Man Who Won Lottery 14 Times Now Lives An Extremely Remote Life Following Years Of Controversy

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It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win large on the lottery; so, winning more than once is merely showing off.

When one man won the lotto 14 times in a row, it reached absolutely absurd heights. That looks suspicious to me, but I could just be being cynical.

Credit: Twitter/Stefan Mandel

Stefan Mandel, a Romanian economist, achieved what was impossible by devising a lottery system hack.

Even though that is a remarkable accomplishment, aren't there simpler ways to gain money?

But unlike when you see someone claim to have a strategy for blackjack or roulette, this one truly seemed to work.

Mandel spent years perfecting a method he called a "number-picking algorithm" that he drew from a process known as "combinatorial condensation."

All of this sounds pretty elegant, but what does it actually mean?

Mandel discovered through experience that there were instances when the cost of purchasing enough tickets to play each and every combination was less than the prize.

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Therefore, playing so many tickets that you can't lose isn't all that sophisticated.

I suppose that if it works, it works.

Sincerity be told, seems to go a little bit against the purpose of the exercise.

Credits: Stefan Mandel

Other visitors would understandably be upset if one individual purchased every single lottery ticket in order to win the desired fondue set. I can't say that I'd also blame them.

Mandel, however, disagreed, stating the following to the Romanian newspaper Bursa in 2012: “I’m a man who takes risks but in a calculated way. Trimming my beard is a lottery: There is always the possibility that I’ll cut myself, get an infection in my blood, and die — but I do it anyway. The chances are in my favor.”

Mandel was able to take advantage of the system by organizing a lottery syndicate and purchasing enough tickets to ensure that they would take home the top reward.

Credits: Stefan Mandel

Mandel's first payout was $3,700, which was just enough money for him to flee Communist Romania in the 1960s and settle in Australia.

He persuaded investors to create a larger syndicate and buy more tickets, which enabled him to go on to win the lottery 14 times.

Even better, he was able to completely automate the procedure by instructing a computer to fill out tickets in all conceivable combinations. 

He amassed 12 victories with this strategy, which also attracted the attention of the authorities.

Though it certainly does seem to go against the spirit of playing the lottery, technically what Mandel was doing wasn't actually unlawful or against the regulations at the time.

The regulations were subsequently modified to prohibit both purchasing several tickets at once and using computer-generated tickets. Mandel, however, continued to manipulate the US system by mass-producing tickets using various methods, notwithstanding this.

Even though it was lawful, a protracted and expensive court case resulted from it. Mandel spent a lot of money on his legal difficulties even though he was ultimately found not guilty. He declared bankruptcy in 1995, and now, at the age of 89, he coexists on a tropical island with previous associates of his syndicate.

Isn't everything a little like Wolf of Wall Street? Perhaps a movie should be made about it.