A lucky feeling

A US war veteran has won over $2m by using his “intuition” to claim the main prize six times in the same lottery draw. Raymond Roberts Sr. won by using the same lottery numbers on each of his tickets.

won the money by playing the multi-state “Lucky for Life” lottery game

The Massachusetts resident explained that he had a lucky feeling about the numbers as they had links to dates that were special to him, such as birthdays and anniversaries. The Massachusetts State Lottery issued a press release about this phenomenal story, detailing that Roberts won the money by playing the multi-state “Lucky for Life” lottery game.

Breaking down the rewards

Roberts bought six tickets for the draw on December 14, matching the first five numbers on each. Roberts ultimately decided to accept a lump sum for five of the tickets. This works out as a $390,000 payment per ticket, totaling $1.95m across the five tickets. For the other ticket, he will receive $25,000 a year before taxes for the rest of his life or 20 years, whichever is longer.

has been using the same lottery numbers for over two decades

Roberts bought the winning tickets at a liquor store in Fall River; he has been using the same lottery numbers for over two decades. It is the first time that he has had significant success in a lottery draw. The owner of the liquor store also benefits – for each of the six winning tickets, the storeowner gets a $5,000 bonus.

A good year for lottery winners

When asked about what he plans to do with the winnings, Roberts said that he first wants to purchase a new motorbike. Then he’ll have a think as to what he will spend the rest of the money on.

Roberts isn’t the only interesting lottery winner this year. In November, a 70-year-old woman in Delaware won prizes totaling $400,000 from back-to-back scratch cards. Also last month, a person in California won the $2bn Powerball jackpot, the biggest payout in the history of US lotteries.