Accidental millionaire: California woman accidently buys the winning lottery ticket
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Have you ever had a “lucky” accident? Sometimes accidents can lead to good fortune. This is exactly what happened to a woman in California, whose initial misfortune lead to her becoming a millionaire.
Back in November, 2021, LaQuedra Edwards was going about her everyday business when she decided to spend $40 (approx. £30.70) on the lottery. She put her money into a vending machine at a Vons Supermarket in Tarzana, Los Angeles County. Just as she was about to select which lotto games she wanted to play, “some rude person” bumped into her, causing her to push the wrong numbers into the machine.
The stranger did not even offer an apology, “he just bumped into me, didn’t say a thing and just walked out the door”, said Edwards, who was upset that she had spent most of her lottery money on one ticket, rather than selecting a range of cheaper games. As a result of being bumped into, Edwards had accidently purchased a 200X Scratchers ticket on the California Lottery, worth $30 (approx. £23.03), which is a fair amount to spend on a single lottery game.
However, the lotto enthusiast’s frustration soon turned into elation when she got into her car, almost causing her to have another accident, but this one would have been much more serious; “I didn’t really believe it at first, but I got on the 405 freeway and kept looking down at (the ticket), and I almost crashed my car”.
Fortunately, there were no more accidents that day for Edwards, “I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my (California Lottery) app, and I just kept thinking this can’t be right”. There was no mistake this time, Edwards had won $10 million (approx. £7.7 million).
Whoever the “rude person” was, created an instant millionaire. No doubt that person would be shocked to hear the news, as was Edwards when she gave her press statement to the California Lottery on April 6, 2022; “I’m still in shock. All I remember saying once I found out how much I just won was, ‘I’m rich’”. Perhaps the person who pushed Edwards was really a guardian angel, or someone with the Midas touch. It would make for a good movie plot either way.
The Vons Supermarket also benefitted from the lucky accident, as a $50,000 (approx. £38,392) bonus was paid out for selling the ticket.
According to her press statement, Edwards plans to buy a house with her new winnings and start a non-profit organisation.
Although you can’t play the California Lottery from the UK, there are a wide range of online lotteries available at Lottoland which you can bet on.
The odds of winning the $10 million jackpot on the 200X California Lottery are 1 in 3,034,165. Lottoland offers British punters the chance to bet on an international lottery with even more favourable odds, the Polish Mini Lotto, which offers odds of 1 in 850,668 with a jackpot of £70,000 up for grabs.
If £70,000 isn’t a big enough temptation, the Irish Lotto offers a minimum jackpot of £1.7 million with jackpots rising to up to £15.8 million. The Irish Lotto is one of Lottoland’s most popular lotteries due to having much more favourable odds than the UK Lottery, 1 in 10,737,573 compared to 1 in 45,057,474 – yet still offering very generous jackpots.Whilst the California Lottery may not be offered in the UK, you can still bet on the two biggest American lotteries, PowerBall and Mega Millions, which offer the biggest lottery jackpots in the world.
The record jackpot for PowerBall is a mind-boggling $1.586 billion (approx.. £1.217 billion) whilst the Mega Millions biggest jackpot is not far behind at an unbelievable $1.537 (approx. £1.179 billion). The Powerball minimum jackpot is $20 million (£15.4 million) whilst Mega Millions gives you the chance to win at least $40 million (£30.7 million).
However, take into consideration that the odds for these lotteries are much higher, with odds of 1 in 292,201,338 for PowerBall and 1 in 302,575,350.
Betting on the lottery with Lottoland gives punters the chance to increase their odds by taking advantage of System Bets, which allow you to bet with more than the standard amount of numbers.There are also special features available on selection lotteries, for a small extra fee.
NumberShield allows you to block the numbers which you choose so that no one else can select them, meaning if your lucky numbers are drawn, you take home all the prize.
Only a month after LaQuedra Edward’s win, Scotty Thomas, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, became another “accidental” lottery winner, but this time he unbelievably won DOUBLE the jackpot!
Thomas purchased two identical tickets for the same lottery after he had forgotten if he had already purchased one; “I was just lying in bed watching a basketball game on TV, and I couldn’t remember if I filled it out or not”, he recalled. “I went ahead and filled it out again, and the next morning my son asked why there were two different amounts listed. I realised, ‘I think I filled it out twice.’”
His forgetfulness resulted in Thomas winning two prizes of $25,000 (approx. £19,150) a year for life! He purchased both the tickets online for $2 (approx. £1.50) each.
Thomas described the win as “a blessing” and chose to take both prizes in the form of a one-time, lump-sum payment of $780,000 (£597,427) in total.
You can set-up a Subscription with Lottoland for up to 52 weeks and you can also select the days which you prefer to enter the draw on. So you won’t forget to enter the draw, but you can still win double the jackpot as Scotty Thomas did.
Lottoland’s exclusive DoubleJackpot feature gives you the chance to win double the jackpot amount, if you select this option and your numbers come up, you win double the prize!When you bet on the lotto with Lottoland, you receive an e-mail confirming your numbers and entry into the draw and if you win, Lottoland will contact you.Smaller prizes are paid out with the money that Lottoland generates directly from sales whilst larger jackpots such as those offered by PowerBall and Mega Millions are paid out through Lottoland’s insurance policy. In 2018, Lottoland paid out a Guinness World Record for the largest online gambling payout, a massive €90 million (approx. £74.8 million) which was won by a cleaner from Germany who bet on the EuroJackpot.
Lottoland are headquartered in Gibraltar and are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
With Lottoland, you don’t have to worry about any accidents happening altogether. No horror stories about losing the winning ticket or forgetting to select your lucky numbers.
All of this can be done from the comfort of your own home, or anywhere with an internet connection, so you don’t have to worry about anyone bumping into you whilst you select your numbers at the local supermarket! Mind you, accidents are not always a bad thing!
