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
While most would think it was a dumb move, it turns out it was the smartest thing to do.
3 hours ago
The sisters said that with five of them in the house, their mom had to keep the lamp hidden.
4 hours ago
Taylor never knew he had won because the slot machine had malfunctioned.
15 hours ago
Dwyane 'the Rock' Johnson said that his friend's actions changed the course of his life.
1 day ago
The Texas inventor pitched a generator named after him on the third season of Shark Tank.
1 day ago
Despite putting the contestant in an awkward position the host did get the audience to laugh.
1 day ago
Although fans have admired his energy on the episode for years, Paul revealed why he wasn't too happy.
2 days ago
It took more than a decade and an amazing invention for Les Cookson to secure a deal on Shark Tank.
2 days ago
The contestant was also defended by some who said they would've made the same mistake.
2 days ago
While the item received a record-breaking appraisal, a flaw prevented its value from going higher.
3 days ago
She has starred in classic films such as "Sixteen Candles", "The Lost Boys", and "Twister".
3 days ago
What is Judy Sheindlin’s salary per episode? Here’s what we know about the TV judge and her new IMDb TV show, ‘Judy Justice.’
4 days ago
Sajak was criticized by fans on the internet but the contestant clarified that it was just for fun.
4 days ago
Danielle Perez had gone viral after talking about the awkward moment on "The Price is Right" on social media.
4 days ago
The singer also got Malone's number but is only focusing on sharing his work with him for now.
5 days ago
The incident did not bring down the woman's excitement as she kept jumping on stage.
5 days ago
The guest had no idea whose face was engraved on the top of the box and how much it cost.
5 days ago
The young entrepreneur saw a common problem kids his age faced and came up with an invention.
6 days ago
It was a gift from the father of his first client to whom he had sold a condo.
6 days ago
The singer wanted to celebrate his journey by sending fans to the place linked to his early days.
6 days ago