Retired couple cracks lottery code, wins $30 million
A retired American couple cracked the code of a lottery game in 2003, winning $30 million (approximately 1 billion TL). As a result, the game was discontinued by the state.
Jerry and Marge Selbee, residents of Evart, Michigan, discovered a legal loophole in two different lottery games, amassing $30 million over several years.
The couple's ordinary life changed dramatically in 2003 when Jerry visited a convenience store he used to own.
CRACKING THE NEW GAME TOOK MINUTES
At the store, Jerry noticed a new lottery game featuring a "rolldown" feature.
A math graduate, Jerry said it took him just three minutes to crack the game before they began earning millions.
This new game worked differently from other lotteries.
Unlike the standard rule where the jackpot keeps growing until someone matches all six numbers, if the jackpot reached $5 million (165 million TL) and no one matched all six numbers, the money would roll down to the lower-tier prizes for those who matched five, four, or three numbers.
HOW HE CRACKED IT
Jerry explained to CBS how he figured out the game:
“Mathematically, if I played $1,100, I thought I could match four numbers, which was worth $1,000. I divided $1,100 by 57 and got 18, the number of tickets I needed for six numbers. If I hit three numbers 18 or 19 times, each was worth $50. For 18 tickets with four matches, I got $1,000, and 18 tickets with three matches, I got $900. So, I invested $1,100 (36,000 TL) and got $1,900 (62,000 TL) back."
Soon, the couple was playing with thousands of dollars: "We played $515,000 (17 million TL) and got back $853,000 (28 million TL)."
However, things changed when Michigan abruptly ended the game in 2005.
FOUND THE SAME GAME 1,500 KM AWAY
When one door closed, another opened. The couple found an identical game called Cash Winfall in Massachusetts and won even more.
The couple traveled 1,450 km to the state for each rolldown, purchasing hundreds of thousands of tickets from two stores.
10 DAYS OF NON-STOP GAMBLING
They played for 10 hours a day, 10 days straight, winning more than $600,000 per game.
Jerry continued:
“Our first game was 40,000 tickets for $80,000, and our last game was 366,000 tickets for $712,000. We spent 11 to 14 nights at a motel in South Deerfield and looked forward to it. It was profitable, and we could give small financial support to our family and friends.”
The Massachusetts State Lottery eventually ended the Cash Winfall game, bringing the couple's gambling adventures to a close.
Jerry's adventures were turned into a feature film, "Jerry & Marge Go Large," released in 2022, starring Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame.
