WATCH: Retired Couple Wins $26 Million Legally Beating Lottery
Date Posted: Monday, January 28th, 2019
A retired couple who won $ 26 million playing state lotteries with simple arithmetic could have a Hollywood movie made from their incredible story.
Jerry and Marge Selbee earned millions of millions of different lottery games in six years and helped others in their home town of Evart, Michigan, to beat the system.
The couple sold the supermarket they had run in 2003 for 17 years, when Mr. Selbee made the discovery that changed their lives.
He has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Western Michigan University and when he saw a brochure for a new lottery called Windfall, he realized within minutes how he could beat the odds.
The unique feature he crunched was the roll-down where no one won the jackpot of $ 5 million and the money was then divided among those who matched five, four and three figures.
Jerry and Marge Selbee earned $ 26 million with setting up a state lottery syndicate with their friends and family.
The couple raised six children and ran a supermarket in their hometown of Evart, Michigan, before retiring in 2003.
Lottery bosses announced when this happened and it meant that Jerry knew when to buy thousands of tickets and that he would get a certain number of five, four and three matches.
His first attempt to crack the code was to double his money, buy $ 3,600 Winfall tickets first, get $ 6,300, buy $ 8,000, and almost double that amount.
After telling his shocked wife about the win, Jerry and Marge started to play for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Selbee, who worked for Kellogg's in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he designed boxes to extend the shelf life of freeze-dried foods and grains, then set up a company called GS Investment Strategies and invited family and friends to buy shares for $ 500 each.
When the Michigan game was closed due to a lack of sales, the couple focused on a game from Massachusetts about 900 miles away.
The couple were in a Red Roof Inn and sorted the tickets 10 times a day for 10 consecutive days, paying more than $ 600,000 per game seven times a year.
The Selbee's kept all losing cards, which amounted to about 18 million, in 65 plastic buckets in their shed.
Selbee told CBS News: It is basically just a matter of calculating. It gave you the satisfaction of being successful in something that was worthwhile, not only for us personally but also for our friends and our family.
The only thing that I found remarkable is that no one else seemed to understand it.
Their remarkable story came to light in 2011 when the Boston Globe received a tip that Cash Winfall cards were sold at an exceptional volume.
The newspaper found the Selbees and a group of mathematics students from MIT dominated the game.
Jerry Selbee kept all losing lots, which amounted to about 18 million, in 65 plastic buckets, stored in the barn of the family.
Between $17 and $18 million was gambled by the MIT syndicate over a period of seven years, and earned at least $ 3.5 million profit.
As a result, the treasurer in Massachusetts closed the Cash Winfall contest and called for an investigation, fearing the game had been rigged. But the research showed that no chance of winning was influenced by the large number of gambling games.
Their company earned a total of $ 26 million and the Selbees left with nearly $ 8 million in pre-tax profits.
The Selbees used the money to renovate their home and help pay their six children, 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren for education. Now they have the right to sell film producers who are planning to make a film about their lives.
Watch the video below:
Source: whatsnew2day.com
Date Posted: Monday, January 28th, 2019 , Total Page Views: 2434
Like what you're reading? Please help us continue providing you with informative and thought provoking stories by becoming a supporter of Moorenews.net
Got A Story To Share? Click here to submit your story to us.
