Loads of lottery luck: How a Spokane woman took home $300,000 after winning the lottery twice in four months

One in 74,008. That was the probability Amber from Spokane had when she won $50,000 from a Washington Lottery scratch ticket in September.

One in 350,117. Those were the odds stacked against Amber when she won $250,000 on a scratcher just four months later.

Amber, who would only give out her first name, has joined a handful of people who have won the lottery not just once, but twice. While she’s not quite as lucky as someone like Joan Ginther, who won the lottery four times between 1993 and 2010 and took home a total of $20 million , Amber is still one of a fortunate few. And unlike Ginther, Amber doesn’t have a PhD from Stanford, nor does she teach college mathematics, which gave Ginther a robust understanding of probabilities and statistics.

Amber is a bartender in her late 20s. For the yuletide season, her father bought scratchers for the entire family to use as an advent calendar of sorts. Each day that passed, up until Christmas Day, all seven members of the family were supposed to scratch off a box. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for Amber, the surprise was ruined in less than a week.

“I won $150 (from that ticket),” Amber said. “My daughter got to the card. I want to say December 6, she somehow got the card, because I think we had it on the fridge or something, and she just scratched it because she’s 5.”

After winning $150, Amber and her husband decided to reinvest their earnings into more lotto tickets to hopefully get the $250,000 grand prize. Her husband, who she describes as a man with a statistical mind, knew that the odds of winning were higher with the Christmas-themed lotto tickets.

With their winnings reinvested, along with about $50 out of their own pocket, Amber eventually scratched gold… again. But this time, it was $250,000.

“(My husband) called his best friend that he’s known since elementary school, and his best friend’s like, ‘Dude, I don’t know how you guys have gotten this lucky in these last few months, but you guys deserved it, and you needed that at this point in life.’”

Prior to winning the first $50,000, Amber said her family, including her husband, her 5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, were forced to downsize because of a major plumbing problem that cost about $20,000 to fix.

The family moved from their old home into a 700-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom house. It was a low point for the family, Amber said, and a very large adjustment. Upon winning $50,000, the couple was able to pay off all their debt.

“All my student loans are gone,” she said. “Our car loans are gone. We paid off mechanical fees that we had on the cars as well.”

Along with all that, they were able to pay off credit card debt and save $7,000 to do yard work when spring rolls around. But winning $250,000, just months later, opened a variety of doors, both literally and figuratively.

“Now we can use that money, the $250,000, to essentially have a down payment for a new house, maybe pay down our interest rate on the new house, so that we don’t get stuck where we were last time and risk having to lose that house as well,” Amber said. “So it was the best feeling in the world after I won the $250,000, because we’re finally getting our feet underneath us, and our kids can finally have their own rooms.”

Dan Miller from Washington’s Lottery said that 24% of the winnings are subtracted from the total sum for tax purposes.

On top of buying a bigger and better house, Amber and her husband are planning to save some money for their kids to use when they’re older. The couple of six years hopes that by the time their kids turn 18, they’ll be able to pay either for their college, if they choose to go, or give the two kids some money for a down payment on homes of their own.

It’s possible that Amber is the single luckiest woman currently walking the streets of Spokane. It’s also entirely possible that her good deeds are finally being rewarded. Whatever the reason, Amber believes that everyone reaps what they sow.

“I also believe that the good karma in the world that I put out definitely did something, because I’m never this lucky,” Amber said. “I really am not. I’m usually a break-even person.”

While Amber is beyond thrilled over her recent winnings, she’s not in a rush to try her luck for a third time.

Her advice for folks looking to win big from the lotto is to not get their hopes up and invest only what they’re willing to lose. She said she’s taking a break from buying lotto tickets, but may try again next holiday season. If fate has it in the cards and she wins for a third time, then “so be it,” she said.

But as for now, she’s focused on putting good energy out into the world and waiting for that karma to circle its way back, in whatever form that looks like.

“As long as you’re always honest and upfront and putting good in the world,” Amber said, “it’ll come back to you.”