ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

Virginia man wins $800,000 with 160 lottery tickets — he played the same numbers on all of them

Cross isn't the first person to pick the same number for multiple tickets, but won big with more than a hundred of them.
PUBLISHED OCT 21, 2024
Photo of customers buying lottery tickets Cover Image Source: (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Photo of customers buying lottery tickets Cover Image Source: (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

It's not unusual for people to guess the winning number in a lottery but an individual could get one, two, or three winning tickets in a lifetime. But fate had something special in store for Kwame Cross of Virginia, who won a payout with all 160 tickets, which he bought when he was feeling lucky. Simply based on a strong hunch, the man chose the same number for all the tickets and beat incredible odds to walk away with $800,000.

Jackpot gold casino lotto label with glowing lamps in the background | Getty Images |  stock illustration
Jackpot gold casino lotto label with glowing lamps in the background | (Image source: Getty Images)

Trusting his Gut

Cross, a small business owner from Washington, D.C., bought the 160 tickets in 2020, for the popular Pick 4 game. While at the Sunoco gas station in Arlington, he decided to play the same four-digit combination: 7-3-1-4 for each of his tickets. Speaking to the lottery officials, he explained that he saw the numbers in the background of a TV show, and "for some reason" it just stayed in his mind.

"I just had a feeling," he was quoted as saying in the official press release. On the day of the draw, each of Cross's tickets won the top prize of $5,000, which was multiplied 160 times into a six-figure reward.



 

The lucky winner shared that he was waiting in the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant when he found out that he had 160 winning tickets. At first he couldn't believe that it could be possible. "I had to pull over and check like 82 times. It feels surreal!" he said.

The Virginia Lottery added that the chances for Cross to match all four numbers in exact order for just one of his tickets were 1 in 10,000. Thus, matching the numbers in all 160 tickets meant that beat astronomical odds. Cross shared that at the time, he had no immediate plans about spending the money. 



 

A Common Strategy?

Cross wasn't the first or the only winner to play the same number on multiple tickets. In a similar case, a woman from Virginia, won the lottery 30 times in a single day. Deborah Brown picked the same numbers for all of her 30 Pick 4 tickets and netted her a massive prize of $150,000 in total, NBC News reported. Like Cross, the Richmond resident also revealed that she had an intuition that the number would be a winner.



 

While these are individual cases, back in 2019, the same happened to a whopping 2,000 lottery participants. The residents of North Carolina,  decided to pick all zeroes in the Carolina Pick 4 lottery and all of them ended up winning the top prize. Hence, instead of multiplying their winnings, this lot of lucky winners shared a prize of $7.8 million, according to the official release. The NC Education Lottery shared a photo on Twitter showing how "too many winners" ended at the doorstep of their headquarters to claim the mega prize.



 

One of the participants Willie Ward, told CNBC that she decided to pick the four zeroes for her ticket as she simply loved the number. She shared that she plays the same combination everytime was was fully dedicated to the combination. On the other hand, another winner named Stephen Crater shared that it was only his first time playing all zeroes.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
According to the expert, personal letters and a signature from Tolkien himself added to the value of the book.
7 hours ago
Chistina and Katie Currie won over $88,000 in cash and two exotic vacations with their stunning performance.
8 hours ago
After everyone backed out, the billionaire Shark stepped up to help the founder of Diaper Dust.
1 day ago
Sun kept repeating the incorrect phrase but couldn't identify the error in time.
1 day ago
After almost closing a deal with Mr Wonderful, the founder of 'Simply Good Jars' pivoted hard.
1 day ago
The host thought it was the "worst possible answer" to give even as the team felt it was good enough.
2 days ago
Adding to the controversy, the owner of Dr. Mudd's lapdesk asked Harrison for $100,000.
2 days ago
With just milliseconds to spare, Sarah LaPilusa pulled off an incredible Bonus Round win.
2 days ago
Ozark Trail 64 oz Water Bottles were recalled after the lids of faulty bottles forcefully ejected.
3 days ago
The player laughed and giggled her way through the puzzles to win prizes worth over $57,000.
3 days ago
Scott Riccardi placed an unbelievable wager during Final Jeopardy! to win a massive amount in a day!
3 days ago
The guest got a 200% return on investment on her sculpture that she bought from Macy's.
3 days ago
Jennings had a record-setting winning streak as a contestant before he became the host.
4 days ago
The player, Ron Wheeler, tragically got no clues after his letter picks for the final puzzle.
4 days ago
The former kids champion, Skyler Hornback knew what was coming.
4 days ago
The fans took issue with the clue being too tough and unnecessary for the contestants.
5 days ago
Cuban wanted to strike a deal with the founder of Coconut Girl and gave her an ultimatum.
5 days ago
Although the word did make a lot of difference, some fans felt that the decision was ridiculous.
5 days ago
The guest, who found the item online, didn't think it was the real deal until he heard its value.
6 days ago
The player Samantha secured the first big win of Ryan Seacrest's run on the show.
6 days ago