A man who won the lottery jackpot a massive 14 times has revealed exactly how he did it - without breaking the law.
Stefan Mandel, a mathematician with a knack for numbers, hacked the system to become a multiple jackpot winner, clinching the main lottery prize an astounding 14 times, all while remaining on the right side of the law, according to Lottery Critic.
The Romania-born Australian citizen leveraged his numeric prowess to craft a near-flawless formula, giving him an edge over a game where the odds of winning are typically a slim one in 14 million.
While serving as an economist in Romania, Mandel put his masterplan to the test, aiming for a second-place win by using his formula for the first five numbers needed, and taking a wild guess at the sixth. To his surprise, he bagged the grand prize, enabling him to move to Australia with his family.
Once settled in Australia, Mandel proceeded to perfect his lottery-busting formula for the Australian game.
His system required him to work out the total possible combinations of numbers and buy a ticket for each one, only entering draws that had a prize of at least three times as much as what he was spending on the tickets,
Given the astronomical number of combinations possible in the Australian lottery, he embarked on a search for investors. His plan was to buy as many tickets as possible for each significant draw.
While there were no laws banning the purchasing of every combination for the draw, he began to catch the attention of the Australian authorities after winning the jackpot 12 times.
Although his actions were legal, they weren't considered in line with the spirit of the game, prompting the introduction of laws to stop his strategy. One such rule made it illegal for a single person to buy all the lottery tickets.
Undeterred, Mandel brought five business partners on board. Yet again, the law adapted, prohibiting groups from buying all lottery draw tickets. But the crafty mathematician had a workaround – he established a lottery firm.
The cat-and-mouse game with the Australian government continued until Mandel, weary of the ongoing tug-of-war, decided to take his tactics elsewhere. He discovered that the U.S., unlike Australia, had no restrictions preventing his strategy. The Virginia lottery, in particular, caught his eye, as there were only 7.1 million possible number combinations, and tickets were sold at just $1 each.
Enlisting the financial backing of 2,500 Australian investors, each contributing $2,500, Mandel prepared to make his move. In 1992, when the jackpot reached a cool $27 million, Mandel and his team bought every single ticket.
He had full confidence in his win. "I knew that I would win one first prize, six second prizes, 132 third prizes, and thousands of minor prizes," Mandel shared with Planet Money. The venture yielded a whopping profit exceeding $30 million.
However, what followed was a four-year legal ordeal involving the CIA and FBI. Although suspicions were never substantiated, the laws were subsequently altered to prohibit Mandel's winning strategy. Unfortunately, by 1995, despite his past lottery successes, Mandel filed for bankruptcy.
