She switches lottery, loses out on $14m

If proof is needed that Friday the 13th is not a good day, you just have to talk to this French pensioner.

She lost out on eight million euros (S$14 million) by switching her usual lottery draw to place the six number combination she always uses on another.

The woman in her 60s, a resident of the village of Saint Louis, normally plays the national lottery Super Loto each week without fail, UK daily The Telegraph reported.

But last Friday, on Dec 13, she decided to change a habit of a lifetime.

She went for a bigger prize in the Euromillions lottery game, which gave out 43 million euros as prize money. The prize money for Super Loto, run by a state-owned firm, was 16 million euros.

So she ditched her faithful draw and placed her usual lucky numbers on the Euromillions instead, reported French newspaper Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace.

The numbers 1-6-16-32-41-1 yielded no prize from the Euromillions draw, but turned out to be the winning combination for the Super Loto.

The next day, the woman checked the winning numbers. She was ecstatic because she thought she had finally hit the jackpot. She was so excited that she fainted, the newspaper reported.

But reality hit hard when she came around. She had the winning numbers, but it was for the wrong lottery.

Somebody else had picked the winning numbers for the Super Loto, taking home the full 16 million euros.