North Carolina Man's Love Of Math Wins Him Major Lottery Prize

Photo: Getty Images

A North Carolina man's love for math ending up winning him more than just good grades in school — he was the lucky winner of a nearly $200,000 lottery jackpot.

Jonathan Ruby, of Raleigh, recently tried his luck in the Cash 5 lottery games, purchased a $1 ticket from the Han-Dee Hugo's on Hillsborough Street for the Nov. 28 drawing, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery. The lover of math used a well known number — pi, or 3.1415 — to choose his ticket, a move that ended up winning him a third of the $578,823 jackpot, splitting the prize with two other lucky winners.

"I've always been an extremely big math person," said Ruby. "I picked my numbers based on pi."

Ruby told lottery officials that the lucky sequence has shown up in different ways throughout his life, so he took it as a sign to get his ticket.

"I kept seeing that number so my karma told me to use it," he said. "I even lived at a 314 address as a child."

Ruby had a good feeling about his ticket, sure that he had won something, but it wasn't until later that he realized just how lucky he was.

"I thought I won a dollar or two," Ruby said. "I was calm until I got home and checked the numbers and then I got very excited."

Ruby claimed his $192,941 jackpot at lottery headquarters on Monday (May 9), bringing home a total of $137,012 after taxes. When asked what he plans to do with his prize, the 64-year-old bartender told lottery officials he plans to pay some bill and save the rest for retirement.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content