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Olivia Burke
A mathematician has explained the 'simple' loophole a US man used to win millions on the lottery that is, apparently, '100 percent legal'.
Like everyone else in the world, number nerd Dr. Clio Cresswell just couldn't help but be intrigued when she heard about the extraordinary tale of Michigan couple Jerry and Marge Selbee.
Their incredible get-rich-quick scheme even inspired the comedy-drama film Jerry & Marge Go Large starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, so it's quite the big deal – and apparently, it's all thanks to some 'basic mathematics'.
For those who don't know about this super cool couple, let me enlighten you.
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Convenience store owners Jerry and Marge had intended to retire in their 60s and 'enjoy life a little bit' in their golden years, but their plans took a drastic turn in 2003 after selling their livelihood.
Jerry entered the store he used to own and spotted a new lottery game, called Winfall, and picked up a brochure for it.
Explaining he has 'a head for math', the former business owner who boasts a bachelor's degree in the subject said he realised there was something special it within just three minutes.
He realised that Winfall incorporated a 'special feature' known as a 'rolldown', which meant that if nobody scooped the jackpot for prolonged periods of time by getting all six numbers, it would stop swelling in size and the money would be divided among the next tier of winners.
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As you can probably deduce, this meant that those who matched only five, four or three numbers received a bumper payday instead of the usual chunk they would be awarded.
Jerry previously detailed how he incredibly 'cracked the code', albeit in extremely confusing terms for most people, but he told CBS News that he thought loads of people would have clocked on to the loophole.
But they hadn't – and Jerry and Marge began raking the cash in with their lucrative lottery scheme, even inviting family and friends to join in.
Soon, they were playing for thousands – but in 2005, Winfall was shut down in the state of Michigan.
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Luckily though, they found an almost identical game in Massachusetts called Cash Winfall where they were able to earn even more money, seeing them play for 10 hours a day, 10 days straight, with over '$600,000 per play.
The Massachusetts state treasurer eventually shut down the Cash Winfall game, and Jerry and Marge ended up £23 million richer by the end of it.
But although the astute lotto player was dubbed a 'mathematical nerd genius', Dr. Clio Cresswell doesn't reckon he is one at all – as she believes Jerry simply had an eye for opportunity.
Speaking to 60 Minutes Australia, the senior lecturer at The University of Sydney explained her theory behind how he was able to hit the jackpot 'more times than he could count'.
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Cresswell said unlike Jerry, 'not everyone is sitting on top of all the lotteries and studying all the numbers' – including her.
She said: "I'm a mathematician, personally, I'm not particularly into numbers. I wouldn't have noticed those numbers shift.
"You also know that these lottos or lotteries have educated mathematicians that are constantly looking at all these numbers, so if I wanted to make a lot of money, I'm not going to look at where all the top mathematicians are employed.
"So this was an anomaly, in that this rolldown created such a favourable condition for winning."
Explaining how the loophole works, the maths boffin continued: "It's as simple as, those that only picked three of the six numbers could then make a substantial amount of money, because it was rolling down to those less favourable.
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"So instead of always playing and going, 'I need to have all six numbers,' you're now actually going to make a substantial amount of money if you only pick three of the six numbers.
"And they were buying hundreds of thousands of tickets so they're investing quite a bit of money – there's still a risk, there's still the kick, they're still getting a gambling kick out of this game.
"What Jerry did is, he was able to see how much money was going to roll down."
She explained most people wouldn't pick up on the 'patterns in the numbers' like Jerry did, although we should do.
"All you needed to do is look at those numbers with basic mathematics and go, 'Hang on a second, something's going on here'," Creswell said. "He was not a nerd, I don't think he's a math genius, bless his cotton socks.
"He's dear to my heart because he's someone who's actually got his eyes open – you know, the numbers popped up and he didn't just walk past and he obviously wasn't doing things like picking his grandmother's birthday.
"He knew very much that any number works, and in this case the odds were in so much favour.
"So it's basic mathematics. What's beautiful and and sweet is that he saw that."
Guess we should have listened a bit more in our maths lessons, eh lads.
Topics: News, World News, Money, National Lottery
Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.
@livburke_
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