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He won $10m in scratch-off games twice. But this man still fancies his chances on the lottery

Wayne Murray won the lottery in 2022 and 2023, can he keep his lucky streak going in 2024?

Amelia Neath
Friday 05 April 2024 12:58 EDT
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Wayne Murray chose the lump sum choices twice of $6.1m
Wayne Murray chose the lump sum choices twice of $6.1m (New York Lottery)

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Most people would say winning millions, let alone twice, would be a dream come true, but would you keep pursuing even greater dreams of winning more money if you were already a lottery millionaire?

It has not stopped extremely lucky Brooklyn man Wayne Murray, who has already won two $10m top prizes on separate scratchcards, from splashing out on even more games.

Mr Murray was spotted by a New York Post photographer this week buying even more scratchcards to play.

A clerk at the H&A Gas & Convenience in Brooklyn, where both of his winning tickets were sold, claimed to the Post that despite Mr Murray having a lot in the bank from his wins, he still comes in and allegedly spends up to $500 a day playing the lotto.

“He’s still buying tickets almost every day, sometimes twice or thrice a day,” Hassan Nabil, who recently left his job at the gas station, told the New York Post. “He diversifies – buying different types of tickets to find more possibilities of winning.”

“Sometimes he breaks even, but he does lose a lot of money… the way he plays, it’s clear he thinks he’s going to win more. He’s determined.”

Mr Murray has made little fuss of his wins despite striking lucky twice
Mr Murray has made little fuss of his wins despite striking lucky twice (New York Lottery)

While the odds of winning big in any sort of lottery game are usually stacked against players, let alone winning again after winning one time around – but it is this sort of luck that may be bringing back the fortuitous player to buy again.

He won for the first time in August 2022 with a Black Titanium lottery scratch-off, receiving a lump sum of $6,122,400 in the New York Lottery.

He told the lottery at the time that winning the millions felt “humbling and liberating”. But he didn’t rest.

Luck was in Mr Murray’s favour the following year, in December 2023, when he claimed the top prize with a 200X The Cash scratch-off, again receiving the same lump sum as his first win, the lottery said.

The odds of winning top prize in the 200X The Cash scratch-off game are 1 in 3.5 million, and the odds of winning the Black Titanium top prize are slightly higher, at 1 in 3.59 million, according to the lottery.

After winning this second mammoth prize, he told the New York Post, that he didn’t want to make too much fuss about bringing home the top prize.

“Some of us just like to be discreet. I just want to be discreet, that’s all it is,” Mr Murray said in December, with the outlet adding that he declined to comment on his recent spotting of buying tickets.

Mr Nabil, the former store clerk, described him back in December as someone who is “very friendly and very generous with his time” and who “keeps it real, keeps it honest”.

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