• Eddie Tipton created malicious software that allowed him to slash the odds of winning lottery jackpots
• He is tied to five big wins, including multi-million-dollar prizes
• His exact exploits are not fully known, with investigators speculating that Tipton and his accomplices won even more than they were able to find out

A new documentary movie titled "Jackpot: America’s Biggest Lotto Scam" sets out to tell the story of Eddie Tipton, arguably the United States’ most successful lottery scammer. The movie might just be one of the best movies about gambling. The man is credited with fudging the numbers at various lotteries and draws all over the country, allowing him to predict draws and get rich in the process.

Eddie Tipton, the amicable colleague who turned out to be a ‘criminal’ mastermind

He was finally arrested in 2015, but between 2005 and 2011, he was able to use his scheme to win at least five draws, raising eyebrows from state officials and putting investigators on the chase. It would take another four years to figure out that Tipton was actually the mastermind behind what quickly became the most daring lottery fraud in the United States.

Jackpot: America’s Biggest Lotto Scam explores Tipton’s personality and how he plotted and masterminded his ambitious plan, starting with his job. He worked as head security at Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) where he had access to an algorithm that drew the numbers for lotteries across the United States.

However, in programming the algorithm, Tipton created a piece of self-effacing malicious code that allowed him to predict the draws while supposedly leaving no trace behind. While he is credited with five cases of fraud in which he used the code to defraud the lottery, Tipton is suspected of actually having committed many more instances of such malicious activity.

The code he used supposedly helped him reduce the odds of hitting a jackpot from 5m to 1, to just 200 to 1, allowing him to win the $4.8 million jackpot in Colorado.

Most people would have stopped there, but by 2011, Tipton had already won several jackpots, including a $16.5m payout, which raised eyebrows and led to an investigation into the people who had claimed the jackpots – they were all connected to people who were somehow related to Tipton.

Tipton wanted it all – and he eventually got caught

Investigators zeroed in on Tipton precisely because of this last win, which proved too incredible and was traced to the man. The five or so cases of Tipton winning with his algorithm may not be the only instances when the man leveraged the algorithm, but it is the only one that investigators have been able to tie to him.

Tipton has not been happy with the documentary, or so it would appear, as he refused to participate in the shooting. He was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released on parole after only 5 years served. He was also sentenced to pay millions in restitution.

MUSL employees were surprised to discover that the easy-going, down-to-earth Tipton was the man behind the lottery scam that shook the United States. As to his real winnings? Nobody knows, and neither is Tipton very willing to share.

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