Powerball Fever: 8 Unusual Tales About the Lottery Game That’s Sweeping the Nation

3. Scratch-off code solver

Here’s another MIT grad. What is it with these guys? Mohan Srivastava discovered the algorithm behind a “tic-tac-toe” scratch lottery game and learned that he could actually pick the winning tickets before they were scratched.

He could have “plundered” the game, but realized that the $600 a day that would net him was less than he earned as a consultant. So he reported his findings to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Lottery officials were initially reluctant to hear Srivastava’s claims. But once he convinced them, the game was pulled from stores within 24 hours.