Nearly 2,000 people chose all zeroes as their lottery numbers. Now, they share a $7.8 million jackpot

Sometimes an individual may come up with an idea that is seemingly unique, only to find out that several others have a similar thought process. This happened to 2000 people in North Carolina, who decided to pick all zeroes in the Carolina Pick 4 lottery back in 2019, but were shocked when their supposedly odd choice turned out to be the winning number, 0-0-0-0. This meant that they had to split the $7.8 million in prize money among themselves. 

Dozens of those lucky winners showed up at the state's lottery headquarters in Raleigh to be the first ones to claim their prize money. The NC Education Lottery shared a photo on Twitter showing how at one point too many winners assembled at the entrance of the building. Willie Ward, who was one of the winners, later spoke to CNBC and said how she plays zeroes in Pick 3 and Pick 4 lottery games. "I love the zeroes," she said. "I’m dedicated to them."

"More than 2,000 Carolina #Pick4 players matched 0-0-0-0 in Saturday’s daytime drawing. Today many of the lucky winners stopped by lottery claim centers across the state to claim their winnings. RT to help us congratulate them! #NCLottery," the tweet announced. 

In this particular game, players can either pick their numbers or select a Quick Pick by allowing the lottery terminal to generate four numbers on their behalf. 

Another winner named Stephen Crater told state lottery officials how this was the first time that he ever played all zeroes. "We’ve got a family reunion coming up," Carter says in a statement. "We’re excited to show off our big check there."

According to officials for the NC Education Lottery, the set of four identical numbers which is called "Quads" is among the most popular number combinations for lottery players. In the same year, more than a thousand people in South Carolina became at least a couple of thousand dollars richer after they all played the same combination of winning lottery numbers, which was 2-2-2-2. At that time the South Carolina Education Lottery paid out a total of $3.4 million to almost 1,400 lucky winners, a record prize for the state’s Pick 4 lottery, via CNBC Make It.

This was also seen back in 2012 when the winning numbers were 1-1-1-1 and more than 5,600 pick 3 winners split the prize money of $2.1 million. The odds of matching all four of NC Education Lottery's Pick 4 numbers are 1 in 10,000 and players have the option of paying either $1 for a ticket, which offers the chance to win up to $5,000 in prize money. However, it's important to note that playing the same numbers over and over again doesn't actually improve your odds of eventually hitting a jackpot. 

According to the lottery officials, the players normally have 180 days to claim their winnings at one of the six regional offices. The Pick 4 game generates more than $650 million each year for North Carolina education programs and is one of the most popular regional lotteries.