Scratchcard superstar has won millions

The international media this week locked on to the 2010 story of a Texas woman who has repeatedly won millions of dollars on scratch cards from the Texas Lottery.
Joan Ginther, a 63-year-old statistician who lives in Las Vegas, has enjoyed four life-changing million dollar wins over the past 18 years, arguably making her the world’s luckiest woman:
* 1993: US$5.4 million share of an US$11 million Texas Lottery jackpot. Ginther’s take: US$270,000 a year for 19 years.
* 2006: With only six years of payments left from her previous big win, Ginther scored a US$2 million prize from a scratch-off ticket. Her take: US$1.5 million lump-sum payment.
* 2008: A US$3 million jackpot from a scratch card.
* 2010: Just over US$10 million in the Texas Lottery “Extreme Payout” scratch card, which costs $50 to play.
Math experts have estimated that the chances of achieving this sort of record are in the range 1,260,900,000,000,000,000,000,000 to one, give or take a couple of zeros!
Known locally as Jackpot Joan, Ginther bought three of her winning tickets from the same gas station in Bishop, the Texas town where she grew up; the other came from a store in neighbouring Kingsville, and all have been fully verified by the Texas Lottery.
Ginther, who has a PhD from Stanford University, has personally declined to explain her luck as anything other than, well….luck.
A spokesperson for the Texas Lottery Commission said, “We have had multiple winners before, but she’s obviously been born under a lucky star.”

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