DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Thanks to a quartet of fours that appeared on the fourth day of the month, more than 1,600 Texans have a nice, fat bankroll in their pockets.
The Texas Lottery's Daily 4 game is played four times each day, Monday through Saturday. Numbers between zero and nine are drawn from four separate hoppers to choose each game's winning combination.
In the 6 p.m. Daily 4 drawing on Tuesday, something unusual happened. The numbers came out 4-4-4-4.
Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Gary Grief said, "There are a tremendous amount of our players who like to play all the same digits in that particular game." Those who did in the Tuesday evening Daily 4 game walked away with big smiles. Grief said, "We have 1,669 winners, with tickets valued at $2,500 a piece for that one drawing."
The minimum cost to play Daily 4 is 50 cents. In other words, a very nice return on investment.
On a typical day, the payout percentage on the game is roughly 50 percent. For the Tuesday evening game, it was over 5,000 percent. Grief said, "Our players beat the house (Tuesday), and we are thrilled for all their good luck."
The surge in winners led to longer-than-usual lines Wednesday at lottery claim centers across the state. All Texas Lottery prizes of $600 or more must be claimed in person.
The last time all the same numbers came out in a Daily 4 game: July 27, 2018, when 0-0-0-0 made an appearance.
Meanwhile, if you are looking for something bigger, Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is worth an estimated $530 million. It is the seventh-largest prize in the history of the game.