Who Are Jerry And Marge Selbee? Untold Truths About The Old Couples Lottery Story

Jerry and Marge Selbee are a retired couple from Michigan who won $26 million in multiple state lottery games. 

The high school sweethearts lived a tranquil existence in Evart, Michigan, population 1900, for years. A one-stoplight manufacturing town that folds in the folds of a map.

They had six children and owned a Main Street convenience shop together. Jerry was in charge of the liquor and smokes, while Marge was in charge of the books and the sandwiches, CBS reported.

Two retirees crack the code to state lotteries to the tune of millions? And they somehow do it legally? Jerry and Marge Selbee's remarkable story didn't just land them on 60 Minutes; they could be headed to Hollywood. https://t.co/ecHj4GafXt pic.twitter.com/6D5IKvaAOV

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 28, 2019

He was 62 and Marge was 63, when they decided to sell the shop they had owned for seventeen years and retire. However, one morning in 2003, Jerry returned to the corner store and noticed a flyer for a fresh new lottery game called Winfall.

Jerry has always had "a mind for mathematics," as he puts it. He graduated from neighboring Western Michigan University with a bachelor's degree in the topic. And within minutes, he knew that this was a one-of-a-kind game.

He stated that this was due to the fact that the prizes rolled down every time the jackpot surpassed the $5 million ceiling.

In Mega Millions, the jackpot grows until someone matches every single number. But in Winfall persons with tickets with five, four, and three winning numbers might pay in if the jackpot reached $5 million and no one pulled a ticket with all six winning numbers.

After forming a firm and keeping meticulous records of his winnings, he asked family and friends to share in his lottery fortune. When Michigan shut down the Winfall game, Jerry set his eyes on a lottery game in Massachusetts with identical regulations.

Overall, the Selbees won more than $26 million in the lotto. They used their gains to renovate their house and assist their grandkids and great-grandchildren with their education costs.

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Jerry and Marge Selbee won above $26million in a lottery with no deception or deception but everything was legitimately by exploiting a mathematical loophole.

The loophole eventually result in the couple's net worth of roughly $20 million and a profit of $7.75 million (before taxes) over a nine-year period. And now, a film based on how they tipped the lottery odds in their favor.

The arithmetic is presented in further detail in a recent 10,000-word Huffington Post piece. The true challenge, once the Selbees figured it out, was simply purchasing and studying thousands of lottery tickets.

This necessitated physically visiting businesses, standing in front of machines for hours, purchasing tickets, and printing them off.

Selbee began working on his own in 2003, spending a few thousand dollars per week while keeping his more risk-averse wife in the dark.

He opened to his wife, after two weeks of betting, during which he earned $6,300 after purchasing $3,400 in tickets and then earned $15,700 after purchasing $8,000 in tickets.

After a few hundred thousand dollars in profit, the Selbees formed a corporation to fund and organize the entire operation. The Selbees gathered investors but faced a new challenge. 

A group of MIT students who had also figured out the odds, organized an organization, attracted investors, and began making millions. But the Boston Globe newspaper brought the entire thing crashing down in the end.

They were not punished, however, because there was nothing illegal about it.

Jerry and Marge Selbee share their story about their lottery on CBS 60minutes. Their narrative is now a full film, which will debut on Paramount+ next week. 

Overall, the Selbees won more than $26 million in the lottery. They used their gains to renovate their house and assist their grandkids and great-grandchildren with their education costs.

Bryan Cranston stars opposite Annette Bening in the true story of “professional lottery players,” retired husband and wife duo Jerry and Marge Selbee, who won millions in the Massachusetts lotto. Check out the trailer for "Jerry & Marge Go Large" here: https://t.co/DaaOH7fj3d pic.twitter.com/qv7hi2AGFc

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) May 16, 2022

Even as their lottery earnings began to mount, the Selbees continued to live simply. They ate at Sugar Rae's Café, their favorite neighborhood eatery, while Marge prepared butterscotch pies.

They never bought a hot tub, a sports vehicle, or a timeshare, not even a luxurious cruise with many ports of call.

"We don't cruise," Jerry said to Wertheim.

When 60 Minutes reporter Jon Wertheim profiled the Selbees in 2019, the couple had already sold the rights to their story to Hollywood filmmakers.

Jerry is played by Bryan Cranston in the new film, and Marge is played by Annette Benning.

"Jerry and Marge Go Large" will be available on the Paramount+ streaming service in the United States on June 17.