True or false?
On the March 30, 2005 Powerball lottery drawing, a record 110 players matched five of the six lucky numbers drawn for the 2nd place prize. The second-place winners were due $100,000 to $500,000 each, depending on how much they had bet. Paying all 110 of them, meant almost $19 million in unexpected payouts. The average number of people getting five or of six numbers correct was usually only 4 or 5, so when 110 people won second place, officials thought someone was cheating the system.
However, each of the 110 winners were legit. All of them had picked the lucky numbers 22, 28, 32, 33, 39 and 40. The Powerball lottery winning numbers were 22, 28, 32, 33, 39 and 42 (not 40). Where did all these people get their one-in-three-million combination from? Believe it or not, a fortune cookie! In an interview with Derrick Wong, of Wonton Foods, after the incident, he said, “The same number combinations go out in thousands of cookies a day. The workers put numbers in a bowl and pick them at random. But, we are not going to do the bowl anymore, we are going to use a computer now. It’s more efficient.”
There have actually been many, many people who won lotteries around the world using lucky numbers from fortune cookies as their lucky numbers. So, the next time you get a fortune cookie, don’t throw out the paper with the lucky numbers on it. Head straight over to a store that sells lottery tickets, and at least buy one lottery ticket with those lucky numbers on it.
True Or False? Strangers pick the same lucky numbers and win the lottery.
TRUE
