Odds of Her Lottery Feat: 1 in 282M

Was Orlene Peterson carrying around a rabbit's foot or four-leaf clover in her pocket late last month? Per a CNN report on the Idaho woman's two big lottery wins—$200,000 first, then $300,000 the very next day—it sure seems that way. A release from the Idaho Lottery notes Peterson bought a Grand Fortune scratch-off ticket on Jan. 29 from an Albertsons grocery store in Hayden with $20 she had remaining after buying other lottery tickets. "I thought what the heck, I'll get a Grand Fortune ticket," she says. She was shocked to find she'd won $200,000, though that wasn't the end of the story.

The next morning she was in a Fred Meyer store in Coeur d'Alene and decided to take a chance on a Comin' In Hot ticket. "When I scanned it and [it] said I had to claim it at the lottery, I thought maybe it was $1,000," she says. "I never imagined it would be $300,000 and that it happened again. The next day!" Peterson claimed both prizes Wednesday. The chance of this type of back-to-back win? Lottery officials say it's a 1 in 282.5 million shot. Peterson will use the money to buy a new truck, take care of some bills, and maybe take a trip to Vegas, among other plans. (More uplifting news stories.)