Joan Ginther of Bishop, Texas has won multi-million dollar lottery payouts four times. Most recently, she won $10 million:
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Each of Ginther's triumphs has netted her a seven-figure sum of money and her winnings now top $20 million.
Her first success was in 1993, when she won half of an $11 million Texas Lottery jackpot. She then had something of a dry stretch, going a whole 13 years without another win. Then, in 2006, she won $2 million with a scratch–off ticket.
In 2008 it was $3 million prize from a scratch card. On Monday, she claimed her biggest win yet in the Extreme Payout competition.
Link via Stuff | Photo (unrelated) by Flickr user Robert S. Donovan used under Creative Commons license
Though, i don't blame her for wanting not to be known. How many strangers would have their hands out expecting something. However, i hear she does alot of good to those people who don't know her. I think she ran into a woman whos car broke down on her and bought her a brand new car. She's retired and probably just wants to be left alone. Our society has far more than they need already. I love the fact that she doesn't even own a cell phone. At least thats what i read somewhere. Maybe she won because she deserved to win. Ever think it may be fate?
First, the odds of you winning the lottery don't change with the number of dollars bet. It doesn't matter how many dollars are bet.
The main factors to consider are how many possible combinations of numbers there are, and what the payoff is for hitting the one **winning** combination. If the total payoff for a win exceeds the cost of covering all possible bets, you have a potential winning strategy...
Until you consider that others are also playing, and there is a strong possibility that you'll split the pot with at least one other player.
On top of that, you have to remember that not every dollar of ticket sales goes into the prize pool. About half goes to support whatever cause the lottery was set up to benefit and administration fees. Also, not all of the prize pool goes to the one(s) who match all the lottery numbers. You have to deduct out the lesser prizes, too. So of every dollar bet on the lottery, perhaps 40% or less goes to the jackpot, and 60% does not. It takes $20 million or more in bets to make your hypothetical $8 million jackpot prize.
Be glad you're not rich, Edward. I suspect it wouldn't last long.