"A lottery player has scratched a winning ticket which rests on a dollar bill background. The 7 in the Winning Number box matches the 7 mid-frame, resulting in a $1.00 win (Getty Images)
There seems to be nobody quite as lucky as Wayne Murray, a Brooklyn local who won a $10 million lottery prize for the second consecutive year.
While the odds of a single person winning such a substantial sum in the lottery not once but twice are astronomically low, Murray’s luck seems to defy these odds following his latest win earlier this month.
According to lottery officials, Murray bought his scratch-off from the H&A Gas & Convenience store in Brooklyn, which happens to be the same store where he purchased his previous winning ticket in August 2022. And similar to his first triumph, Murray opted for a single lump payment of $6,122,400.
Murray’s repeated win has undoubtedly put him in an exclusive club of multi-time lottery winners. This second victory amplified his fortune and intensified the public’s fascination with the gambling game based solely on luck. Yet, despite the enormous fortune in his bank account, his neighbor, Constance Bryane, says that Murray will most likely continue living a modest lifestyle in Brooklyn.
“That’s his house and will always be his house, even if he won the lottery a third time,” they told the New York Post. “He took care of his mother and his great aunt in that house until they both passed away. He’s all about family and his home, and his neighborhood. He’s very special that way.”
According to the outlet, the probability of winning each game is 1 in 3.5 million, yet Murray managed to do the unthinkable twice!
“He’s a super regular guy here,” the store clerk who sold him the ticket said. “He’s very friendly with the locals and very generous with his time. He could have moved out of the neighborhood after winning the first time, but he stood his ground. Money changes a lot of people, but he doesn’t show off or anything. He keeps it real, keeps it honest.”
Murray’s joyful news comes a month after a woman from Gloucester was left in “shock” when she hit the lottery jackpot for the second time in one week.
Jennifer Minton won $50,000 in November when she decided to play the Safari Quest online game. While that is a reasonable price to smile about, nothing could have prepared her for the money she would win when she returned for another game a week later.
When Minton won for a second time, scoring the jackpot of $912,000, she said she had no clue about her win, according to the lottery press release via PEOPLE. The jackpot had reset itself moments after her win, and while entirely unaware of her triumph, Minton recalled thinking, “Dang, somebody just hit. They are so lucky!”
It wasn’t until she looked at her phone screen that she realized she had scored close to a million dollars!
Roommates, have the recent success stories of Murray and Minton given you some motivation to try your luck at playing the lottery yet?
