most common numbers."
Since Lotto 6/49 launched in 1982, Pennie was potentially working with 41 years' worth of data.
But hearing the "Winner! Gagnant!" sound that plays upon scanning a winning ticket makes all that time and dedication worth it.
"I heard the winning jingle, and I didn't believe it," Pennie related. "I showed my partner, and her eyes opened wide, and she said, 'No way!'"
It's the largest lottery prize Pennie has ever won. As a father and grandfather, he wants to use it in a smart way, including paying off bills, buying new home furniture, and investing the remainder.
"This money is going to do so much for me," he concluded.
The winning numbers in the Jan. 4 Lotto 6/49 drawing were 4, 17, 21, 22, 31, and 38, with Bonus number 46. Pennie matched five of the regular numbers plus the Bonus number, beating the odds of 1 in 2,330,636, to win the game's second-tier prize.
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Congratulations!
I love "excel"!
I could never figure out Excel. If he's smart enough to use Excel, he's smart enough to win the lottery!
41 years of data! That is a lot of numbers to comb through! I do understand how Excel can help with number selections. I guess it why I never won any prize. I only 9 draws worth of history
Lmao this is just silly. If it took 41yrs of consistent playing it's not his method that worked but his luck. Odds are smaller too considering the prize amount. Everyone thinks they're a genius with their own methodology ( I play same ticket multiple times, as do many others, hoping to win second prize multiple times over for powerball and mega millions) and the day my methodology happen to work, I'm going to brag about how I out played the lottery after years of trying. 😂
I agree. Unfortunately when some people happen to win the lottery at the same time they applied some method or system, they attribute their win to the system rather than luck, and they spend all their resources and time trying to replicate the result. I posted before about such a person, who ended up going to jail for all kinds of fraud he committed trying to feed his lotto addiction. https://www.lotterypost.com/thread/342904/7091745
He didn't use 41 years of data. The writer said it was 41 years of potential data. Nobody goes back that far. Plus games change and data would be irrelevant. Maybe he used a repeat, one off or last handful of draws to make his selections. I believe that excel helped him.. Picking 6 numbers and a bonus ball. That's impressive.
Makes sense. Didn't really read the article but if you do data and numbers and can see frequencies then yes.
Well done. But can we really be sure that his not just one of the Avengers who has gone into lottery part time?
He played since the game was introduced 41 years ago. Even assuming he started to keep track half way (that's over 20 years ago) that is still a matter of luck and not his methodology.
Yikes. I personally know a former co-worker that uses the exact same methodology as stated in the article of utilizing an excel spreadsheet. He too has been doing it for years and so far no luck. I'm sure the day it works it's going to be a different story.
How much did he spend in the 41 years? That's the question I have.
Asking the right and smart questions... yup, how much did he spend in 41 years to win a $100,000. Probably broke even lol
I was told by someone a number breakdown ratio can determine the numbers. Still waiting to see what it looks like. I heard the main key to hitting these games.