"Real English 36-Hit the Jackpot"

Have you ever watched the famous TV series "LOST"?
Have you ever played the "LOTTO 6"?
Have you ever bought a lottery ticket?

"I hit the Jackpot!!!"

I bet that is what many people thought when they checked their lottery tickets for the "LOTTO 6" the other day.  Unfortunately, they were mistaken...

Let me explain.  After I explain it all, I think it will make sense.

The winning numbers for last week's LOTTO 6 were: 4,7,8,15,16,42
And the Bonus Number was 23.

In "LOST,"  one of the characters is a guy named Hugo.  He is a big, heavy-set, grungy looking guy, with a really likable personality...the kind of guy who everyone likes.  He worked in a fast food fried chicken shop before he won the lottery and became filthy rich!  The numbers he played in the lottery, which also play an integral role in the plot of the TV show, were:    4,8,15,16,23,42

If you look closely, you will see that they are almost exactly the same as the winning LOTTO Numbers.

So, if you played the same numbers in last week's LOTTO 6, then you would have won the second prize.  

If I had played these numbers last week, then when I checked the numbers in the paper, I would have been running up and down Midosuji Street with no clothes on because I would have thought that I won around 10 million yen or so. (about $100,000). !! (Running naked on Midosuji would have been a big problem, but that is another story). But then after I calmed down and checked the second prize winning payout, I would have been very disappointed, and maybe a little pissed off too.  Because it was only 57,100yen (about $570).  ONLY!! Of course 57,100yen is better than zilch, but the first prize was 134,131,500yen (about $1.3 million).  3 people got it!  
  

The reason for this abnormally low second prize payout is 3,470 people played these numbers!!!  3,470 "LOST" fanatics played these numbers and all of them won, but that means the total amount of prize money allotted for the second place prize had to be divided up by 3,470 people!!! THAT IS TOUGH LUCK!!  FYI, the third place prize money was 338,700yen (about $3,400).  702 people won the third prize.  So that means that the third place prize money was more than the second place prize money.  I have never heard of anything so crazy in my life...

Here are eleven other uses of "hit":

1.  Ichiro had 3 hits in the game yesterday.

2.  We hit it off.

3.  Don't hit your brother.  If you have a problem, work it out through talking.

4.  It hasn't hit me yet, but I just graduated Uni!.

5.  That song was a big hit in the 90`s.

6.  His inconsiderate comment hit a nerve with me.

7.  The tension between Country A and Country B hit a boiling point yesterday!

8.  Stock X's price hit rock bottom this morning.

9.  That really hit home.

10.  He really hit it big!

11.  Mike is always hitting on girls at the bar.