Destined to Win

Are you destined to win?

I am not talking about being lucky. I am referring to destiny. Are you destined to win a fortune?

Some years ago I was hired as associate editor for a new magazine that was published out of Naples, FL. The magazine was called LottoWorld and, as the name indicates, it was about lotteries.

My editor was an incredible journalist named Barry Miller. He was brilliant at his job, fun to work for, and absolutely believed in the power of numbers.

We were an international publication that had readers in many different countries. We covered lotteries all over the world. I interviewed PowerBall winners, lotto winners and celebrities like Robin Leach, Tiny Tim and Julia Roberts who played the lottery.

The magazine hired several prognosticators around the country to make their selections on which 'hot' numbers they felt would be coming up in state lotteries. I remember one who went by the nickname of Boston Blackie. He picked five out of six winning numbers once, but never got all six.

Our prognosticators used computers and other methods to choose their numbers. They had hot and cold numbers, repeat numbers and other systems that they published week after week. Our growing number of subscribers and readers followed them religiously.

I remained with LottoWorld Magazine more than three years before the publisher ceased publication. It was a fun job and I had some unforgettable moments.

While I will not claim there is a system to beat a Lotto jackpot or the PowerBall, I witnessed two incidents that make me wonder about destiny.

The first involved a doctor from Maryland. He was born in Haiti and operated a small clinic in a poor section of Baltimore. One night he had a dream.

In his dream he saw the words 'humanity' and 'brotherhood' imposed on the sky. There were numbers in the clouds and in his dream, he won a big lottery jackpot. He awoke in a sweat after the dream and wrote the numbers down.

That week, he played the Maryland State Lottery and hit it for $10 million.

I later interviewed the doctor by phone. He told me, "I grew up in a section of Haiti where we had an airport and a library. My family still lives in Haiti and I knew the airport tower needed work on it. I decided to use that money to repair the tower. I flew back to Haiti and had the work done.'

My second memorable LottoWorld story is about a black woman who worked as a maid. She had a mentally handicapped son, a very sweet person who had just turned 19.

One morning he came to her and said excitedly, 'Mama, mama, you have to play the lottery tonight. I just had a dream and the winning numbers came to me. You got to play it, Mama!'

His mother searched her pockets. She had less than a dollar.

Sadly she told him, 'Son, I'm sorry. If I had the money, I'd buy the ticket. But I just don't have it.'

That night, lo and behold, all of her son's winning numbers were picked. If she had played the lottery, they would have won $4 million. She cried.

Her son patted her back. 'Don't worry, Mama,' he said sweetly. 'If the Lord wants us to win the lottery, He will do it again.'

Less than a week later, he came to her while she was sleeping and shook her awake. His eyes were excited.

'Mama,' he said breathlessly, 'I did it again. I dreamed the winning numbers. Mama, you got to play the lottery.'

She checked her apron and found $2. Smiling, she said, 'Okay, son. Give me the numbers. I'll play them."

The numbers hit. The jackpot totaled $10 million.

I got her number from the State Lottery Commission and called her. I asked her what she intended to do with her winnings.

'Well,' she said, 'first I'm going to help my church. Then I am going to enroll my son in a rehabilitation institute so he can make progress in his life. I am so thankful for our good luck. I want him and others to benefit from our fortune."

Remember her story the next time you play.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).