Lottery winner hits 2 tickets in one play, wins $500,000

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - A man beat astronomical odds when he won $500,000 in a Georgia Lottery game.

He bought two winning tickets at the same time, to add up to the huge jackpot.

Now people are hurrying in to play the lottery at this "Lucky Store."

Signs were up at the Oasis on South Slappey Monday, sharing the good news of their new winner.

On February 18, Jesse Smith bought five tickets for the All Or Nothing Georgia Lottery game for $10, and two of them were $250,000 jackpot winners.

"They won with all 12 numbers and they also won with no numbers," said Oasis Manager Andre Dixon.

Since news has spread about Smith's win, the store has seen a big increase in players.

"We, I honestly believe this is a lucky store," said Dixon. "A lot of people win, a lot of times. A lot of people play a lot of numbers here and they win, scratch a lot of tickets."

Another lottery player, LaToya, said the Oasis is her winning store, where she recently won big.

"[I] took $2 out of that bill money and came here and bought a $2 Jumbo Buck, and won $500," LaToya said. "That's why I say this store is definitely lucky to me, so I come here all the time."

"[I'm] trying to win the same thing he won, and hoping I can," said Terrance, another customer at the store. "I'm going to keep trying every day."

Managers say Smith was a regular customer and Lottery player at the Oasis. They said when he won, he quietly left the store and they have not seen him since.

"He hasn't been back," said Dixon. "He's probably somewhere enjoying that half a million dollars."

WALB tried to contact Jesse Smith, but he said he was not interested in talking about his big win.

Georgia Lottery officials say the odds of matching 12 of 12 numbers in the All or Nothing Game is more than one in 2,704,156.

All or Nothing is a $2 game that offers prizes of up to $250,000 with four daily drawings. Tickets are $2 per play.

Players can win the grand prize by matching all or none of the 12 numbers drawn.

Tickets for All or Nothing went on sale statewide March 2, 2014.

It's hard to imagine what the odds must be to win that jackpot twice in the same play.

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