Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - BONUS: How An American Man Made $27 Million From Lotto (Jerry Selbee)

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

BONUS Jono and Ben chat to Jerry Selbee, who cracked the code on a US Lottery Game and Won $27M over years of playing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hits with the Jono and Ben podcast. Join right now. Excited about this amazing true story of a guy in America who was retired. He cracked the code on the state lottery, won millions of dollars over many years. A movie's been made about him starring Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad. And he joins us right now. Jerry, good morning. Thank you.

Lovely to have you on. Where in abouts in America are you, Jerry? I'm in Michigan. Michigan. Michigan. Now, do you know our producer was saying that Jerry picked up Jim Bolger, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jim Bolger's son, hitchhiking. Really? Yes, Dan. Dan Bolger?

Yes. That was years and years ago. That's all he knew about New Zealand. He said, did you have a prime minister called Jim Bolger? He's like, I picked up his son Hitchhiking. Where did you pick him up, Jerry? I picked him up at the Limhi Pass in the Rocky Mountains. Oh, wow.

Well, Jerry, you've got a fascinating story, not just about picking up people from New Zealand, but also let's go back there because people, if they don't know, you're retired, you're age 64, you're living with your wife in a small town, and you saw a brochure for a new lottery game. Now, how did this lottery game work? It was called Windfall.

Yeah. And the way it worked, the jackpot was guaranteed to start at $2 million. And if nobody won, it continued to build until it hit $5 million. At that point, if no one won, all the $5 million rolled down into the smaller tier prizes, like the three-number winners, the four-number winners, and the five-number winners. Right.

So you sort of found a bit of a loophole. You say it's simple maths, but for us, we're quite simple. We probably can't do the maths. So what was the loophole? Well, the loophole was, it was simple math. I looked at the brochure, and the brochure listed the odds of getting a three-number winner at one in 56 and two thirds. The odds of getting a four number winner was one in 1032. So I just looked at that

and I said to myself, well, if I played $1,100, I would mathematically, I would get one four number winner and 18 three number winners. Well, the four number winner was projected to be worth $1,000 when the windfall occurred. Yeah. And the three number winners was projected to be worth $50 when the windfall occurred. And so I just added those together and that was a $1,900 return on a $1,100 bet. Now you, so you've cracked this code to the lottery and you continue to play the game, you continue to have big wins, and how much money do you win over the years, Jerry? We grossed about $27 million. Oh my gosh. Because at first you played it secretly.

So the secret was playing more times, having more tickets in the lottery drawer. That's correct, because you narrowed the possibility between the mathematical and the possible. But then they stopped that lottery in your state. So you and your wife, I understand, drove like 1,600 kilometers to another place. You would basically buy tickets all day for hours and hours on end in another state. Yes, in Massachusetts. That's correct. You're on the run. Well, you're sinking them in your state, so you end in another state. Yes, in Massachusetts, that's correct. You're on the run.

Well, you're sinking them in your state, so you went to another one. Yeah, the lottery in our state, they closed down. No wonder. What you were doing, was it illegal? Absolutely legal. Legal, yeah. I created a paper trail. I had five federal audits and four state of Massachusetts audits and two Michigan audits and never had a problem.

All right, he's clean. He's a clean guy. So how many hours? You bet. Jerry, why didn't you loop me in on this? I tried to, but you didn't answer the phone. I thought I was Jerry. Jerry, he's up.

Incredible. And now it's been made into a movie. Bryan Cranston, for everyone to know, Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad. Great actor. He's playing you in a movie. That's correct. He is a very nice person. I guess he came to hang out with you, to get to know you?

Yes, he did, for a week. He came to stay, well, Brian Cranston stayed at your house for a week. He didn't stay at our house, he just came to our house. He stayed at a very nice motel. That's incredible. Well, he had to have some free time, too. So Brian Cranston's coming to your house every day for a week to learn how to play you. Do you give him lunch? What do you do?

Yeah, we went to lunch. Oh, yeah, we went to lunch. We went to dinner. David Frankel, the director of the movie, he came for a couple, three days. All these people are coming to see you, Jerry. So now your story's being made into a movie. You're a movie star. I'm not the movie star. Brian Cranston

is. Well, you're the star. It's a movie about you. What did you think of the movie? I enjoyed it. You got five stars. We originally had a little apprehension, but the way they presented it, it's a good, wholesome, feel-good story. Jerry and Marge

go large. If anyone wants to watch the movie it looks very good and yes see more of this amazing tale and what did you do with the money that you made 27 million dollars or something like that what did you do with the money we just saved it you saved it have you got do you live in a mansion do you drive a ferrari live in the same house we've lived in for 37 years. You've got $27 million, Jerry. Get a mansion. No, I don't have that.

You weren't materialistic. You didn't want a fancy car. You didn't want a big house. What was the goal? The goal was just to play the game and the satisfaction of doing it and being successful. Wow, Jerry, what a very special human being you are. And I imagine that lottery shut down now, has it, Jerry?

Oh yes, it shut down in 2012. That was a wise decision on their part. Jerry, it's been so lovely chatting to you. Thank you so much for your time and thank you for sharing with us your amazing story. Oh, my pleasure. The Hits. For more podcasts

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