Alex Arger
A mathematician's view on lotteries and betting
Experts on the numbers agree: The lottery is a game, and there will be a winner. But is it worth an investment of your time and money?
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:52 p.m. EST Nov 8, 2023
One Virginia woman seems to have been born under a lucky star, striking the state's lotto not once but twice in just a week.
Jennifer Minton had her first twist of financial fate when she won $50,000 playing the Virginia Lottery's Safari Quest online game in mid-October.
But as the lottery put it, the Gloucester resident "was just getting warmed up."
One week later, on Oct. 31, Minton was sitting around a campfire playing the game on her phone when she noticed the jackpot suddenly reset. She told lottery officials her immediate thought was, "Dang, somebody just hit. They are so lucky!"
Upon looking at her screen again, however, she realized she was speaking of her own luck: Minton was the winner of the jackpot, with a whopping treasure worth $912,936.
"I'm in shock!" she later told the Virginia Lottery. "I'm in disbelief!"
The Virginia Lottery's app features dozens of mobile games, including Minton's favorite: Safari Quest. Per the organization's website, the game takes players on a savannah-themed adventure as they try to reveal a cluster of three or more matching symbols on the 5-by-3 grid. If a player unlocks the "Bonus Wheel," they could win the progressive jackpot.
Plays on the game can be purchased for 20 cents up to $50, and although the odds of winning the top prize vary by price point, the odds of winning per game are 1 in 3.84.
All profits from the Virginia Lottery go to the state's K-12 education. The grade schools in Gloucester County, where Minton lives, received more than $2.7 million in lottery funds last fiscal year, and so far this fiscal year, the lottery has raised more than $867 million, making up 10% of the state's total K-12 school budget.
