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Earlier this month, a 70-year-old woman from Delaware won two lottery jackpots totaling $400,000 in the same week, despite the incredible odds of such a feat. And it’s not the first time something like this has happened to a lottery winner, either.
The winner, who asked to remain anonymous, first won $100,000 after scratching a $100K Ultimate Cash instant lottery ticket she purchased for $20 from a Speedy Gas in Newark, Delaware, according to a Delaware Lottery press release. The odds of winning were 1 in 120,000.
On the way home from claiming her prize at Delaware’s lottery headquarters, she decided to celebrate by buying three $30 Serious Money tickets from a Tiger Mart in Dover, Delaware.
Despite the 1 in 150,000 odds of winning, one of her tickets won the jackpot prize of $300,000, bringing her total winnings to $400,000 for the week.
The woman, who described her reaction as “disbelief,” says she plans to save most of the money for retirement.
Other lottery winners that have won big twice
Double lottery winners aren’t common, but they do happen more than you might think.
Earlier this year, an Iowa woman won her second $100,000 lottery prize in a little more than two years. The winner said she planned to use her winnings to pay off debt and maybe start a business.
While the Iowa Lottery didn’t disclose the first game she played, her second win came by scratching a “Hit It Big!” ticket, which has odds of 1 in 116,808.
Last year, a man in North Carolina accidentally won a $25,000-a-year jackpot twice on the same day.
He bought a Lucky for Life lottery ticket, forgot he bought it, then purchased a second ticket with the same numbers, according to the state’s lottery site. The odds of winning just once is 1 in 1,813,028, according to the lottery game’s website.
And two years ago, a Nebraska man won two jackpots within a year. He first won $100,000 after purchasing a 20X The Money Scratch ticket, then a few months later, he won $50,000 from a Money Clip Scratch ticket bought at the same store.
The odds of winning each game was 1 in 80,000, according to the state’s lottery.
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