Friday, August 22, 2008
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — A woman and her accountant husband who claims he's developed a formula for lottery picks have each claimed $350,000 jackpots — twice.
Verlyn and Judith Adamson claimed two $350,000 jackpots on Monday because each held a winning ticket in the state SuperCash drawing last Saturday. They didn't mention at the time that they also held two more of the winning tickets.
They claimed those jackpots Thursday. All four were purchased at different locations, but with the same numbers and for the same drawing. Their winnings now amount to $1.4 million, or about $955,000 after taxes.
The Adamsons left a voice message on their phone saying they wouldn't have any public comment and referring any questions to their lawyer Scott Thompson.
Verlyn Adamson said earlier in the week that he's a big fan of math puzzles. He claims he developed a formula for lottery picks, but his winnings have been small until now.
Thompson said the Adamsons are "exploring patent protection" for the equation.
But Steven Post, a mathematics professor at Edgewood College in Madison, wasn't buying it. He said there is no way to devise a strategy for finding the winning numbers in a game that uses randomly generated numbers [this is an assumption! The accountant knows they aren't random] to determine the winning combination.
The only strategy would be to "buy all the tickets," he said.
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — A woman and her accountant husband who claims he's developed a formula for lottery picks have each claimed $350,000 jackpots — twice.
Verlyn and Judith Adamson claimed two $350,000 jackpots on Monday because each held a winning ticket in the state SuperCash drawing last Saturday. They didn't mention at the time that they also held two more of the winning tickets.
They claimed those jackpots Thursday. All four were purchased at different locations, but with the same numbers and for the same drawing. Their winnings now amount to $1.4 million, or about $955,000 after taxes.
The Adamsons left a voice message on their phone saying they wouldn't have any public comment and referring any questions to their lawyer Scott Thompson.
Verlyn Adamson said earlier in the week that he's a big fan of math puzzles. He claims he developed a formula for lottery picks, but his winnings have been small until now.
Thompson said the Adamsons are "exploring patent protection" for the equation.
But Steven Post, a mathematics professor at Edgewood College in Madison, wasn't buying it. He said there is no way to devise a strategy for finding the winning numbers in a game that uses randomly generated numbers [this is an assumption! The accountant knows they aren't random] to determine the winning combination.
The only strategy would be to "buy all the tickets," he said.
