A Virginia man won $200,000 in the lottery with an unusual approach involving the number 4, officials say.
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A man in Virginia with a complicated name came up with a surprisingly simple approach to winning six figures in the Virginia Lottery.
Wassihun Woldeamanuel didn’t divulge how he got the idea, but he almost didn’t have to reveal it.
“The Arlington man bought 40 plays … each with the same four-digit combination: 4-4-4-4,” the Virginia Lottery said in an April 2 news release.
“The prize for matching all four winning numbers in the Pick 4 game is $5,000. Since he had 40 plays with the winning combination, he won a total of $200,000.”
Odds of hitting all four numbers in order are 1 in 10,000, but Woldeamanuel is in a different category after winning 40 times.
When lottery officials asked about his approach, Woldeamanuel said he “knew four is coming.”
A review of winning Pick 4 numbers dating to January 2022 suggests no previous players were inclined to gamble on just one number.
Another thing that stuck out about his win is a decision not to buy all the tickets in one place. He bought 30 at a grocery store in Arlington and 10 at a store in Alexandria, about 8 miles away, officials said.
Woldeamanuel didn’t say how he intends to spend his winnings from the Feb. 20 drawing.
Pick 4 is a game that lets players choose any four-digit numbers from 0000 through 9999.
