Elian: A Lucky Charm?

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/06/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Nearly 200 Floridians who played the address of the Miami house of 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez (when he was at the storm center of controversy starting last Thanksgiving) and came out winners of the state's lottery game, Play 4. The Miami Herald reports that the winning combo of 2-3-1-9 came within hours of an announcement by a relative of Elian's that he was going to buy the boy's former residence at 2319 N.W. Second St., in Miami's Little Havana. Each of the 192 winners who picked those numbers will reportedly receive $5,000. "The number of people who won is unusual," Florida lottery spokesman Alfred Bea said of the strange coincidence. Talk about betting the house.