Posted on 06/13/2018 12:59:59 PM PDT by JoeProBono
BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) —
A Boise man's persistence paid off Saturday night.
Michael Tran claimed a $2,000,300 Powerball prize after playing the same numbers regularly for the last eighteen years.
“I scanned the ticket with my phone last night and it said I had to contact the Lottery office,” Tran said about how he discovered he had the big winning ticket. “Then I checked the numbers for Saturday night and they looked very familiar!”
The winning ticket was purchased from the Winco Foods store located on Fairview Avenue in Boise.
Tran’s ticket matched the first five numbers but not the Powerball on one line of his ticket, and four of the first five numbers but not the Powerball on another. However, his ticket had the PowerPlay feature. The PowerPlay for Saturday night’s draw was 3, which applies to the line that matched four of the first numbers, turning his $100 winner into a $300 winner. For the line where he matched the first five numbers, that prize amount is always $2,000,000 with PowerPlay, making his ticket worth $2,000,300.
Tran plans to pay off his house and save the rest of his winnings.
The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night’s draw is $121,000,000.
George: You know what? I can’t do this. I can’t read books anymore. Books on tape have ruined me, Jerry! I need that nice voice. This book has my voice. I hate my voice.
True story - my great uncle played the same numbers for many years, they were picked by my great aunt. After she died he kept playing the same numbers for years then stopped. One night he had a dream, she was telling him to play her numbers. He did the next day and won something like 47 million. This was way back I’m guessing 93 or 94.
I don’t play the lottery, but, if he paid $5, it would be:
$5*52*18=$4680
$10*52*18=$9360
But, that’s not having invested the money....that’s just straight cash value. It’s a great deal if you look at it that way.
We’d have to know how much he spent to win the prize.
But he’s probably still coming out ahead of your idea. But, really that’s not your best point.
Your best point is that he’s one in a million that has done that well, where as someone investing as you said is a winner every time.
Play numbers higher than 31. Since many or most people play dates, you won’t have to share as much if you win.
If he really only bought one ticket at a time: The drawing is held twice a week and he spent $3 on the ticket, so that's $312/year x 18 yrs (the ticket only cost $1 in the past, but I'm ignoring that). He's spent less than 3k.
Of course, this is only a news story because winning money on the lottery is a very unexpected outcome.
I’m surprised they didn’t add the zeroes for cents, just for effect.
Red Badger wrote: “Lottery is a tax on stupidity.”
Perhaps...
But, after years of exhaustive research, I’ve discovered that every single winner had a ticket. As long as I’m playing with non-essential money, what the hell?
I’ve been playing the Lottery, in various forms, since the mid- to late- seventies. I’ve never hit a good sized pot, and I figure I’m in for about $30k at this point, but...over that period, that’s less than $1k per year.
Had I put that money into a decent stock fund (like I did with other money) it would have appreciated. But, I enjoyed the play, and the dreams.
I wasn’t betting the rent money, so will never feel bad about it.
gotcha :)
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