This might be as rare as lightning striking twice in the same place.
The odds of picking all five numbers in Pennsylvania’s Cash 5 lottery game start out at just a hair below one in a million — one in 962,598, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery Commission.
On Saturday, two players bought tickets using the same winning numbers at the same grocery store — the Shop ’n Save market in Mt. Pleasant — to claim $133,333.50 each from the $400,000 jackpot.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It certainly is unusual, but it is accurate,” said Trevor Monk, a spokesman for the state lottery commission.
Shop ’n Save manager Terri Jellison said it is indeed accurate.
Although the winners have yet to contact the lottery commission to collect on their tickets, Jellison said everyone at the local grocery store knows who they are.
“It boggles the mind. We’re all so excited. It is one of our employees and a steady customer who comes in and plays almost every day. These are good people,” Jellison said.
Monk couldn’t say what the odds are of two players choosing the same number on the same day at the same store.
“We’d have to do a little number crunching to get that,” he said.
According to the lottery commission, a third person bought a ticket with the same winning numbers at Sheetz in Cheswick. That individual also will receive $133.333.50, or a third of Saturday’s total $400,000 Cash 5 jackpot.
The winning numbers were: 5-11-24-30-33.
