Lucky Number 666

August 5, 2004 10:41 PM

The number 666 has been drawn by the Pennsylvania Lottery 12 times. Well, legally that is. On April 24, 1980, Pittsburgh personality Nick Perry, host of local TV shows and the live lottery drawing, fixed the lottery drawings. Perry has since passed away, but the story lived on in a (badly made) film adaptation. [more inside]
posted by ALongDecember (8 comments total)

Learn more about the reporter that brought him down here, move down to "A MISSING HERO."
posted by ALongDecember at 10:42 PM on August 5, 2004

They're amateurs.

http://gscentral.net/larsen.htm

Michael Larson broke Press Your Luck just by being observant and having decent reflexes. He didn't actually do anything illegal.
posted by krisjohn at 12:34 AM on August 6, 2004

Fascinating.

555 has come up 14 times.
777 has come up 16 times
222 has come up 15 times.
527 (my berfday) has come up 11 times
888 has come up 9 times.

IT SEEMS THAT BY SOME PROCESS UNKNOWN TO SCIENCE, ALL COMBINATIONS OF 3 NUMBERS ARE EQUALLY LIKELY AS THE NUMBER OF DRAWS INCREASES!!!

(I know this isn't the main point of your post, but none the less...)
posted by Capn at 10:26 AM on August 6, 2004

Enjoyed the newyinzer story. Thanks ALD.

krisjohn, see also.
posted by shoepal at 10:28 AM on August 6, 2004

yes! i've seen the show clips from that Michael Larson documentary. for anyone who's seen the show (no whammys!) it's amazingly fun to watch.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:14 AM on August 6, 2004

About five years ago, I asked my girlfriend if there was such a thing as license plates (here in Virginia) containing "666". That day, we saw one. And every day afterwards. I have moved twice and driven up and down the whole of the east coast, and every bloody day that I see cars, I see a "666" plate.
posted by waldo at 11:55 AM on August 6, 2004

That's because you ARE the devil.
posted by Witty at 1:47 PM on August 6, 2004

Kind of like the quarter trick in Prometheus Rising.
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:50 PM on August 6, 2004