Madoff's prison number pays off for lottery player

Finally, Bernie Madoff has managed to actually make someone a few bucks.

The Associated Press reports that Queens resident Ralph Amendolaro saw Madoff's prison serial number in a newspaper and decided to play the last three digits in the New York State Lottery's Number game. On March 15th, he won $1,500 with it. Madoff's number is 61727-054

The AP adds that "So many people played the flight number of a jet that landed safely in the Hudson River that the lottery had to halt sales."

Obviously playing the lottery regularly is a sure sign of stupidity but if you must indulge in this tax on people who are lousy at math, it's probably best not to play numbers pulled from the headlines. It's more likely that other people will play those numbers which means that if you do win, you'll have to split the money with a bunch of other people. And of course you're no less likely to win when you buy a ticket for a more obscure number.