Massachusetts woman beats incredible odds to win $1 million lottery prize twice in 10 weeks
Massachusetts State Lottery
- Christine Wilson from Massachusetts won her second $1 million lottery prize within 10 weeks.
- She plans to save her winnings, having opted for lump sum payments both times.
- Despite the odds being 283 billion to one, there have been several double lottery wins.
A woman has claimed her second $1 million lottery prize within 10 weeks, playing the Massachusetts State Lottery.
Christine Wilson of Attleborough, Massachusetts, latest windfall came from the "100X Cash" $10 instant ticket game, adding to her previous win of $1 million from the "Lifetime Millions" $50 instant ticket game back in February.
She opted for the lump sum payment of $650,000 on both occasions.
Wilson used some of her previous winnings to buy an SUV. This time, she plans on putting her prize into savings.
The Family Food Mart in Mansfield, where Wilson purchased her latest winning ticket, will receive a $10,000 bonus from the Massachusetts State Lottery for making the sale.
Wilson's first $1 million prize was from Dubs's Discount Liquors, also in Mansfield.
Getting rich overnight does not always change lives
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
Winning the lottery even once is extremely unlikely. You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning a Mega Millions or Powerball contest.
Winning more than once is remarkable, but Wilson's back-to-back wins aren't a first in lottery history.
Fellow Massachusetts residents Kevin Miller and Kenneth J Stokes hit the jackpot twice.
A UK couple, David and Kathleen Long, who won £1 million ($1.25 million) in July of 2013, banked another £1 million and a Jaguar car in March of 2015.
But getting rich overnight does not always change lives for the better — some winners have ended up in debt or even been sent to prison.
New Jersey native Evelyn Adams also won the lottery twice — in 1985 and 1986, earning her a total of $5.4 million.
However, the lucky double win didn't sate Adams' gambling addiction, and she gambled her winnings away. As of 2016, she was penniless and living in a trailer park.
Juan Hernandez of Nassau County, New York, won the New York Lottery's Deluxe scratch-off game twice. When he struck gold a second time in 2022, he was "still trying to spend the $10m" he'd won in 2019.
The odds of winning the lottery twice are 283 billion to one, according to UK National Lottery operator Camelot.
Any lucky winner should think of it as preparing for a marathon and learn to say no to friends and family, a lottery advisor previously told Business Insider.
Business Insider contacted the Massachusetts State Lottery for comment.