Phone Operator Dials Up $8.1 Million Lotto Numbers : Telephone Operator Wins $8 Million--Easy as 1-2-3
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SACRAMENTO — A long-distance telephone operator from San Diego picked the correct six numbers to win nearly $8.1 million in Saturday’s lotto drawing by using favorite numbers and ages, state officials said today.
Renee Dudoit, 36, who works for AT&T; in Bonita, says she chose her favorite number, 3; the number 5, because her mother has five children; 22, because tutu is Hawaiian for grandmother; 33, because it’s her sister’s age; 36, her own age; and 37, her best friend’s age.
The strategy “was an effective one, obviously,” lottery spokesman Bob Taylor said.
Dudoit, who declined to talk with reporters immediately, told lottery officials that she plans to buy a new house and perhaps a car.
She has spent about $5 a week on Lotto 6-49 since the games started Oct. 14.
San Diego County may be a lucky spot for lotto players. Two weeks ago, Gordon Pivar, a 53-year-old Oceanside shirt salesman, picked all six numbers in the computerized lotto game and won the biggest jackpot ever awarded by the California Lottery--$17.9 million.
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