CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The North Carolina lottery wants you to believe we all have the same chance to win.
But some players are winning so often, and so big, that their good fortune defies logic.
Almost certainly, experts say, some are more than lucky. They are likely gaming the system. And the losers are the state's taxpayers, single parents and those who play by the rules.
The Charlotte Observer found players who beat staggering odds so consistently that statisticians said chances of being that lucky were less than 1 in a trillion.
"You have to ask yourself, 'How is this happening?'" said Ron Wasserstein, executive director of the American Statistical Association. "It doesn't pass the smell test."
An Observer investigation found:
_Many players beat baffling odds for months at a time, raising red flags about how they won. For instance, a High Point woman hit winners nine times in a four-month span, overcoming odds of 1 in 5,000, 1 in 40,000, 1 in 70,000 and 1 in 120,000. She collected $21,000 that year from scratch-off tickets, data show.
_Most big-prize winners won once or twice. But the number of repeat big winners _ some of whom won on 15 or more scratch-off tickets in a single year _ has surged since the lottery began in 2006, far outpacing the growth in total winners.
_Other top winners may not be the actual winners at all. North Carolina has a lucrative secondary market. In it, players resell winning tickets to avoid automatic withholdings, such as back taxes and child support. Buyers collect the prize, sellers remain anonymous _ and the lottery does little to stop it.
Lottery officials said they aggressively pursue cheaters and do not encourage those who exploit lottery loopholes. Still, reporters found repeated instances in which the lottery touted and publicized improbable winners.
To investigate the lottery _ which brought in a record $2.4 billion last fiscal year _ reporters analyzed 189,000 winning claims from 2006 to late last year. Records included every win of at least $600, the minimum amount the IRS requires lotteries to report.
Alice Garland, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery, said she is confident that every payout is for a genuine win.
"I've just decided there are lucky people in this world," she said.
