Engaging in the lottery is a risky and clueless business for most, to say the least. Everyone employs their own modes to deal with it, including using special numbers, noticing a pattern, switching different number combinations, etc. While most ‘formulas’ are just guesses in the dark, an Australian gentleman, Stefan Mandel, cracked the code for the Powerball using a simple math formula. Through this, he was able to win the lottery a staggering 14 times!
A Financially Struggling Economist
Mandel lived in Romania in the 1950s and worked as an economist. There, he faced a cash crunch, following which he planned to figure out a way to win a fortune. In the process, he came up with the perfect formula that predicted five of the six numbers for winning. He then spent the next four years in an attempt to perfect the arrangement. Then, with the help of three friends, he decided to test it. Only aiming for the second position winnings, they, as luck would have it, emerged at the first place, winning 72,783 leu, or $23,509. This amounted to the economist’s salary for almost 20 years.
Setting Up Shop in Australia
This amount, even after splitting between the four, left behind enough funds to enable Mandel to shift to Israel and then ultimately to Australia. After settling in Australia, Mandel started to reach out to investors and bought the most possible tickets. Using the same strategy of guessing five out of the six winning numbers, Mandel emerged as the winner a total of 12 times. Over time, Australian officials changed the rules to stop Mandel from winning continuously. However, he continued to win and eventually shifted to America. There, he again set out with his game plan. In 1992, he won the jackpot totaling $27 million, after which there was a four-year legal battle with the authorities.