California Lottery Winner

$450,000 JACKPOT WON IN CALIFORNIA

Winning the California Lottery is nothing but a stroke of luck, according to most critics who say the odds of striking it rich are the same as those of being hit by lightning.

If that's the case, lightning has struck Mitchell Drummond of Moreno Valley.

Drummond, who has lived here 10 years, believes there is a system of picking the numbers and he recently proved it by winning $454,434 by picking five correct numbers plus the bonus number in the Nov. 21 California Lotto 6-49 drawing.

Almost more incredible than his winning nearly $500,000, Drummond believes he is going to do it again and again and again.

"I use the Gail Howard system which combines the numbers which have shown up most frequently over the last 10 weeks in the lottery," Drummond said. "You then take those numbers and punch them into her mathematical system. There's really no luck involved."

Howard, who has won more than 70 times in various lotteries across the country, has written a book and appeared several times on television.

"I saw her on television when I was working the night shift in January and it seemed logical," Drummond said. "So I've been using her system since then and knew it would only be a matter of time."

So dedicated to the system he began his own lottery club which consists of 10 members — all military personnel at March Air Force Base.

He doesn't have to split the money with any club members because he bought the winning ticket individually.

"We buy 100 tickets a week and three of us pick out the numbers for the entire group," Drummond said.

So you still think it's only luck? Check out some more facts Drummond lists.

Of the 38 tickets he purchased that evening, he also had picked four of the six numbers on three tickets and three correct numbers on four other tickets.

About 40 minutes before the California winning lotto numbers were drawn, Drummond said he got a strong feeling that he should play some additional numbers. So he sat down, used his system and just beat the deadline by filing his numbers at Airport Liquor.

"If there would have been any line, I wouldn't have been able to purchase my numbers."

He added if he would have had 30 minutes more he believes he would have picked all six numbers. That jackpot would have garnered Drummond more than $13 million.

He arrived home just in time to watch the numbers being drawn.

Drummond was so confident he was going to win a large lotto jackpot he separated from the military Nov. 7 after nearly 15 years of active service. Two weeks to the day after he separated he won the Lotto.

Before he won, he hired tax and financial advisors to be prepared when he finally struck it rich.

So confident that he was going to win, he purchased a new home only months before he separated from the military.

He said his lifestyle will not change and plans to only to buy a BMW for his wife, a car she's always wanted to drive.

Drummond firmly believes he will win another large lottery jackpot, either with his club or on his own.