Suspicion over N.C. lottery winners

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The North Carolina lottery wants you to believe we all have the same chance to win.

But some players are winning so often, and so big, that their good fortune defies logic.

Almost certainly, experts say, some are gaming the system.

The Charlotte Observer found players who beat staggering odds so consistently that statisticians said chances of being that lucky were less than 1 in a trillion.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘How is this happening?’ ” said Ron Wasserstein of the American Statistical Association. “It doesn’t pass the smell test.”

An Observer investigation found:

• Many players beat baffling odds for months at a time. A High Point woman hit winners nine times in a fourmonth span, overcoming odds of 1 in 5,000, 1 in 40,000, 1 in 70,000 and 1 in 120,000. She collected $21,000 that year from scratch-off tickets.

• Most big-prize winners won once or twice. But the number of repeat big winners — some of whom won on 15 or more scratch-off tickets in a single year — has surged since the lottery began in 2006.

• Other top winners may not be the actual winners at all. North Carolina has a lucrative secondary market. In it, players resell winning tickets to avoid automatic withholdings, such as back taxes and child support.

Lottery officials said they aggressively pursue cheaters. Still, reporters found repeated instances in which the lottery touted improbable winners.

Alice Garland, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery, said she is confident every payout is for a genuine win.

“I’ve just decided there are lucky people in this world,” she said.