Their success is attributed to a particular method that some believe allowed them to ‘beat the system’.
Manuel Montori IV, Matthew Gibbons, Hannah Davinroy, and Zoë Buonaiuto, the fortunate winners, acquired tickets from various shops and gas stations located in Indiana, Missouri, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Their most substantial win occurred in Missouri, where Montori claimed a $5 million ticket in addition to smaller winnings from the state.
While there have been inquiries regarding the legality of their achievements, there is no indication that they breached any laws since they purchased tickets legally from each store.
The group purchased thousands of tickets, often buying out a store’s entire inventory by investing thousands of dollars during each trip.
“They’re either the luckiest people in the world or they found a way to beat the system,” Philip Stark, a statistics professor at the University of California, remarked to Good Morning America.
The graduates are linked to a company named Black Swan Capital LLC, founded by Montori, and experts propose that they may have used publicly accessible data on past ticket outcomes to boost their winning odds. A shopkeeper in Bloomington, Indiana, informed The Indianapolis Star that Davinroy and Buonaiuto mentioned conducting a study after purchasing all the lottery tickets available.
The manager, Darian, also noted that the group requested notifications whenever new tickets arrived, with the duo returning to buy out the stock repeatedly.
Darian approximated that the pair had spent over $48,000 at her store throughout their investigation.
Accounts similar to that of the Bloomington manager emerged from other states where the group focused their efforts, particularly Missouri, where Davinroy and Buonaiuto were also actively purchasing tickets.
This approach has led many to ponder the extent to which strategy can influence lottery success. Some suggest that their focus on tickets nearing discontinuation without a grand prize winner might have been deliberate.
Despite the availability of public information on lottery wins potentially aiding their strategy, experts caution that purchasing hundreds of tickets remains a risky endeavor, with no guaranteed payoff and the possibility of significant losses.
While the quartet has kept their methods under wraps, Zoë Buonaiuto hinted to a journalist: “Call me back in a year. I’m happy to talk to you in a year… It’s exciting.”