He felt lucky enough to buy 50 identical tickets. Was he right?

How confident do you have to be in your lottery numbers to play the same combination 50 times? One South Carolina Education Lottery player was willing to find out, and his hunch couldn't have worked out much better.

The Lowcountry man told lottery officials that he was feeling pretty good about his Pick 4 combination ahead of the August 18, 2026, evening drawing. So, instead of playing them one time and hoping for the best, he decided to go big. The lucky man bought 50 identical tickets from various convenience stores around Summerville. His lucky feeling paid off, as that feeling turned into a $250,000 win.

50 tickets turned into 50 winners

The lucky winner, who didn’t wish to be identified, chose the winning combination of 0-5-0-0. He chose right, as the winning combination for the August 18 evening drawing was 0-5-0-0. That meant his decision to play the combination over and over again paid off 50 times. Each ticket was worth $5,000, which meant he won a combined total of $250,000.

Pick 4 game players have several different ways to wager on a four-digit combination ranging from 0000 to 9999. A straight play requires all four numbers to match the winning numbers in the exact order they are drawn.

For a $1 straight play bet, matching all four numbers pays $5,000. The odds of doing this are 1 in 10,000.

Of course, buying multiple identical tickets doesn’t make that combination more likely to be drawn. What it does is multiply the payout if those numbers actually hit, which is exactly what happened in this case.

Despite walking away with $250,000, the lucky winner isn’t planning on testing his luck with 0-5-0-0 again. The man told lottery officials, "I probably won't play those numbers anymore. I'm not lucky enough for that to ever happen again."

Other South Carolina players are winning big

This lucky Pick 4 player isn’t the only South Carolina Lottery winner recently, as there have been plenty of others who have had reason to celebrate.

During the October 5 Powerball drawing, a lucky ticket purchased in St. Stephen won $50,000 after matching four of the winning white balls and the Powerball. The winning numbers for that drawing were 16, 23, 32, 36, and 54, and the Powerball number was 9.

Meanwhile, an Upstate man stopped at an EZ Stop Food Store in Liberty and purchased a $5 scratch-off. It was a good purchase, as he won the top prize for the game: $200,000.

The scratch-off luck continued in Columbia, as a Midlands man turned a $5 The Price Is Right ticket into a $200,000 win. The odds of winning $200K in The Price is Right game are 1 in 810,000.

One final scratch-off winner recently, this time in Sumter. A lucky woman chose the Gold Vault Extra Play! ticket ($10 value) and beat the odds to win the top prize of $500,000. The odds of winning the top prize for this game are 1 in 1.18 million. There is one more top prize that remains for this game.

Enjoy playing the South Carolina Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.