Husband Wins $1 Million Lottery Twice in One Week After Trying to Please Angry Wife
"It’s actually a funny story," the winner says.
An Australian couple were stunned and thrilled after they managed to buy two $1 million winning scratch-off lottery tickets in one week. "It's actually a funny story as to why we ended up with the same entry twice," the unidentified man—who lives in Dapto, Wollongong—told News.com.au. Read on to find out more, including the odds of winning and what the couple plan to do with their newfound jackpot.
Unhappy Wife Motivates Winning Purchase
The couple's lucky break of a lifetime originated with some marital tension. The man's wife was upset that he didn't submit her desired numbers to the lottery the previous week, "and she wasn't too happy with me," he said. "So, this week I thought I'd put them on twice to make up for it." He bought two tickets at two different newsstands in their neighborhood, using the same numbers his wife had used for more than 30 years without success.
Odds of Winning Just Once Nearly 1 in 2 Million
"This morning she kept crossing off number after number on her ticket, and once we realized we'd won $1 million [roughly $668,000 USD] on one ticket, I thought I should probably tell her about the second identical ticket too," the man said. Experts estimate the chances of buying one winning ticket in the Australian lottery are one in 1.8 million. Never mind two winning tickets. "I can't believe this has happened to us," the man said.
How the Winners Plan to Spend Their Haul
The couple said they plan to use their $2 million jackpot to help their family members. "My mind is racing with all the things I can do for my family," said the woman. "I can buy my daughter a house. I can set up the children and grandchildren for the future." They plan to use the remainder for travel and other leisurely activities.
A Six-Time Multiple Lottery Winner
Multiple lottery wins are rare, but they do happen to an extremely lucky few. Last December, a Vietnam veteran won the Massachusetts lottery six times in one ticket purchase, a lucky break he attributed to "intuition." When Raymond Roberts bought six "Lucky for Life" tickets from a local liquor store, intuition told him to use the same six numbers on each ticket. He won six cash prizes of $390,000 each, more than $2 million in total.
Despite Astronomical Odds, A Multiple Jackpot
The Lucky For Life game awards a set prize for correctly guessing five numbers in a drawing. As Roberts discovered, it's possible to win multiple times. But it's not likely: the odds of winning just one $25,000-per-year-for-life prize are one in 1,813,028. Roberts chose his winning numbers from an assortment of birthdays and anniversaries. He said he had previously used the numbers on other tickets but drew a blank and decided to use them again on the day he won big. He said he planned to buy a motorcycle with part of his winnings.
