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Solarina Ho
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TORONTO –
At least four Princeton University graduates have made millions of dollars buying thousands of scratch and prize cards in the U.. S.. . According to a news report that tracked their profits over the past year and a half and across several states.
Earlier this month, an Indianapolis Star investigation reported the unusual lottery wins from Manuel Montori and at least three other young Princeton alumni, all of whom are affiliated with a Montori-founded company called Black Swan Capital LLC.
According to the report, the group has collectively raised more than $ 6 million from Indiana, Missouri, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and potentially spent more than $ 2 million buying thousands of scratch cards at stores, gas stations, and other countries Lottery kiosks alone in the most remote corners of a state.
« I would guess they spent a great deal more, assuming they were actually on the rise, » Philip Stark, professor of statistics at the University of California at Berkeley, told CTV news channel on Thursday.
The most popular theory is that the group’s actions are based on a shared strategy of searching public records for data on lottery winnings, ticket sales, and unclaimed prizes to determine when a ticket is best to buy and their chances of winning Increase bulk purchases.
« If you think about it and buy every ticket to a scratcher game, you’re guaranteed to win all of the prizes, » said Stark.
“They can potentially increase their chances of winning by tracking which prizes have been claimed and which have not, and then only start buying tickets when there is a disproportionate number of large unclaimed prizes. « . ‘
However, Stark cautioned that this strategy is not without risks as they trust that no one else has bought the winning cards and will not buy those cards while they are still trying to collect the rest. He made particular reference to Indiana, where the Indianapolis Star reported that Group 48. Spent $ 000 to. Buying 600 tickets from one place alone, and going back repeatedly until the game sold out. Given the number of other locations they visited across the state for this particular scratch card game and the value of the winning pot, it was possible that the group could lose money on this particular effort, the newspaper speculated.
Still, a similar effort appeared to have paid off in Missouri, bringing the group a huge $ 5 million profit, the report said. A prize of $ 1 million was raised on behalf of Black Swan.
Despite the unusual circumstances, lottery experts and statisticians have told the media that there is nothing to suggest that anything illegal or suspicious has happened.
« From what we’ve heard so far, nothing is wrong. There is nothing wrong with following the public records of what prizes have been claimed, ”Stark said.
« Things that would become illegal, or at least unethical, are when they figured out how to tell without scratching the mark which are winners. « . ”
The group has not yet spoken publicly about what they are doing, although member Zoe Buonaiuto told the newspaper to « call back in a year » and that everything they did was « exciting ». ”
A woman scratches herself on Wednesday the 24th. A $ 30 lottery ticket while playing the lottery at Ted’s Stateline Mobil on June 7th, 2020, in Methuen, Mass. (AP Photo / Charles Krupa)
Lottery, Princeton University, Scratch Card
World News – CA – Has a group of Princeton alumni discovered a secret to winning lotto scratch cards?
Ref: https://www.ctvnews.ca
