The Staggering Odds That Caused This Man To Accidentally Win $546,000 May Never Be Repeated

Kenneth Stokes talks about his win. Click to Play

A Massachusetts man got the phone call most players want: a lottery representative telling him he had won a 'Lucky For Life' drawing.

Christian TejaAs excited as he was, it didn't stop Kenneth Stokes remembering that his family had bought him a season ticket for the same game.

During the initial call delivering the good news, a Massachusetts lottery representative informed Stokes that there was another Lucky for Life winner from Norwood.

Christian Teja, director of communications at the Massachusetts Lottery, told Yahoo News about the call.

After he remembered the ticket from his family, with the same number combination, Stokes picked up the phone again.

The ticket numbers for the 'Lucky For Life' drawing.

And to his surprise, it was him - he was a double winner. But no-one was more surprised than the lottery organisation, because Stokes had done something almost impossible: the odds of him winning twice in one drawing are one in 985,517.

Photo: ABC News

Stokes brought in his winning tickets to collect his prize that week. He had won $25,000 a year for up to 20 years, which equals a $500,000 maximum. Stokes opted for a one-time cash option payment, which brought the prize down to $390,000 pre-tax, or $273,000 after tax.

For the Norwood father of two, however, his winnings were doubled to $546,000 because of the duplicate ticket.

"I saw him yesterday. He was certainly in a good mood with a big smile on his face, as you can imagine," Teja said. "He’s still somewhat in disbelief but very appreciative of his good fortune."