Wisconsin Man Wins $4.3M Megabucks Lottery Jackpot

This is the 30-year lesson one player, Richard Kiesner, may share with other lottery hopefuls. Playing the Megabucks lottery, the Wisconsin resident managed to hit the $4.3 million – the largest jackpot to date – on July 17.

Kiesner, whose name was shared by the lottery because of state laws, scooped the winning ticket at Kwik Trip on 549 W. Bannerman Ave. in Redgranite. He won with a combination of six numbers, 6-8-14-26-33-37, and made history.

Yet, it took him the better part of 30 years to get here. The player has been consistently buying tickets for every draw over the past three decades. Considering his reward, however, the $1 lottery ticket was not much of an expense.

Winning the Lottery Is Unlikelier Than Getting Struck by Lightning

Of course, Kiesner had no way of knowing whether and when he would win, but he kept at it in any eventuality. His story is one of consistency and developing the right habit, but the odds of hitting six numbers off a lottery draw are incredibly small – 1 in 6,991,908.

You might be struck by lightning at odds of 1 in 1,222,000, for example. Previously, another player scooped up $3.5 million in February, once again playing the Megabucks game. Lottery winners from all over the country have been keen to replicate the sheer randomness of winning the lottery.

Interestingly, billions of dollars in lottery prizes go unclaimed in the United States, according to data from 2019. The exact number is harder to estimate due to the numerous draws and varying prize amounts. Despite their hopes of turning a rags-to-riches story into reality, some lottery players could do a much better job of paying attention.