Recent Iowa Retiree Has Second Big Lottery Win Within 6 Months

Maybe we need to pick up a lottery ticket.

At some point or another, a lot of us have played Powerball to no success or at best, won $5 off a scratch-off. But that's not the case for one lady.

According to Iowa Lottery, for the second time in less than 6 months, Marie Johnson-Fernandez from Williamsburg won big off of the Pick 4 game.

Yep, Marie won $59,000 from a midday drawing, the win coming after her $26,500 win in April from the same game. She retired from the local school district in May.

1-0-1-0 is a favorite number combo for Marie so when October 10th came around, she knew what numbers she'd play and bought the winning ticket at Casey's at 130 W. Evans St. in Williamsburg.

She told lottery officials that she's planning to use her winnings to pay bills, help others, and to cover a cruise she booked for next year.

Pick 4 is a numbers game that has a long history on the East Coast, but is obviously now done in other states, including Iowa. The way it works is this: Pick 4 players choose combinations of four numbers that can range from 0000 to 9999. The prize that a player could win depends on the type of bet that was made.

According to the Iowa Lottery, Pick 4 players tend to be loyal to a specific set of numbers and play them more than once for a particular drawing, like Marie did.

A double lottery win is a great way to alleviate any financial stress that comes with retirement!