Who Is Stefan Mandel and What Is His Lottery Algorithm?

Ola OlajideMay 25, 2022

Have you ever heard of anyone winning the lottery fourteen times? Well, that’s what Stefan Mandel did – and he did it legally. If you’re anything like us, you’ll likely now be frantically wondering how to win the lottery with the Stefan Mandel algorithm – but don’t worry, this article is here to tell you.

Who is Stefan Mandel?

Stefan Mandel is an economist. Growing up in communist Romania, Mandel experienced poverty first hand, which is why he decided in the late 1950s to come up with his now infamous algorithm.

He convinced two friends that he could guarantee a second-place win in the lottery provided that they bought tickets that included certain blocks of numbers. Not only did they win, they actually won the jackpot, earning Mandel enough money to relocate from Romania to Israel, and then to Australia.

Once there, Mandel was able to hone his algorithm to perfection, all the while stressing the importance of remaining calm and focused throughout his diligent attempts to win the lottery. He secured a team of investors and went on to win twelve times in Australia, with the Australian government passing new laws with each successive win, in an attempt to counter Mandel’s string of successes.

After his thirteenth overall win in Oz, he went onto Virginia in the United States, where he snagged his fourteenth overall lottery win in 1992. After investigations by the FBI, the legality of this win was verified, and Mandel secured the top haul of US $27million, alongside hundreds of minor prizes. Mandel now lives out a quiet life on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu.

What is Mandel’s lottery algorithm?

Mandel’s algorithm allowed him to predict five out of the six winning lottery numbers. The algorithm is six-fold, and goes as follows:

1. You must calculate the total number of possible combinations for the lottery that you’re playing.
2. You then have to find lotteries where the jackpot is at least three times over the number of possible combinations. So, for a lottery where participants have to select six numbers from 1 to 40, the jackpot would need to be around US$11.5million – three times the 3,838,380 possible combinations.
3. The next step is to raise the cash to pay for each of these combinations – which is the step for which Mandel required investors, as this is a hefty sum.
4. Mandel would then print out millions of tickets with every possible combination.
5. Hand these tickets over to authorized lottery dealers.
6. Win. Don’t forget to reimburse your investors for their stake hold. Mandel’s algorithm would be as good as useless without the support of his investors.

It’s worth noting that, whilst Mandel’s process was legal at the time that he played his gamble, it would now be illegal in both the USA and Australia.That’s because you now cannot purchase lottery tickets either in bulk or print tickets at home, both of which are key elements to Mandel’s process. So, whilst Mandel’s algorithm worked for him, you’d be hard-pressed to achieve his success by imitating it!

Ola OlajideMay 25, 2022
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