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Sometimes watching reality television really does pay off. A man in South Carolina used the time he spent watching a reality TV show for his own benefit, trying out a winning strategy to score as many lottery prizes as he could.
According to a release from the South Carolina Education Lottery, a Lowcountry man, who wishes to remain anonymous, tried his hand at the lottery by following a strategy he learned while watching an episode of Lottery Changed My Life. Taking a tip from the show, the man pledged to spend $25 a week playing the lottery for three months to see if, and how much, he could win.
The strategy seemed to work its magic quickly. The man ended up winning $500 the first week and he continued to rack up even more cash by week seven when he scored $100,000 from a Powerball ticket he purchased at a Kwik Fill in Hanahan.
"I didn't even know how to play Powerball," he joked.
The man didn't even realize he won the major prize at first, thinking he only matched two of the numbers called in the May 28 drawing. After he and his wife double-checked the ticket, they discovered it was a winner. Even more, a 2X multiplier doubled the initial prize of $50,000 to $100,000.
According to lottery officials, the odds of matching all five white ball numbers as well as the red Powerball are 1 in 913,129. Even with the big win, the man isn't done with the lottery just yet.
"I'm going to finish out the three months," he said.
After taxes, the man took home $69,000, the Daily Mail reports. Since claiming his prize, he has purchased a new car and plans to keep following the, now winning, strategy.