You’ve finished reading your vague prophecy about « new beginnings. » You flip the little white slip over. There they are: the « Lucky Numbers. »
Usually, we ignore them. They seem like random digits thrown out by a computer program (which, spoiler alert, they usually are). But sometimes, a tiny voice in the back of your head whispers: What if?
What if the universe isn’t communicating through words today, but through math?
The Powerball Miracle
If you think playing fortune cookie numbers is silly, you need to hear about the great Powerball drawing of March 2005.
Usually, a Powerball drawing has a handful of second-prize winners. In this specific drawing, there were a staggering 110 winners for the second-tier prize. Lottery officials suspected fraud. How could so many people pick the exact same random numbers?
The investigation revealed something incredible: they had all eaten at Chinese restaurants recently. The cookies came from the same factory in Queens, New York, which had printed thousands of slips with the same « lucky numbers. »
Suddenly, over a hundred people were about $100,000 richer (or more, depending on the multiplier), all thanks to a crunchy after-dinner treat. It proved that sometimes, the cookie really does know best.
Should You Play Them?
Look, we aren’t financial advisors. The odds of winning the lottery are astronomical, whether you use your birthday, your dog’s name, or the numbers from a piece of paper you found inside a dessert.
But there is something undeniably fun about outsourcing your luck to a baked good. It takes the pressure off. If you lose, it’s the cookie’s fault. If you win, you have the greatest cocktail party story ever.
So next time you see those six digits starring back at you, maybe don’t toss the slip immediately. For a dollar and a dream, it might be worth listening to the pastry.
- Related link: Read the full New York Times report on the 2005 fortune cookie lottery wave.
- Related link: Learn the basics of how numerology is supposed to work at HowStuffWorks.