Students won more than $6 million on the lottery after discovering method to ‘beat the system’
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: DC Lottery/Achim Sass
A group of former students from Princeton University have won millions on the lottery.
The graduates managed to source an incredible 66 winning lottery tickets across four different states, which totalled more than $6 million.
And it seems it might not have been down to luck alone.
Apparently, there could have been a method behind the winning streak as the students are thought to have found a way to 'beat the system'.
Advert
The group of four - Manuel Montori IV, Matthew Gibbons, Hannah Davinroy and Zoë Buonaiuto - sourced tickets from different shops and gas stations in Indiana, Missouri, Washington and Columbia.
But it was one ticket, found by Montori in Missouri, that bagged them a $5 million win.
Although some have questioned whether their success was legal, there's nothing to suggest the group were acting outside of the law.
The masterminds bought up thousands of tickets in different regions, with some store managers claiming they would 'clean out' their supplies, spending thousands of dollars during each visit.
"They're either the luckiest people in the world or they found a way to beat the system," Philip Stark, Professor of Statistics at the University of California, told Good Morning America.
All four of the group are associated with a company founded by Montori - Black Swan Capital LLC - and experts have suggested that the group may have relied on publicly-available data from the ticket results to help increase their chances of winning.
It seems the group put a lot of money into hunting down winning tickets, with onemanager at Smoke ‘n’ Lotto in Bloomington, Indiana, telling The Indianopolis Star: "Basically, they would clean us out."
Apparently, Hannah and Zoe purchased hundreds of tickets over the course of several visits, explaining they were working on a study.
The manager, named Darian, said one of the group had asked to be notified when more tickets arrived at the store. She would then return and purchase them all.
The manager believes they must have purchased around $48,000 worth of tickets during their time visiting the shop.
In Missouri, meanwhile, it's reported that two women were spending $8,000 a visit buying up lottery tickets.
"They were doing the same thing I think at least at two other stores," said a manager from convenience store, Break Time.
"And I think there's another store in another town that they were doing it, buying from them, too."
The group's activity has raised questions over whether it's actually possible to be tactical when it comes to a big win, as they bought tickets for games that were coming to an end with big prizes still to be won.
Information about how many prizes have been claimed is shared daily by the Hoosier Lottery, though experts have warned that even buying hundreds of lottery tickets does not guarantee a win - and instead could just result in a massive loss.
While none of the group have wanted to chat to reporters about their win, Zoë Buonaiuto did tell one journalist: “Call me back in a year. I'm happy to talk to you in a year... It’s exciting.”
Very intriguing!