Double Dreamin'

Claim:   Woman wins lottery twice after dreaming about the winning combination.

Status:   True.

Origins:   The many hopefuls who invest a few dollars (or more) in lottery tickets in pursuit of instant wealth employ a variety of methods for choosing the potential winning entries. Some select numbers corresponding to personally signficant dates (e.g., birthdays, anniversaries); some depend upon intuition or "lucky" feelings; some believe

analyzing past results will help them determine future winning numbers; some have tried the "brute force" approach of buying up as many combinations as possible; and some are content to simply play with randomly-selected entries.

Many successful lottery entrants have said their winning combinations came to them in dreams; that they awoke with five or six numbers dancing in their heads, jotted the combinations down, played them, and won. Sometimes the dreamed-of numbers paid off right away, and sometimes the dreamers played those combinations for years before hitting the jackpot. So, that 86-year-old Mary Wollens of Toronto won the Ontario Lottery on 30 September 2006 after seeing "a lotto ticket and a large cheque" in a dream a couple of days before the drawing wasn't all that unusual — the remarkable part was that her prophetic dream enabled her to win the same lottery twice.

You see, Mary had already purchased a lottery ticket with the combination she later dreamed about, but her vision instilled her with such confidence that she went out and bought a second ticket with those same numbers. Now, some people would consider purchasing a duplicate ticket be a foolish waste of money (because if your numbers lose, you're needlessly out an extra dollar, and even if you hit the big jackpot, you don't necessarily get any extra credit for winning twice), but not Mary — and good thing, too, because she happened onto one of those occasions when having a second ticket paid off big.

As things turned out, someone else had also correctly picked all six numbers for that week's draw, so instead of having to split the $24 million jackpot evenly with another winner, Mary was able to claim a two-thirds share and take home $16 million.

Originally published:   24 February 2007

Last updated:   12 January 2016

  Sources:

    Jackson, Jennifer.   "What's Your Number?: All Are Equal, But Some Are Popular."

    The Vancouver Sun.   25 March 1992   (p. A8).

    Pearson, Craig.   "Couple Wins Dream Lottery; Numbers Came to Woman in Her Sleep."

    Windsor Star.   17 October 2002   (p. A1).

    Associated Press.   "Prize Dream Came True."

    The [Kitchener-Waterloo] Record.   24 December 1997   (p. A6).

    Calgary Sun.   "Lottery Officials Do Double-Take on Ontario Senior's Repeat Lotto Win."

    4 October 2006   (p. 2).

    Canadian Press.   "Lotto Winner Dreamed Numbers 15 Years Ago."

    Sault Star.   15 June 2000   (p. A6).

    Canadian Press.   "Man's Dream Pays Off with Lottery Win."

    Sault Star.   28 December 2001   (p. A1).

    Canadian Press.   "Toronto Senior's Double Win in $24M Lotto 6-49 Makes History."

    Edmonton Journal.   4 October 2006   (p. A5).

    CBC News.   "Dream of Big Cheque Nets 85-Year-Old Double Lotto Win."

    4 October 2006.