Defying the Odds: New Yorker Wins Lottery for the Second Time in Three Years

This New Yorker is breaking all the records by winning the lottery twice in three years!

Most of us that play lotteries just hope to one day get lucky enough to win a life-changing sum of money, but just imagine if it happened not once, but twice? That is exactly the case for a man from New York who not so long ago won his second multi-million payout within three years! Could you imagine that feeling? Checking the US lotto results from lotteryamerica.com and discovering that you have just hit the jackpot for the second time?

It was reported in February 2022 that Juan Hernandez, a Nassau County local, had won $10 million after buying the same scratch-off lottery game that had previously won him the same amount back in 2019. Some guys just have all the luck!

Hernandez Defies Insanely Long Odds: Says He’s Still Trying to Spend Previous Win

It’s common knowledge that it is not easy to win the lottery. Compared to other forms of gambling, the odds of winning are not great. For comparison's sake, the Duke Blue Devils were 14-1 with many sportsbooks to win the NCAA tournament, winning a straight-up bet (betting on a single number) on American Roulette is 37 to 1 and hitting a Royal Flush on the flop in a game of poker has odds of 19,600 to 1. Fernandez beat the odds of 1 in 3.52 million, twice!

After winning his second $10 million jackpot, the retired Hernandez claimed he was still trying to spend the previous $10 million that he won back in 2019.

Hernandez Helping Others After Second Big Win

Hernandez won his second $10 million jackpot after purchasing a ticket for the $350 Million Cash Spectacular, a game that also brought him his first win. This game offers a top payout of $10 million but pays out a combined total of $350 million in prizes. He was one of three grand prize winners that received the $10 million top jackpot. As with all winners, he had the option of receiving his winnings in installments or as a lump sum. He chose the latter, which amounted to $6,510,000 after tax.

Due to his first win, Hernandez is still doing fine financially and likely hired wealth management services to help him to spend wisely. A clue to this is that he declared he will be donating a lot of his winnings to charity, something wealth funds often suggest. A quick look at his Facebook page following the win showed that he had already donated to truck drivers that have been struggling with debts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID is now cited by some as being less lethal than the flu, the economy and workers throughout the US are still trying to recover.

2019 Win Helped Divorcee Pay Off his Mortgage

While the retired New Yorker who is an avid fan of the New York Mets has stated he will donate much of his latest win, Fernandez had more personal needs when taking down his first lottery win in 2019. At the time, he quickly pointed out that the first thing he would do was pay off his mortgage, something that most of us can relate to. It means the win has given him financial freedom from debt, a plight many US citizens suffer.

Hernandez Not the Only Person to Defy the Odds

A retired man from Maryland has also won big payouts from scratchcards on two occasions. He won his second $2 million prizes in 2021. His plans for his latest windfall included some home renovation and an extended vacation for his family. Two others that defied unbelievable odds include Michelle Shuffler and Veronica Buchanan, who each won two big scratchcard payouts on the same day!

None are Among the Biggest Lottery Winners

While winning $10 million or even $2 million is not to be scoffed at, these sums pale in comparison to some of the biggest US lottery winners. And we can expect lottery wins to get bigger as innovative AI mobile apps are able to send targeted lottery ads to those that enjoy the lottery, and as a result, more lottery players will have online access to buying tickets, which will inevitably increase lottery sales.

The biggest payout in US history was a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot that paid out in 2016, and with the growth in lottery popularity, we are likely to see this figure beaten in the not too distant future. This was shared by three lucky ticket holders. As for the biggest win by a single ticket holder, this was $1.537 billion won on the Mega Millions two years later, in 2018. There have also been over 10 further jackpots of over $500 million since the lotteries began in the US.

At least this means there is hope for the rest of us, right? Somebody has to win the big bucks after all. However, we’re pretty sure that most of you would be content with just one win!