To the residents of Bishop, Texas, Joan R. Ginther appeared to be a regular woman visiting her hometown. To mathematicians and the Texas Lottery Commission, she became the greatest anomaly in the history of legal gambling.
Over nearly two decades, Ginther did not just win a jackpot once; she won multi-million dollar prizes four separate times. The odds of a single person achieving this feat based on luck alone were calculated at one in eighteen septillion. However, Ginther was not an ordinary player relying on fortune. She was a former math professor with a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University, a fact that transformed her story from a tale of luck into one of calculation.
A Series of Improbable Wins
Ginther’s streak began in 1993 when she won $5.4 million in the “Lotto Texas” draw. She opted for the annual payments and vanished from the public eye for over a decade. Then, the wins accelerated with startling frequency. In 2006, she scratched off a ticket worth $2 million in the “Holiday Millionaire” game.
Two years later, in 2008, she claimed another $3 million from a “Millions & Millions” ticket. The climax occurred in the summer of 2010, when the 63-year-old purchased a $50 ticket and uncovered a $10 million top prize in the “Extreme Payout” game. Her total cumulative winnings amounted to approximately $20.4 million.
The Statistical Edge
Journalists and statisticians began investigating the circumstances of her victories. They discovered that Ginther, who lived in Las Vegas, frequently flew to Bishop, Texas, specifically to purchase tickets. Records revealed that three of her four winning tickets were purchased at the same location: Times Market in Bishop.
Unlike the random draw of her first win, her subsequent three victories came from scratch-off tickets. These games function on a “pseudo-random” number generator, meaning the distribution of winning tickets follows a programmed algorithm rather than true randomness.
Buying in Bulk
Evidence suggests Ginther utilized her statistical expertise to exploit the lottery’s shipping schedule. According to reports, she bought tickets in massive quantities, spending millions of her previous winnings to buy entire rolls of scratch-offs. Residents of Bishop reported seeing her buy thousands of tickets at a time.
By analyzing the shipping records, she likely determined when high-value tickets were due to arrive in specific regions. If she knew that a specific batch of tickets had already paid out its smaller prizes, she could calculate the probability that the grand prize remained in the unsold inventory.
The Official Conclusion
The Texas Lottery Commission took notice of the statistical impossibility of her wins. They launched an investigation to determine if any fraud or manipulation had occurred. After a thorough review, the commission concluded that no laws had been broken.
Ginther had simply played the game according to the rules, albeit with a strategy and volume of purchase that no average player could match. She claimed her checks, requested that her name not be used for publicity, and returned to her private life in Las Vegas. To this day, the woman with the Stanford Ph.D. has never publicly explained her method.
Joan R. Ginther defied odds calculated at one in eighteen septillion.
Over 17 years, she won four separate multi-million dollar jackpots totaling $20.4 million.
But she wasn't lucky.
She was a Stanford math professor who treated the lottery like a solvable equation… 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/IWQSQUJQxe
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) December 14, 2025