The man who won the lottery 14 times (part 1)

Comment #33

Kola — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 05:35:16 GMT

Yes RJOh, I'm aware of the Maddaog Challenge thread, but I don't follow it too closely. It's quite sobering that even with the ability to pick 12 white balls and 4 bonus balls, I think that Jackpot winners have been few and far between.

Oh well, the wonderful thing about Life though is that every living thing created within in It has the inborn ability to create, to be infinitely creative, especially when challenged. New ideas are being born and old ideas are being re-illuminated. And so it g... [ More ]

Comment #32

RJOh — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 02:52:43 GMT

If you have followed the Maddog challenge for PowerBall and MegaMillions, I think participants have been trying to pick 12 white balls and 4 bonus balls to cover 3168 combinations that have the winning combination. So far no such luck, maybe a larger range or an easier lottery like Lucky for Life will be needed.

Comment #31

Kola — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 00:05:23 GMT

I think I need to be clear that when I spoke of someone being able to break or bend the rules in my earlier post, I'm not speaking of criminal behavior, lol, I'm speaking of breaking or bending the mathematical rules that say it's near-impossible to win a Jackpot :-).

Comment #30

Stack47 — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:36:55 GMT

I love how everything to do with the lotto has to do with that jackpot isn t big enough.

It makes no sense to purchase all the possible combinations if the jackpot minus taxes was smaller than what was spent and lose money. Mandel's group waited until one of their targeted lottos' jackpot was three times more than the cost of purchasing tickets. But even then there was a chance of multiple winning tickets; there was an actual risk.

Comment #29

Kola — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:07:09 GMT

Ditto!

Before actually reading it though, I was hoping to read that someone had broken the rules and found a consistent way to win the occasional Jackpot or routinely win the 2nd and 3rd prizes, without the need of a significant bankroll and without the need to print hundreds or thousands of tickets. I know it sounds more than outlandish to say, but based on the inferences of my limited observation over the years, and a modest dose of rationality, a very small dose of course, lol, I do hope t... [ More ]

Comment #28

Soledad — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 13:18:06 GMT

That does seem to be the way with jackpot games. Bulk as many possible combinations and so on. 97k back in 1987 isn t bad. Isn t bad today either. I love how everything to do with the lotto has to do with that jackpot isn t big enough. It s never enough, etc etc. Just more positive reinforcement.

Comment #27

reddog — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 11:11:11 GMT

I remembered back when this happened. N.C. didn't have the lottery yet so I would make that hour drive to the Virginia border to play. To hear about this on the news blew my mind. Great article!! I didn't realize it took that many months to print that many tickets up.

Comment #26

Dd2160 — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 09:41:16 GMT

IKR lol waiting....

Comment #25

Dd2160 — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 09:39:14 GMT

Mandel genius at its best...dam and insanity at its best.

Comment #24

Stack47 — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 02:21:09 GMT

This link.

Comment #23

winsumloosesum — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 22:56:28 GMT

Lotterypost Thread: MIT Students

How a group of MIT students gamed the Massachusetts Lottery

Feb 23, 2016

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/300324

Also:

This Couple Found a Math Error in the Lottery and Made $27 Million (Playing Over and Over for 55 Weeks)

https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/this-couple-found-a-math-error-in-lottery-made-27-million-playing-over-over-for-55-weeks.html

Comment #22

Artist77 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 22:49:01 GMT

Me too

Comment #21

Original Bey — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 22:44:50 GMT

I can visualize the trailer with the group feverishly printing and stacking pay slips in a cramped basement as they race against the clock. Cut the views of the highway billboards with the current jackpot at the time and music intensifying in the background. I would cough up $12 to see it.

Comment #20

Artist77 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 22:35:55 GMT

This story would make a great movie. Wonder why I never heard this story before. But it was way before I ever bought my first lottery ticket.

Comment #19

Bleudog101 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 20:37:42 GMT

Go to winsomeloosesum's post and click on the youtube link and the video comes up if that's what you're talking about.

Comment #18

wander73 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 20:31:10 GMT

What's the link

Comment #17

Bleudog101 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:42:41 GMT

Thank you, Stack47.

Reminds me of that guy and wife that would travel to Massachusetts and buy all kind of tickets and even would print them off when one of the stores was closed. I know Todd ran this story and don't remember how much they won. They, as I remember and MIT students figured out how to win a defunct lottery in Mass, that is what they played. Mass. State Lottery got rid of that lottery which name escapes me.

Comment #16

Stack47 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:12:47 GMT

FYI, after they won the Virginia Lotto games, almost every state with a lottery passed legislation limiting the amount of time and the number of play slips an individuals could purchase. The syndicate paid retailers allow them to tie up their lottery terminals which meant no other players could purchase any type of ticket. With 5 lines on each play slip, they had to run almost 1.5 million slips.

This and this are probably the same syndicate.

Comment #15

GillyRunks — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 14:49:42 GMT

GOD'sBLESSINGSUNTO ALL

MR. STEFAN MANDEL WAS A HADWORKING,

SHARP, SPECTACULARBRILLIANT OF A MAN.

YUPHARDWORKPAYS OFF

Comment #14

TheMeatman2005 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 14:34:11 GMT

We all think about doing what he did when the jackpot gets high.

Comment #13

partlycloudy07 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 13:51:59 GMT

Kudo's to him and his team ! I cannot wait to read the 2nd part ......

Comment #12

Original Bey — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:43:34 GMT

Todd you left me hanging! This is cruel and unusual punishment. Looking forward to part 2. Nice read. Lol

Comment #11

Tang — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:04:19 GMT

Intriguing! I worked third shift, I should be asleep but I had to read this article. Goodnight

Comment #10

winsumloosesum — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:21:33 GMT

Method:

Buy every possible combination

If the jackpot exceeds the matrix of the game

jackpot of the game must exceed by a certain amount. Example, current jackpot $28 Million/Total sets = 7 million

He was not the only person to exploit the system. I believe there was a similar article posted here at Lotterypost.

Comment #9

Bleudog101 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:00:16 GMT

Read winsomelosesome's post on the replies, there is a link to the youtube video which is a good watch.

Comment #8

KY Floyd — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 05:33:55 GMT

Mandel claimed he could accurately predict 5 of the 6 winning numbers, reducing the number of combinations in a lottery from millions to mere thousands.

Can anybody tell me about this lottery with so many numbers that after picking 5 numbers there are still thousands of other numbers to choose the 6th number from

Comment #7

noise-gate — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:06:26 GMT

After reading the article, l could not help thinking about The movie The Imitation Game of how Allan Turing collaborated with Gordon Welchman, to build a machine that broke the German Enigma code during WW2. Impressive.

Comment #6

wander73 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 01:45:05 GMT

It's just an article. Yes I did read about him and the people who figured out the lottery. However, is there really a video out there. How about an algorythym

Comment #5

Maverick2842 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:49:50 GMT

CONGRATS MY FRIEND!

Winners never quit , and Quitters never win

Comment #4

amber124 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:27:37 GMT

The last paragraph made the hairs on my eyebrows rise up.

Comment #3

winsumloosesum — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:19:49 GMT

I love the old computers, tape drives etc.

Youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=293 v=4TqFp0efLK0

Comment #2

Bleudog101 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:11:09 GMT

This is a truly heartwarming story. The thing that caught my eye was the NAYSAYERS. They can crawl back under the rock where they came from. He proved them wrong BIG TIME.

Can hardly wait for part II

Comment #1

music* — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:06:14 GMT

Congratulations to Stefan Mandel and his team!

I cannot wait until Part 2.

The man who won the lottery 14 times (part 1)

Lottery Post — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:29:54 GMT

Just after 11 PM on February 15, 1992, a lottery ball machine at the Virginia State Lottery HQ spit out 6 winning numbers on live television: 8... 11... 13... 15... 19... 20.

In the coming days, officials would find out that one person had secured not only the $27,036,142 jackpot, but 6 second prizes, 132 third prizes, and 135 minor prizes collectively worth another $900k.

What unfolded next was the strangest, most improbable lottery tale in history one involving thousands of internation... [ More ]