Accountant’s System Pays Off in Record Lottery Win
After nearly a year of trying, Sherman Oaks accountant Ralph Laird has parlayed his 10-number computerized Lotto strategy into $27.58 million, becoming the largest single lottery winner in California history.
In addition, of his 26 entries, Laird had six in which he picked five of the six winning numbers, which could earn him $16,354 more if the numbers are confirmed by lottery officials.
Laird, 58, matter-of-factly described to reporters the system that gave him the jackpot ticket with all six winning numbers--8, 39, 12, 20, 46 and 22.
Laird said that about a year ago he “just looked at the previous winning Lotto numbers” and chose 10 he said “seemed” to come up more often, then designed a program on his home computer to scramble them into every possible combination.
Lottery spokeswoman Joanne McNabb dismissed Laird’s system, saying he won because “he’s a very lucky man. Any statistician can tell you . . . that lottery draws are totally random,” she said.
But each week, Laird gambled between $20 and $30 on Lotto tickets at Al Weintraub’s Wines and Spirits of the World on Saugus Avenue in Sherman Oaks. He spent $26 there Wednesday night, then spread his tickets on the coffee table and watched the televised Lotto drawing.
His wife of 38 years, Carlene, was getting their 3-year-old granddaughter ready for bed in the next room, when she heard her husband say: “The fat lady sang.”
“I knew what he meant,” Carlene Laird said.
The Lairds’ big jackpot is worth $1.34 million a year for 20 years, before taxes. Lottery officials said Laird’s first check, for $1,103,200, after a deduction for partial payment of federal taxes, will arrive in about a month.
The largest California jackpot, $68.5 million, was divided among four winners in February.
Laird, as composed as if he were discussing a client’s portfolio, announced that he will retire from his job as a financial analyst, invest his money and use it to help his three grown children further their careers and buy homes. The money probably will allow him to spend more time at the Chardonnay vineyard he co-owns in Sonoma County, he said.
Carlene Laird said she plans to retire from her job as a legal secretary for the Century City law firm of Gendel, Raskoff, Shapiro & Quittner. Asked what type of law she specialized in, she said, “Bankruptcy!”
The biggest splurge contemplated by the Lairds: remodeling a bathroom in the Sherman Oaks home they have owned since 1969.
