Dreaming of jackpots: Players who followed their dreams to a win

For centuries, people have turned to books, the internet, and even shamans to interpret the meaning of their dreams. Some hope for messages from lost loved ones, while others seek to divine the future and better understand their own fate.

Since the days of the numbers rackets, lottery players have purchased dream books that claim to tell them which numbers to play. Did they actually work? Probably not. But some lottery winners have claimed that they won big jackpots by listening to their dreams.

These are true stories of lottery players who cashed in for millions by following their dreams. 

The 20-year dream

As a young woman, Deng Pravatoudom left her native Laos in 1980 to move to Canada, dreaming of providing a better life for her children. She and her husband worked hard to support her family, but her life took a difficult turn in 2020, when she lost her job during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the few things that gave her hope during that dark period of her life was the pleasure she took in playing the lottery. Pravatoudom says that twenty years ago her husband dreamt of winning lottery numbers, and she has played those same numbers ever since.

That dedication finally paid off when she once again bought a ticket with those numbers in December 2020.

Speaking with Ontario lottery officials, she recalled:

I left my temple after prayers, went to a nearby mall for some errands, and to check my LOTTO MAX ticket. I won a Free Play ticket and added ENCORE. I couldn't believe a few days later that free ticket would be worth $60 million! (equivalent to $47 million USD).

While she purchased the ticket, her husband verified that it was a big winner, and he broke the news to Deng that their lives would never be the same. She continued:

He was serious, not joking, so I knew he was telling the truth. I started to cry. I have always prayed for a blessing that my family would be taken care of.

She added that the win brought on a feeling of tremendous relief because she and her husband had both worked tirelessly to provide for their children, and now they can take things easier.

My husband and I have worked as general laborers for over 40 years, trying to save what we could for our family. Due to the pandemic, I was laid off last spring, so this money will certainly help make our lives much easier.

Deng said one of the best parts of her win was the emotional support she received from her children. "Mom and dad, you have worked so hard for 40 years and made many sacrifices, so you deserve this happiness!"

Now that she no longer has to worry about finding a new job, the new multi-millionaire says she wants to finally travel and see the world.

"Except for when I came to Canada from Laos, I have never really traveled, so I want to see Europe, Texas, and Hawaii," she said. "I am excited to see the world!"

Clear meaning

Dream interpretation can be a complex exercise in assigning different numbers or meanings to different images one sees in a dream and then trying to make sense of how they all fit together. And sometimes, those same dreams can be extremely direct, and it doesn't take a wise seer to tell you what they mean.

One Michigan woman, who chose to remain anonymous, dreamed that she would win $4 million from a lottery ticket. Four months later, in March of 2019, she won $4 million from a lottery ticket.

The woman's journey to millions began at a Valero gas station in Detroit. She spent $30 on a Millionaire's Club scratch-off ticket and uncovered an instant-win symbol that read “$4 mil”. She didn't need a dream interpretation to tell her that she was now a multi-millionaire. She told the Michigan Lottery:

When I scratched off the prize and saw '4MIL,' I couldn't stop shaking and crying. I called my friend right away and asked him to come double-check the ticket for me.

The 28-year-old woman is a mother with young children, and she said she couldn't wait to use the money to support her family. She explained to Michigan Lottery officials:

Winning this at my age is such an incredible opportunity for me and my family. I'm going to make good decisions so that I have this money for years to come.

She added that she planned to use the money to pay off her student loans, set up college funds for her kids, and purchase a new home for her family.

Dad dream

Some people think that dreams are a way for the deceased to reach out to us and pass along important messages. Edwina Silvera of New York wasn't a frequent lottery player, but a dream she felt came from her father told her that it was time to buy a ticket.

“I dreamt about my dad, and he told me something in my dream that prompted me to buy the ticket,” she told reporters.

Silver spent five dollars on a $2,500-for-Life scratch-off ticket:

Normally, I buy a $2 dollar ticket, and I decided, why not splurge. So I did. I did splurge that day, and I'm glad I did.

Despite her dream, Silvera didn't scratch her ticket right away:

I was sitting at home watching TV, and I thought, oh, I forgot I bought a ticket. So I took it out and scratched the entire thing, and I looked at it and said, 'Oh, that's not right.'

She didn't believe she could have won the game's top prize, so she asked her husband to double-check the ticket.

I had to call my husband and asked him to look at it for me. And he said, 'Yeah, it looks like you won for life.' I said, 'Get out of here!' For it to happen to me, win for life, I was like, come on now. This can't be real. But he said it's real, so I guess it is.

Because she listened to her dream, Silvera won the game's top prize of $2.5 million. The mother of two said that she planned to use the money to support her children's education.

Silvera wasn't the game's only winner. Railroad Deli in Garnerville, New York, where she bought the ticket, told reporters that they had lines out the door of people ready to buy tickets after hearing about Silvera's big win.

Big dreams downunder

While most people are shocked by a big lottery win, one Australian man, who chose to remain anonymous, says he saw it coming the entire time.

"Three weeks ago, I had a dream where I won Set for Life," he told lottery officials.

Shortly after his dream, he went to the Wareemba Newsagency, in Wareemba, a suburb of Sydney, and purchased a Set For Life ticket, whose payout structure guaranteed the winner $20,000 AUD per month for twenty years. The top prize was valued at $3.5 million ($2.5 million USD).

The man and his wife were enjoying a day off when he told her something big was headed their way:

Then yesterday, when we were sitting on the beach relaxing, I looked at my wife, grabbed her hands, and I said to her, 'We are about to win something, you just wait.' After that dream, I just had this overwhelming feeling that we were going to win, and turns out I was right!

His wife was overcome with joy when speaking with lottery officials:

Oh my god, oh my god, $20,000 a month for 20 years?! I am speechless, I can't even think straight. This is great news, thank you so much! This is absolutely amazing. We are going to be jumping up and down for days. I hope my husband doesn't have a heart attack from excitement.

While the win was still fresh news, the pair already had a good idea of how they planned to spend their fortune. His wife explained:

My husband will definitely retire early, and I will go part-time. Then, we will go to Poland to visit family. We are moving to Surfers Paradise in Queensland next year because we bought a property, but it needs a lot of work. So some of it will go towards renovations as well.

She added that they did more than just think about spending on themselves, and they believe that their good fortune means they should help others:

There are a lot of people who need help in this world, so we are definitely going to give a lot to a few different charities and start volunteering. It would be impossible to spend that much money, so I think it is important to help as many people as we can.

To that we say, good on ya!

2-1-1-2

Sometimes we have an idea or feeling that we just can't get out of our heads unless we act on it. That was the case for Kelvin Wynn of Davenport, Iowa, who couldn't stop seeing a particular set of numbers. Wynn told Iowa lottery officials while picking up his check:

Actually, I had a dream, and in that dream, it was hotel room number 2112, but I thought nothing of it. Then the next day, one of my clients' addresses happened to be 2112, and I thought, 'Oh, coincidence, no big deal.'

But the coincidences just wouldn't stop. He added that while stopped at a red light, he noticed that the license plate of the car in front of him contained the numbers 2112. Next, he made a purchase at a department store, and the total came to $21.12.

Wynn didn't play the lottery often, but after he told his wife about the numbers he was seeing, she encouraged him to buy a ticket. Realizing that he had extra money from his work as a landscaper that month, he decided to take a chance.

"I realized I had overtime on my check. I said, 'Ah, let's just go for it.'” Wynn went to the QC Mart in Davenport and purchased a ticket for the Iowa Lottery Pick 4 game with the numbers 2-1-1-2.

He admitted that even after buying the tickets, he remained skeptical that his dream could really tell him anything, but then the next day, he checked the Iowa Lottery website and saw something that blew his mind: the winning numbers were 2-1-1-2, and he won the top prize of $300,000.

Wynn was so shocked that his dream came true that he had to ask his wife to double-check that he really had won.

Once he confirmed his win, Wynn said that he's going to use most of the money to pay for school for his three children, but that he did plan to buy himself one special present: a new set of golf clubs.