How a retired couple found lottery odds in their favor


Last year, Americans spent more than $80 billion playing state lotteries, that's around $250 for each citizen, more than what was spent on concerts, sporting events and movie tickets combined. Over 25 states took in more from their lottery proceeds than from corporate income tax. Because of these stakes, it's essential that, in both perception and reality, lotteries are truly games of chance, everyone entering with an equal opportunity to win. Which is why investigators took note when a retired couple from Michigan, Jerry and Marge Selbee, made $26 million winning various state lottery games dozens of times. This is not a story, though, of a con, or a scam, or an inside job. No, this is a ballad of a couple from small-town America who did something that most people only dream of. They didn't so much as beat the lottery odds as they figured them out.Get more news about 彩票包网服务,you can vist loto98.com

For years, high school sweethearts Jerry and Marge Selbee lived a quiet life in Evart, Michigan, population 1900. A single-stoplight factory-town that collapses in the folds of a map.

Together they raised six kids and ran a local convenience store on Main Street. Jerry handled the liquor and cigarettes and Marge kept the books and made the sandwiches.But one morning in 2003, Jerry happened to walk back into the corner store and spotted a brochure for a brand new lottery game called Winfall. Jerry always possessed what he calls, "a head for math." He has a bachelor's degree in the subject from nearby Western Michigan University. And in only a matter of minutes, he realized that this was a unique game.

That feature was called a "Rolldown", and the lottery announced when it was coming. Unlike the Mega Millions games you've probably heard of where the jackpot keeps building until someone hits all six numbers and wins the big prize, in Winfall, if the jackpot reached $5 million, and no one matched all six numbers, all the money 'rolled down' to the lower-tier prize winners, dramatically boosting the payouts of those who matched five, four or three numbers.

Jerry Selbee: Here's what I said. I said if I played $1,100 mathematically I'd have one 4-number winner, that's 1,000 bucks. I divided 1,100 by six instead of 57 because I did a mental quick dirty and I come up with 18. So I knew I'd have either 18 or 19 3-number winners and that's 50 bucks each. At 18 I got $1,000 for a 4-number winner, and I got 18 3-number winners worth $50 each, so that's 900 bucks. So I got $1,100 invested and I've got a $1,900 return.