Did you know ? A statistician has managed to win the lottery 4 times

Joan Ginther, 63, has a nickname: she is “the luckiest woman in the world”. Indeed, this Texan woman has won the lottery four times, while the chance of such an event occurring is only one in eighteen septillion, or 10 to the power of 42. This kind of event seemed far too unbelievable to many people, who set out to investigate. For them, this circumstance was much more than luck, and they were right.

Every time she won, this amazing lucky has won millions of dollars. The first time she won $5.4 million. Ten years later, she won the lottery again and won $2 million. Again two years later, this time she won $3 million. Then, in 2010, she landed a fourth award of $10 million. According to statistics compiled by specialists, such an event has only a chance in 18 septillion (or 10 to the power of 42) of occurring, and it could only happen once in a quadrillion years.

Nathaniel Rich, magazine reporter Harperis one of the first to have challenged the “luck” of Joan Ginther. His investigation revealed in the first place that the Texan was a former mathematics teacher with a doctorate from Stanford University, one of the best American scientific universities. Joan Ginther is also specialized in statistics. His knowledge could therefore very well have helped him to “cheat” the system and win the lottery winnings four times. She was very well able to identify the algorithm behind the lottery, which would have allowed her to determine where the winning tickets were sent and subsequently win.

Her luck was seen by many as the work of God, and the Texas Lottery Commission told the reporter that the winner was surely ” born under a lucky star “. She therefore had no suspicion of a criminal act, especially since she bought the winning tickets each time in the same store. Rich’s article is very thorough and details all the schemes she could have used to win. Despite this substantiated investigation, Joan Ginther never faced any lawsuits and was able to keep her winnings. Indeed, there is always a chance, however small, that her success in the lottery is purely the product of chance, her chances having increased each time she played, and perhaps she played very often.