The Korea Herald

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Woman with PhD in statistics wins lottery four times

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Published : Aug. 9, 2011 - 09:57

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A woman from Texas has reportedly won the lottery four times, prompting interest towards the secret of the unbelievable luck.

Joan R. Gither, 63, has won four fortunes worth millions of dollars in the span of 15 years.

First she won $5.4 million in 1993, and 10 years later $2 million. Then, another two years later she claimed $3 million, and finally a $10 million jackpot in 2008. Three of the wins were purchased at the same store in Texas.

Mathematically, such an outcome is likely to happen about once every quadrillion years, Harper’s Magazine reported. Concerning the secret of Gither’s luck, the key may be that she was a math professor with Ph.D in statistics from Stanford.

Nathanial Rich, a Harper’s reporter, suggested that she may have figured out the algorithm of allocation of winning tickets, including the shipping schedule of lottery slips.

Meanwhile, Harper’s reported that the Texas Lottery Commission said they do not suspect foul play.

By Kang Yoon-seung
(koreacolin@gmail.com)
Intern reporter
Edited by Rob York


<한글 요약>

美 여성, 복권 4회 당첨….비결은?

미국 텍사스주의 한 여성이 복권에 수 차례 당첨이 된 사실이 공개되어 그 비결에 대한 궁금증을 자아내고 있다.

올해 63세인 Joan R. Gither씨는 1993년부터 수십억 가량 되는 복권에 4번이나 당첨되었다. 실제로 이런 일이 일어날 확률은 1000조 분의 1이나 되는, 사실상 불가능한 경우라고 현지 언론 등은 전했다.

하지만 Gither씨가 스탠포드 대학에서 통계학 박사학위를 받았다는 사실이 Harper’s 誌에 의해 공개가 되면서, 그녀가 분석적으로 복권의 유통을 계산한 것이 아니냐는 의문이 제기되고 있다.

한편 텍사스주 복권 위원회 관계자는 Gither씨가 반칙을 했다고 생각하지는 않는다고 말했다.