Retired couple cracked the lottery code and scooped £20 million

If you thought that winning the lottery was all about luck, you were wrong. Retired couple Jerry and Marge Selbee have proved that you need to use critical thinking and some basic math to win, whether you are playing the state lotto or enjoying instant play casinos.

This lovely couple from a small town in Michigan made waves when word came out that they have won $26 million over six years. Jerry and Marge Selbee were high school sweethearts, who raised their six kids by running a small convenience store in their town.

The couple enjoyed their job for 17 long years before retiring in their 60s. Jerry, a Bachelor's and MBA degree holder in mathematics, saw a brochure about the state's lottery and decided to take a look.

The windfall

Unlike other lotteries, the lotto game – Windfall – had one distinction. When the jackpot exceeded $5 million, it would start rolling down to those people who had gotten 5, 4, or 3 numbers correct. It came as a shock to Jerry that no one else had figured out what a gold mine that was, but he decided to try his formula first.

From his many years of solving puzzles and practising math, the 64-year-old genius figured out something fantastic in just three minutes. If no one guesses all six numbers during the roll-down weeks, every ticket would be worth more.

Through simple arithmetic, as he puts it, Jerry figured out that if he played with tickets worth $1100, he would have at least one 4-number winner, which would give him $1000. The same figure also gave him 18 or 19 3-number winners who brought in $50 each, earning him $1900.

Though he lost his first $50, he proceeded to buy tickets worth $3600 and won $6300. The second time he bought $8000 worth of tickets and got $15700 in return.
Jerry couldn't hold his excitement anymore, so he told his wife, kids and close friends about his winning formula. Together, they started a company called GS Investment Strategies LLC and got to work.

Every time the lottery company would announce a roll-down period, the group would buy tickets worth thousands and play the game, which gave them amazing results.

Unfortunately, Windfall was shut down unexpectedly due to poor sales. But our little group of geniuses was not about to give up on something so great and so, they learned about a similar lotto company in Massachusetts. They now started taking in members who paid $500 to get in.

According to the Selbees, they would sit in a small hotel room for 10 hours straight sorting through tickets seven times a year. Their input was so massive that they would enter $600,000 in a single attempt.

They also kept all their losing tickets in 65 buckets in case the federal agents ever came after them. During these six years, the couple and their group members raked in $26 million in total, making $8million in profits.

The investigation

At the height of their windfall in 2011, the Boston Globe reported their exploits causing the Massachusetts state treasurer to order an investigation. According to the report, the Selbees, and another group of computer geeks from MIT, were buying an extraordinary volume of tickets and making a lot of money.

The MIT students had raked in a cool $3.5 million in profits after betting $18million over the course of seven years.

However, the investigators found no evidence of rigging or organised crime, and they concluded that the couple, as well as the MIT students, had figured out how to crack the lottery code and win legally. According to Greg Sullivan, the lead state inspector, it was dumbfoundedly amazing that a couple of math geniuses had found a way to beat the state lottery and win millions legally. Nonetheless, the lotto did not continue for long after the story leaked.

While speaking to CBS News, Mr. Selbee explained how it is just basic arithmetic. His satisfaction over the last six years was knowing that he was doing something worthwhile not just for his family but for their friends and families as well.

Due to the high-volume betting, their escapades made the state very rich. "There has been no flash holiday, new hot tub, or even a sports car," said Jerry.

Instead, the couple used the money to renovate their home and educate their kids and grandkids. Jerry also bought gold and silver coins and kept them in anticipation of hard economic times ahead.

The Hollywood signing up

The couple has now agreed to sell the rights to their amazing story to a Hollywood studio that will turn it into a movie. The math whizz is super excited about the future and can't wait to see who plays him in the much-anticipated film.

In the meantime, the old couple gets to finally enjoy their retirement and enjoy their success and play with their grandkids in old age.