Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, had only won two things in his life. The first was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle when he was 25. The second was much bigger: $120,000 from a state lottery called the Big Cube.
To win, a contestant must first guess which number a spinning cube will land on (1X, 10X, 50X, 100X, 500X, or 1000X). If correct, they must then guess which of two random variables will be greater.
Sam correctly guessed 1000X. Then, he had to choose between: the number of cars running a stop sign in six hours, or the number of times a teenager would change TV channels in three hours. It was a tough choice.
Finally, Sam flipped a coin. It landed on heads, so he picked the teenager. He was right. The stop sign was run 76 times, but the teen changed channels 120 times. Sam had won 1000 times 120, or $120,000.
Overjoyed, Sam left the studio. While crossing the street and talking excitedly on his phone, he was hit by a sports car.
Sam spent a month in the hospital with a bill of $110,000. The driver's insurance company sued him for $9,000 in repair costs. He also still owed federal taxes on his winnings.
Sam no longer plays the lottery. He says it's better to be unlucky.