We've all fantasized about what we would do if we won the lottery one day. Some of us dream of traveling the world, while others imagine starting their lives from scratch with that money. But for most of us, this is a chance that only comes once in a lifetime. However, for Romanian mathematician Stefan Mandel, this happened not just once, but a staggering 14 times. And he didn't rely on luck, but on his intelligence.
Romanian economist Mandel developed a method in the 1980s that he dubbed 'combinatorial condensation'. The underlying concept was simple: if you calculate all possible outcomes, you're bound to stumble upon the winning ticket. According to this theory, the jackpot in some lotteries was significantly more than the cost of purchasing all combinations. Mandel capitalized on this discrepancy.
To implement this plan, Mandel assembled a team of investors. This group, which they named the 'International Lotto Fund', raised capital to purchase millions of combinations. The real challenge lay not in the mathematics, but in the logistics. It was necessary to individually generate, print, and deliver millions of tickets. To tackle this, Mandel developed specialized algorithms to automate the ticket printing process.
In the state of Virginia in the USA, a lottery was organized where players would choose six numbers between 1 and 44. Mandel calculated that there were a total of 7,059,052 possibilities in this game. At that time, there was a jackpot of 15.5 million dollars, which was almost three times the cost of buying all combinations. Mandel and his team purchased 6.4 million out of the 7 million combinations.
After a tension-filled process, the lucky ticket was theirs. Along with the jackpot, they also won the second and third place prizes with their team. Their total winnings exceeded 27 million dollars. By the time the authorities realized what was happening, it was too late. It turned out that Mandel, who was investigated by the FBI and CIA, had not committed any illegal actions.
No country allows the purchase of all combinations at once anymore. Yet, Mandel's name is still mentioned as one of the most cunning figures in lottery history.
Living a simple life on the islands of Vanuatu today, Mandel says, 'I'm not afraid to take risks, but I always do my calculations.' In his own words, 'Even shaving is a risk, but if the odds are in my favor, I'll do it.'