Some try cursed 'Lost' numbers on Powerball

[Sydney]

By Jake Rigdon
Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald


MERRILL, Wis. - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.


Anything bad happen yet? No? Good. Inspired by the hit TV show "Lost" - and ignoring the fate of the character who played those numbers for a huge lottery win - hundreds of people selected that set of six for the Wednesday night drawing for the $340 million Powerball jackpot.


According to a Wisconsin Lottery spokeswoman, more than 840 people selected those numbers across five states during last week's Powerball drawing, including 266 in New Hampshire alone.


"A lot of people are playing those numbers," said Eva Robelia, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Lottery. "There could be thousands of people who play the 'Lost' numbers overall."


On the ABC show - which, coincidentally, airs on Wednesdays - the numbers are considered cursed. One of the main characters, Hurley (the big guy with the curly hair, played by Jorge Garcia) won the lottery with them, but the win came at a price.


Since his win, nothing but tragedy and good old-fashioned bad luck has befallen Hurley, his friends and his family - and the numbers may be connected to the plane crash that stranded him and other passengers on a creepy island.


This season, the characters are forced to type those numbers into an ancient computer every 108 minutes (add up the numbers) to ward off ... well, something. Nobody knows what. Yet.


So did any of that stop people from using those infamous numbers in real life?
"Not me," said Ku Thao, 38, of Merrill, Wis.


Thao and his family members planned to buy 30 Powerball tickets, and one of those, he said, will include the "Lost" numbers.


"I've been very blessed," he said. "I have nothing to worry about."


Yeah, that's what Hurley thought, too.