sasheer, we'll be back next week. thanks for watching and stay tuned for "20/20," which starts right now. tonight on "20/20" -- got luck? it's the hit song of the summer. daft punk's "get lucky." ♪ we're up all night to get lucky ♪ >> and three sets of winners just did, after winning the third largest powerball jackpot in history. >> i've been waiting for this day my entire life. >> are there secrets to winning? how does this guy do it? almost every time he hits the tables. >> yeah! >> ding, ding, ding! >> but does this surveillance tape hold the clue to how his luck's about to run out? >> feel the gun pressed up my head again, he goes, "i'm still here." >> luck of the draw. >> and, former teen heartthrobs. tv stars. >> a long time ago, that's all.

>> but don't call them washed up, because now they're cleaning up. >> wow. >> lucking out due to a complete stranger and his obsession. >> big ball of lightning that dropped out of the sky. >> gifts from the grave. plus, when you go swimming in the deep end of the lottery office pool, be careful. it could be full of sharks. >> money changes people, it changes everything. >> tonight, we're on the lookout for luck. >> say to yourself, i am a winner. >> got luck? getting it, keeping it. here's david muir. >> good evening, elizabeth is off tonight. but don't worry. she'll be back. she didn't win the powerball, join the crowd. but tonight, we are learning more about the three winning tickets, splitting that $448 million jackpot. among the winner, that man from minnesota, the office pool from new jersey, 16 workers. and, of course, the winner of the last ticket yet to come forward tonight.

but what happens when all that good luck, those sudden riches, suddenly put a target on your back? can you get a second chance at luck? watch this. here's deborah roberts. ♪ luck be a lady tonight >> reporter: frank sinatra said it best. we're all in pursuit of her and do some pretty quirky things to get lady luck on our side. blow out all the candles. pick up a penny, heads up only, please. shower the bride with rice. and, of course, we all want to be lucky in love. but when it comes to luck at the card table, david hayes has it, hands down. by day, he's a jewelry maker in columbus, ohio, earning a modest salary. by night -- he's fortune's favorite son. his game? blackjack. his winning percentage, freakishly good. you not only win, but you seem to win big. >> i do. >> reporter: so, this is not

$100, 200 gz. >> no, we're taking five, six figures, generally, when i play. >> reporter: wow. >> yep. >> reporter: with his golden guts, david defies all the stats and frustrating for casinos, he never cheats or counts cards. so, just pure luck? >> it's just pure luck. 5, 15, too much. >> reporter: there you go. so, naturally, we wanted to see this guy's luck with our own eyes. >> i win. >> reporter: so, we brought him to new york for a friendly test at the card table. >> 19. >> nice. >> reporter: whoa! you're winning but i'm not. after half an hour, i've got bust and david is up $5,000. luck. >> luck. >> reporter: now, let's see if your luck extends to lottery tickets. >> we'll see. >> reporter: how about a simple game like scratchoff lotto. david buys two. if you win, i'm going to freak out. absolutely freak out.

>> not this one. >> reporter: not that one. >> 27, 27, won $5, so. >> reporter: wait a minute, you won? are you sure? actually, he's even luckier than that. come on! you won $10. >> on a $5 ticket. >> reporter: but even the best gamblers know that lady luck can be a fickle mistress, even cruel. your luck kind of ran out last fall. >> it did. >> reporter: last october, david decided to try his uncanny luck in the new glitzy hollywood casino, with nick, his gambling buddy. >> just one of those nights, he was a lucky winner. >> reporter: after a five-hour run, david was riding high. >> people were all around me, cheering, seeing me bet their whole month's salary in one 30-second move. i had stacks of $1,000 chips and i said, you know, time to leave before i lose it. i didn't realize how much i actually won until i cashed out. >> reporter: 358 $100 bills.

nearly $36,000. but it was just at this moment, with david thrilled at his good fortune that lady luck is about to take the rest of the night off. david approaches the cashier's cage to claim his winnings. that's him on casino surveillance video obtained exclusively by "20/20." he says he's flabbergasted that the casino cashier won't write him a check, customary for large winks. >> he was held up for a significant period of time. i think more than an hour. they counted the money out in front of him several times. and it drew kind of a crowd. >> and that's when i knew something didn't, you know, something wasn't right. i asked her three times about getting a check. i was forced to take cash. it was cash as far as i was concerned, or nothing. so, she had a big giant stack, 35,800 bucks in 100s and put it

into a manila envelope and stapled it up the sides and wrote employee file on it. it was a scary thought to be handed a brick of cash and then when you ask them, is there something i can put that in, she said there wasn't anything. >> reporter: then something else struck him as odd. this security guard here in the tan jacket asks david a question. >> the management asked me, do you feel comfortable taking this much money home? i said, no, but i don't have a choice. but my brother's home and i'm sure he's got his gun, so, i'm not really worried. >> reporter: you have $35,000 under your -- >> football sized envelope under my arm. got escorted, you know, with security, to the car. >> reporter: driving home, he's still nervous about carrying so much money. so, david constantly checks his rear view mirror. >> reporter: was anybody following you? >> i don't feel i was followed and i was fairly paranoid. >> reporter: that's because the roads leading to his home are winding and narrow. yet, on this chilly october night, halloween is about to

come early. and david's in for a nasty trick. by 6:00 a.m., he's home alone. his brother's away. and david is safe, tired and much richer. >> took the money out, just holding it, thinking, that's my year's salary, right there. it with us good to dream about what i could do with the money, you know, help out family, pay bills. >> reporter: as he dozes off, three men enter his house through an unlocked back door and head upstairs. >> i had just about fallen asleep and i hear my bedroom door open. >> reporter: david wakes up to everyone's worst nightmare. >> next thing i know, i see people all in black, a ski mask, gloves, everything. the only thing i could really see was around the eyes. one was a thinner white gentleman, one was a, kind of a well-built black gentleman and he was the one with the gun. took me a good three to four seconds to realize, this is --

this isn't a joke. and that's when i immediately sawrevolver, took his other hand and, you know, pushed me back into the bed. put the gun to my head and that's when he started asking me about my brother and that's when i realized, this is real. >> reporter: bizarrely, the assailants seem to know about david's casino conversation about his brother having a gun. >> they were almost calm about it. when they robbed me. as if it was routine, holding the gun to my forehead. kept asking about where the money was and it was very close, it was right behind him. >> reporter: after ransacking the room, they found that brick of cash. so, they took the money from your night stand. >> alasctually had to point it to me. they were getting insistent on where the money was. i think they were actually looking for the envelope because they had probably seen me with the envelope. >> reporter: so, they took your money and ran? >> they took the money. they ran out, at least i thought

they did. they put my blanket over my head. told me, you know, don't move. and then after everything was said and done, they said they were leaving, you know, stay put. i'm thinking, it's real quiet. i can hear someone running down the stairs. and then about maybe 15 to 20 seconds later, i feel the gun pressed up against my head again, he goes, "i'm still here." >> reporter: that convinced david he was about to die. coming up, how will the home invasion play out? and how will david take his revenge? and one of the masked assailants come clean. >> i followed the man home, realized what i was doing, i knew what i was doing was wrong and i regret it. >> reporter: stay with us. get outta here! [ female announcer ] introducing the windex touch-up cleaner. dab it... clean it... done. it's a one-handed clean from windex... ♪ ...that stays out to kill 99.9% of bacteria... ♪

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lease this all-new cadillac xts for around $399 per month or purchase for 0% apr for 60 months. come in now for the best offers of the model year. "20/20" continues with "got luck?" once again, deborah roberts. >> reporter: having just returned home with the biggest black jack win of his life,

david hayes is lying helplessly at gunpoint in his own bed. david hayes desperately needs lady luck to glance his way again. >> they ran out, or at least i thought they did. and then about maybe 15 to 20 seconds later, i feel the gun pressed up against my head again. he goes, "i'm still here." you've got the money. why are you still here? yeah, i thought yet was going to pull the trigger. and then they left. >> reporter: you must have been terrified? >> oh, i was absolutely terrified. i mean, i had just -- it was shocking. >> reporter: and it was mystifying -- how did the thieves know he was flush with cash? and why would they ask him this? >> they asked me about where my brother was, and where he keeps his gun and if he's a light sleeper. and i'm thinking, "in what world would you think he'd be armed?" you know? and that's when i remembered on the way to the cage, i told the security guy that my brother was armed and he was home and i'm not worried.

suddenly, it was just this total fear that these people are here for the money i just won. >> reporter: and he says he told only the security guard -- there in the tan jacket -- and then there was that odd handling of the payout at the casino. >> i figured, if i could see my full address written on that paper from five, six feet away, you know, so could a person standing behind me. >> reporter: casino security cameras show lots of people gathering around the cashier's cage, and some strange happenings. first, the computers seem to break down. >> she kept taking my license and jumping from computer to computer, jumping into the back room where i couldn't see her. >> reporter: then, the cashier writes his name and address on a legal pad. >> she had a big sheet of paper and she set my license down and just started copying all the information onto this big piece of paper in big black ink. >> and they say his name so loudly that they say his address to each other, "oh, this is david. this is his address."

>> reporter: the cashier then starts waving her arms -- why? and then there's this guy in a red hoody, talking on a cell phone. he studies david hayes closely, then makes a call. could this be the plot for the robbery unfolding on camera? it turns out, this is 26-year-old ronald jones, a man with a criminal record, known as "hod rod." he would later be fingered as one of the assailants. and records would show he placed a call to the phone of wendell watkins, a hardened criminal with a long record of robbery with fire arms. as david approaches the cashier window, jones is on another call with this man, 20-year-old ryan bundy. who talked with us about that night. >> somebody told me how much money he had won at the casino that night. i got a call to pick him up, ronald jones. >> reporter: jones and bundy follow david out of the parking lot. >> i seen him get in his car.

>> reporter: and they say they pick up watkins on the way to david's house. >> i followed him close to his house, and i returned later on that night. >> reporter: then, the three men, wearing masks, make off with the cash. weeks later, following a tip from an informant, bundy and jones are arrested at their homes near the casino. on the local news, jones' distraught wife unwittingly implicates her husband. >> he was at the casino. he was. i wasn't with him. >> reporter: david thinks his bad luck is in the rear view mirror now. but not quite. the day after the arrests, he gets a terrifying phone call from a police detective with an ominous message. >> apparently one of the defendants on this case has made some threats toward you. >> my car tires were flattened. someone broke into my car. a gentleman just started hitting my brother's car with a hammer. it makes me wonder, why our car? and why is all this starting

right after these gentlemen are arrested? now i'm finding out that there's been death threats. >> reporter: who's behind these threats? and why? were david's attackers trying to intimidate him to keep him quiet? >> did they have a friend that's upset about this? a girlfriend or a family member that, you know, is going to show up at the house? they wanted some revenge, some damage done, even if it's just to intimidate me. >> reporter: the third suspect, wendell watkins, is still on the loose. he was allegedly the gunman. >> this is a horrible crime, dangerous crime, violent crime. >> reporter: in court, ryan bundy confirmed that his cut of the take was $3,500. >> what is your plea, sir, of one count of aggravated burglary? >> i plead guilty, your honor. >> reporter: in the last week, both jones and one dill were sentenced to ten years in prison.

bundy spoke to us from jail and read a heartfelt letter he sent to david hayes. >> dear mr. hayes, i want to apologize for my involvement in the crime. and there was an inside man. >> reporter: and he writes, "i firmly believe that they provided information." could it really have been an inside job? convinced that the casino, at the very least, had not done enough to protect his privacy, david sued in civil court with help from another blackjack buddy, attorney joe landusky. >> the casino is at a minimum, negligent, and probably reckless. and i think it was because of their actions that this eventually took place. >> reporter: the hollywood casino declined our request for an interview. they denied any wrong doing, and sent us this statement, saying, "we have carefully investigated the claims and believe our staff acted appropriately." were you turned off gambling? >> i was turned off for quite awhile. i didn't want to leave the house. i figured if they're crazy enough to hold a gun to my head, they're crazy enough to do something later if they see me there. >> reporter: but david's tale of

luck turned bad doesn't end here. after vowing to never set foot inside a casino again, david had a change of heart on christmas eve. incredibly, he drives right back to the hollywood casino, to see if lady luck is still his friend. >> i had nothing to do, my family was out of town, so -- i thought, what the heck? you know, i'll go to the casino and waste some time and they're open. i said, okay, i'm going to go play and i'm not going to let fear rule my life. and, you know, i'm not going to live in hifding. >> reporter: so, with visions of payback dancing through his head, david soon gets the ultimate revenge. he begins winning big. at 4:00 a.m., david hayes walked out of the casino with a huge christmas bonus. $130,000. this time, in the form of a check. your luck was back? >> i still can't believe it. >> reporter: talk about pay

back. david's check was nearly four times what he lost in the robbery. ding, ding, ding. can i just touch you will? will that be enough? >> i hope so. >> reporter: oh, and this lucky guy now locks his doors. >> and by the way, that third suspect in one of the ski masks, authorities tell us he is still at large tonight. throughout this evening's program, we're on twitter and we want to know, would you try your luck again? would you go back to the same casino like he did? use #abc2020, and we'll be right back. next -- how did these teen idols luck into striking it rich? >> i completely thought it was a scam. >> and how did this down on his luck man turn trash into treasure? >> how could you throw someone's life work into the dumpster? >> worth $30 million. coming up. hi. welcome to toyota. i'm jan. hi. i'm clarence. are we too late to get my wife a camry?

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"20/20" continues with "got luck?" once again, david muir. >> our next lucky winners tonight didn't have the to buy a powerball ticket. their luck appeared. pennies from heaven, you could say. or should we say, millions. here's amy robach. >> reporter: what do the stories of two forgotten hollywood stars and one broke barista have in common? it's the lesson that sometimes you've got to hit the skids in order to hit the jackpot. >> it was truly a miracle. >> reporter: meet kevin brophy. he was the lead in the short-lived 1977 tv show "lu "lucan" -- >> get him out of here. >> reporter: playing a boy raised by wolves. >> it's something that's unfathomable.

>> reporter: this is brophy's friend and fellow actor peter barton. decades ago, barton was a "teen beat" sensation, famous for his roles as an alien prince on another short-lived tv show "the powers of matthew star" and then as a doctor on "the young and the restless." >> remember me? >> yeah. >> reporter: barton and brophy even appeared together in this 1981 movie, "hell night." >> in order to be a member of alpha sigma ro, one has to do what? >> to stay in garth manor one night, mr. president. >> reporter: redford and newman, not exactly. after their acting heyday, roles were scarce. >> people wouldn't even meet with me. it was a very low time for me. >> reporter: brophy went from the back lot to the parking lot, for 26 years at the hotel bel air. >> i was a doorman and a valet parker and a greeter. >> reporter: four years ago, that gig dried up, too. but his luck, and barton's, would soon change. it began with a simple, two-ounce letter that hit like a ton of bricks. >> i opened it up, and i

completely thought it was a scam. >> it said that peter barton and i were beneficiaries of mr. ray e. fulk's estate. i was wracking my brain on who is ray fulk. >> reporter: good question. ray fulk was a recluse in the rural city of lincoln, illinois. remember "to kill a mockingbird"? well, until his death last year at the age of 71, you might say he was his town's version of boo radley. >> he was eccentric. >> i never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. >> reporter: his closest companions were his dogs. >> loved dogs really more than people. >> reporter: from the look of things, ray could have been on a tv show, too. "hoarders." but hidden amongst the junk in his farmhouse? clues about why he left his entire estate to two men he never met, describing them in his will as friends. donald behle is ray fulk's lawyer. he showed them strange letters with talk of telepathy, which barton's character displayed on his show.

but the real answer to the mystery was is in this dusty scrapbook. >> they found this book underneath a pile of clothes. >> reporter: the scrapbook showed a rabid fan's fixation with brophy's show "lucan." >> he had written down every episode i had ever done, the date it had aired, what the story line was about. >> reporter: also saved, fan mail that ray fulk exchanged with his tv idol. >> this is the first picture i ever mailed to him. i always answered all my fan letters. >> he did not waste his time sending that fan mail response. that's for sure. >> reporter: so what did the men inherit? well, there was no treasure in the trove from the house. with items including a "lucan" styled wig -- >> there you go. now, that's a fit. >> reporter: it had a resale value close to zero. no great luck with the broken down, ready for the bulldozer barn buildings, either. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: but the soil they were standing on? black gold. 164 acres of fertile farm ground, highly tillable for corn, beans and timber and worth a whopping $1 million.

>> it's like a dream. >> it's a big ball of lightning that dropped out of the sky. >> and a puzzle of, like, why? >> yeah, why? >> why, ray? >> reporter: also asking why, fulk's not nearly as lucky neighbors. over the years, they gave fulk plenty of help and even free meals. >> anything we ate, we always took a plate down to him. >> their reaction to losing out to the leading men? >> we're thinking, gosh, they're so lucky. hmm. >> reporter: but they weren't grudge seekers. they were autograph seekers. >> heck, no, i don't -- >> begrudge them -- >> -- begrudge them for anything. >> i think they hit the lottery. >> it's a crazy ride, this life. and you don't know what's coming and where it's coming from. >> reporter: but sometimes, luck doesn't come looking for you. sometimes you have to go out and find it. here's a case of another gift from the grave. but this time the benefactor wouldn't know the beneficiary at all. meet thomas schultz. >> i believe that one can create their own luck. >> reporter: after investing his life savings in a kitchen and

coffee shop, it closed, leaving schultz unemployed, debt-ridden and heartbroken. you didn't know where your next paycheck was coming from? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: eager to make some quick cash, he and a business partner decided to buy a house in the long island town of bellport and flip it. >> i thought we could realize a quick $75,000, $80,000 profit. >> reporter: schultz found this 625-square foot cottage, the smallest house in all of bellport, on sale for $300,000. and it was overflowing with artwork that the owners had destined for the dumpster. >> so they wanted you to throw it away? >> yes. >> reporter: but schultz had a hunch he should hang on to it. did you know it was worth anything? >> no, not at all. i just knew it was someone's life's work. and how could you throw someone's life's work into a dumpster? >> reporter: the artist, a total unknown named arthur pinajian. he made a modest living in comic books, then lived isolated with his sister in the cottage where he spent decades painting abstract expressionist art until he died in obscurity, just like

our farmer in illinois. schultz convinced an art historian to take a look at the collection. then he took three years to clean and catalogue 7,000 pieces. >> nudes, landscapes, still lifes, cats, horses, cowboys. >> reporter: turns out, art experts decreed that pinajian deserved to be called one of great undiscovered geniuses of the modern art movement. the collection's worth? wait for it. the conservative estimate -- a staggering $30 million. schultz now runs a gallery that houses pinajian's works. >> this is retailing around $85,000, $150,000, $495,000. this one is priceless. >> reporter: how incredible. >> yeah, it is incredible. >> reporter: he never did flip the cottage for cash. he didn't need to now. schultz still lives there with his wife and three children, living off the profits from the 200 paintings that have been

sold so far. >> you could go off and buy a mansion and never work again. and you've chosen not to do that. aren't you tempted to sell it all off and live the high life? >> i believe i am already living a wonderful life. we've created college funds for our daughters. we paid off our debt. we paid off our minivan. good fortune is not measured in dollars. >> i feel ray. >> reporter: our lucky actors agree. >> to tell you the truth, if it was only a dollar, it would have been the same effect on me. so it's not the money. he gave back to me a validation of my entire career. >> reporter: and to the men that made them rich, the lucky three all feel a responsibility. >> i am truly thankful to this man who i didn't know, basically, and i do feel a certain obligation. i'd like to pay this forward. >> reporter: and now brophy hopes for yet another lucky break. >> now i have an agent and i'm auditioning. >> reporter: perhaps lightning can strike twice. >> you never know.

when we come back, wading into an office lottery pool. like the lucky seven. make that unlucky. >> okay, who's the lucky seven today? because people kept coming out of the woodwork. >> would you all share? or all lawyer up? lottery feuds, next. ♪ ♪ use your debit or credit redcard for an extra 5% off our everyday low prices. time to have new experiences with a familiar keyboard. to update our status without opening an app.

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"20/20" continues with "got luck?" once again, david muir. >> as we mentioned earlier, one of those winning powerball tickets being split by 16 office

workers. what happens when not everyone in that office pool ends up smiling? here's cecilia vega. >> reporter: in march of last year, on the eve of the biggest megamillions draw in history, nearly every single employee at sheridan ford in wilmington, delaware, put their hopes for vacation homes, new cars, college tuitions, early retirements, in lisa mckibben's hands. >> perfect. >> reporter: lisa was the leader of all the office workers, mechanics, the salesmen. you're in the $10 pool? >> yeah. >> reporter: all right. the chosen one to take their hard-earned cash. >> $320 worth. >> okay. >> reporter: and bring home the jackpot. whose idea was it to put all of that trust into this $540 million lotto? >> if we win, it was mine. >> reporter: if you win $540 million, how much are you taking home? >> $7.3 million.

we've been on the phone all day doing the calculations. >> reporter: you've got about a 1 in 175 million chance of winning. >> slim chance is better than no chance. >> reporter: but those slim odds, they're outweighed by fantasies of fat checks. you've seen those press conferences, the cameras flashing, the close-ups of stunned and smiling coworkers, the breathlessness of instant wealth. >> i thought, "okay, what do we need to do?" because we now have a little piece of paper that's worth $12 million. >> reporter: clutch it and -- >> right. >> reporter: and hide? >> right. >> reporter: it wasn't just california elementary school principal karen pugh who clutched that check last year, it was a jackpot happily divided by everyone from the janitors to the playground monitor. what else are you doing with the money you've won? >> well, i bought an ipad in the first month. that was my big expenditure. >> reporter: wait, an ipad?

>> an ipad, yes. >> reporter: you win almost $500,000 and you -- >> right, right. >> reporter: that's, that was the big expense? >> right, that was my first. >> reporter: but what so often starts out as tears of joy can quickly turn to tales of bad blood. >> don't just give somebody a dollar and just hope everything works out. >> reporter: lawyer eric shane specializes in lottery litigation. and there's plenty of business out there. >> once a pool wins, money changes the situation. money changes people. it changes everything. >> and i'm looking at the numbers, and i'm looking at the ticket, and i said, "holy [ bleep ], i think we won the lottery." >> reporter: jennifer habib's california hospital pool was nicknamed the lucky 7. they took home one of the biggest jackpots in u.s. history, $20 million a piece. but the aftermath was nothing like those happy lotto ads. some hospital colleagues who'd joined the pool in the past thought they should have won and showed their resentment by suing. >> that caught us all off guard. >> for a while in our office, it was a standing joke, "okay. who sued the lucky 7 today?"

because people kept coming out of the woodwork. >> reporter: while they successfully fought off the challenges, the acrimony made for some uncomfortable days at work. >> it's another set of problems bigger than what you may have had in your life before. >> reporter: perhaps the most egregious of all, new jersey's americo lopes. he bought the pool tickets for his fellow construction workers, and after he stopped showing up at work, the others found out they had actually won a $38 million jackpot. lopes claimed he bought the winning ticket separately. finally, his coworkers sued for their fare share and won. >> i think people that work together and are friendly just don't think maybe ahead of time of what could go wrong. >> reporter: carole hedinger of the new jersey lottery warns to avoid sharks in the office pool. sign a basic contract outlining the rules and find a trustworthy, well-organized leader. >> if you have in writing who

are the members of the pool and how much money they've put in, if you have copies of the tickets before the draw, if you know where the tickets were purchased and when, you've got an ironclad case. >> reporter: the leader must promise not to buy any personal tickets apart from the pool unless they let others know first. set a deadline for collecting cash. figure out who holds the tickets and where, and decide in advance how to handle it if a pool member can't contribute that week. when those california elementary school winners played it safe, there were no fights. >> we have that comfort knowing that we're all going down this road together. we're not alone. >> reporter: and the strategy and perhaps the good karma worked not just once. they won the lottery twice. the car dealership in wilmington also made sure they wouldn't lose their friendship, following another of commissioner headinger's tips, they made copies of all the tickets and

had their wishes ready. >> each of us could just build a house on our own island and we could be neighbors and -- >> and have rowboats. >> rowboats, and row to each other's island. >> reporter: but it turns out, they're going to have to keep their rowboats this dry dock for now. they did win a total of $40, which drew them in yet again to play in the whopping $448 million powerball jackpot just this week, winning a total of $20. but as they say, a win is still a win. >> one more question for you tonight. what about those office workers who always chip in, but then miss out the one time the ticket wins? do they still deserve a cut? dive into the debate with us on twitter, using #abc2020. and we'll be right back. next -- we're taking you inside the luck industry. deep inside. can you just think your way into success? in love or business? >> you're actually reprogramming the mind? >> you absolutely are. >> but can you rewire enough to retire with a suitcase of cash? coming up.

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"20/20" continues with "got luck?" >> so, tonight, if you're like me and you didn't win the powerball, is there a way to make yourself luckier the next time? tens of thousands are turning to hypnosis to get lucky, and tonight, watch as our dan harris tries it, too. and just go ahead and close your eyes. and just take in a nice, deep breath. in through your belly, all the way up through your -- >> reporter: okay, so check me out here. palms up, eyes closed, taking deep breaths. i'm being hypnotized by a total stranger. >> feel it. know it. the new dan.

>> reporter: why am i doing this? the producers of "20/20" have sent me on a quest for good luck. and this woman says she can help me get it. >> say to yourself, "i, dan, am a winner." >> reporter: i'm actually already a pretty lucky guy -- amazing job, beautiful wife, good health -- although i wish, like the rap artist skee-lo, i was a little taller. ♪ i wish i was a littlebit taller ♪ >> reporter: notwithstanding my good fortune, i have, for many years, now indulged a professional fascination in those self-help gurus -- like deepak chopra, eckardt tolle, wayne dyer -- who say they can change people's lives. or, as this guy joe vitale claims, through the power of a

ride in his rolls royce. so i was super intrigued when i heard about a new generation of positivity-purveyors who claim they can boost your luck through the power of your subconscious. for this story, i spoke to two of these people -- victoria gallagher and ty sumrall, also known as igodmind. >> i do believe that you can attract different types of luck. i believe that you can implant suggestions in your mind to help you attract the people or the situations that you need to improve some aspect of your life. >> i offer people a way to achieve their hopes and dreams, through reprogramming their mind through hypnotherapy. >> reporter: you're actually reprogramming the mind? >> you absolutely are. >> reporter: sounds a little out there, but they believe that by goosing the subconscious part of your mind with lucky thoughts, your brain will then guide you into lucky situations. >> you are on a journey. >> reporter: victoria has attracted more than 7,000 subscribers to her hypnosis youtube channel and he's racked up a very lucky $2 million in sales in the last decade.

you hypnotize somebody. you rummage around in their subconscious, and then they can make big changes in their own lives? >> absolutely. what hypnosis does is it relaxes the mind. you're no longer hearing that inner voice that's telling you, "no, you can't do that." you're hearing, "yes, i can do that." >> reporter: ty says that he gets the brain to say "yes i can" through his own brand of deep meditation, using videos he creates like this one with subliminal messages that you can barely hear. he has more than 20,000 subscribers on youtube. ty says when he's not creating meditation mixes, he uses them himself to make money in his day job in marketing. so, you have these videos and they're telling you, "you're going to get 30 grand." and then you got 30 grand. >> it was about $31,000 and change. >> reporter: now, it wasn't a suitcase of 30k falling from the sky. ty says it was through business deals he was able to land through the power of meditation. >> so, of course, i started

thinking, "wow, i should have been thinking about $300,000." >> knowledge is limitless. >> reporter: victoria says she used her own hypnosis methods to score love. >> i experience luck every day. dating kind of sucked for a little while. and i don't know why it took me so long to decide to just listen to my own attract your soul mate cd. sending vibrant waves of energy. and, like, within a week, i was able to find the man of my dreams. >> reporter: well, kinda. she and husband, steve, first met on match.com, got engaged and then broke up. victoria popped those hypnosis cds in again and a few month s later, at a local karaoke bar, she re-encountered the man of her dreams again.

>> i was actually on stage at the moment singing "with or without you" by u2, if you can believe it. and from the stage i could see her walk in. and it just hit me like a bolt of lightning. >> reporter: so there was good luck and then bad luck and then good luck? >> we tend to look at it as good luck because we learned all throughout the process. >> reporter: got it. >> exactly. >> reporter: we should be clear here. there is no science to back up ty and victoria's claims. both of them readily admit this, which is why they offer no guarantees. they say their techniques have worked in their own lives -- and, what's more, they showed us scores of testimonials from folks who say it worked for them, too. a woman named jennifer wrote to ty saying his videos turned her career around, and kimberleigh said she won the lottery. tom wrote on victoria's website that his marriage was saved through hypnosis. another guy said he hypnotized himself to and improved his golf game. so, twha are the limits on this? for example, i'm 42 years old, 5'8", maybe on days when i've used my wife's volumizing shampoo. could you make me an nba player? >> well, i think that there are

some limits to what you can do. but the limits are really what you believe. >> reporter: so you're not ruling out the nba? >> have you ever played basketball? >> reporter: in my parents backyard. >> that might be a limitation. and so -- the chances are probably not likely. it's -- >> reporter: killing my dreams here. basically you're saying, if you have a realistic goal and a good attitude about it and you work hard, you'll get there. so, i mean, i already know that. why would i need to buy a cd? >> because you know that with your conscious mind, but with your subconscious mind, you are not going to necessarily achieve that. >> reporter: ty agrees. >> i don't put myself out there as a guru. the video is nothing more than a tool. i don't believe they're magic. i believe that they are like exercise equipment. you can't stand next to it and get ripped. you have to get in there and use it a little bit. >> reporter: ultimately, it's up to you to decide. is this just a fancy spendy

version of common sense or is there something really here? for what it's worth, i did give their techniques a try, with the ridiculous goal of making the nba. i checked out ty's medicatitati clips. >> close your eyes. >> reporter: and as we showed you at the beginning of the story, i sat for a hypnosis session with victoria, which did not go so well. >> now, try to open those eyes and find that they stay closed. that's okay. that happens every once in awhile. >> reporter: i'm a poor subject. victoria and ty both say, i need to give it more time, have an open mind. and maybe use a little bit more

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bart union negotiations just wrapped up for the night. a live report on what happened this evening.

>> and why no matter what a stri