They WON the Lottery!

Every lottery player has often dreamed what they would do with their winnings if they were fortunate enough to win a large jackpot. The prospect of suddenly having millions of dollars makes the most rational mind indulge in flights of fancy. All lottery players at one time or another have dreamed of expensive cars, huge mansions, luxury vacations, and all the things that a lot of money can buy.

As it turns out, for some, winning the lottery has brought nothing but broken dreams and disappointment. Most lottery winners are not adept at money management and in many instances some players find themselves in a financial mess. Take the case of William Post of Pennsylvania. In 1988 Mr. Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery. Mr. Post found himself the subject of lawsuits and as if that wasn’t enough his brother was arrested for trying to hire a hit man to kill him so he could inherit his new found wealth. Mr. Post also made several bad business investments and within a year found himself a million dollars in debt. Said Mr. Post, “I wish it never happened. It was totally a nightmare.” Mr. Post now finds himself living on $450 a month from Social Security and food stamps.

One of the more well known cases is that of Jack Whittacker who won a $315 million Powerball jackpot in the West Virginia lottery. Mr. Whittacker chose the cash payout option and received a check for $113.4 million after taxes. Mr. Whittacker started out with good intentions donating money to several church based charities and set up a foundation to provide food and clothing to low income West Virginia residents. A month after winning Mr. Whittacker was arrested for drunk driving. His problems spiraled out of control very quickly. Mr. Whittacker spent over $100,000 at a strip club and while at the club thieves broke into his car stealing $545,000 in cash. Thieves then broke into Mr. Whittacker’s car another time stealing $200,000 in cash. None of the money in either incident was ever recovered. Mr. Whittacker was the target of numerous lawsuits most of which were settled out of court.

After winning the lottery jackpot, Mr. Whittacker’s life quickly spiraled out of control. He became the subject of numerous lawsuits and thieves emptied his bank accounts. For example, Mr. Whittacker was sued by an Atlantic City casino for gambling debts and was sued for wrongful death in the case of a drug overdose that occurred at his home. Mr. Whittacker has stated that he wishes he had never bought that fatal lottery ticket.

Many who win the various lotteries are not sophisticated when it comes to finances and find themselves in financial trouble fairly quickly. Says Susan Bradley author of the book Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall, “People who are not used to having money are fragile and vulnerable, and there are plenty of people out there who are willing to prey on that vulnerability - even friends and family.”

Winning the lottery need not be all doom and gloom. There have been some winners who have managed their new found wealth well and many have managed to invest their winnings in such a way that they and their families will be secure for generations. Brad Duke, who took an $85 million dollar payout after winning a $220 million dollar Powerball jackpot in 2005, is an example of a winner who has used his new fortune to provide for his family’s long term security. Instead of immediately spending his winnings Mr. Duke quickly assembled a team of financial advisors with the goal of becoming a billionaire in mind. Here is how Mr. Duke has spent his money so far.

$35 million: Aggressive investments like oil and gas and real estate $1.3 million: A family foundation $63,000: A trip to Tahiti with 17 friends $125,000: Mortgage retired on his 1,400 square-foot house $18,000: Student-loan repayment $65,000: New bicycles, including a $12,000 BMC road bike $14,500: A used black VW Jetta $12,000: Annual gift to each family member

Obviously Mr. Duke has not indulged in the frivolous spending that seems to be the hallmark of many lottery winners. He has carefully planned his investments with long term goals in mind.

These examples represent different reactions to sudden wealth. Most of us have at some time or another fantasized about winning the Powerball or the Mega Million and what we would do with all that money. Some of us see winning the lottery as a chance to indulge is pleasures and luxuries, while others see it as an opportunity for long term security for ourselves and our families. The question is, if you were to win the lottery, which would you choose?

You may now increase your chances of achieving your dream by playing several state lotteries online from the comfort of your own home. Simply log onto your official state website. These sites explain how to purchase tickets, and often times tickets can be purchased online so you can play most state lotteries from the comfort of your own home. You can also refer to official state websites for custom lottery news. Many sites offer lottery number generators to help make your lottery number picking easier for you. If you would like to purchase your tickets in person, you can also visit a local lottery terminal. You can also log onto Lucky Lotto for all your lottery needs. This site offers the player the opportunity to play most state lotteries from the comfort of their own home. Make sure to visit LuckyLotto for all of your custom lottery news and check out our new LuckyLotto lucky lottery number generator! No matter how you choose to purchase your tickets, or which tickets you choose to buy, you’re bound to have some fun!

they won the lottery

Though you might not ever end up with the jackpot-winning Mega Millions lotto numbers, Washington Mega Millions is still very fun to play. Whether you spend one dollar or ten on the Washington Mega Millions game, you will probably never get tired of watching the Mega Millions lotto drawing on television twice a week. This is because the excitement of seeing them announce the Mega Millions lottery winner cannot be rivaled. Every Washington Mega Millions ticket holder is glued to the television every Tuesday and Friday evening at 10:12 pm watching them draw the six numbers one by one.

Washington Lottery Mega Play Option

If you have never played Washington Mega Millions, then you are in for quite a treat. Playing the game is quite simple, and tickets are only one dollar each unless you choose to purchase the Megaplay option, which costs a dollar more. To purchase your Mega Millions lottery ticket, you have to choose six different numbers. The first five of these Mega Millions numbers must fall between the numbers of one and fifty-six. The final number, called the Mega Ball, falls between one and forty-six. To win the Mega Millions jackpot, you have to match all six of the numbers, including the Mega Ball.

Washington Mega Millions Quick Pick

If you do not like the idea of choosing your Washington Mega Millions lottery numbers for yourself, you can choose the Quick Pick option and let the computer choose them for you. However, most people find this to be less fun than choosing their own Mega Millions lottery numbers. If you choose your own numbers, you can base them on your birthday or your family members’ birthdays, or you can play numbers that came to you in dream. You can pick your Mega Millions numbers by counting the number of cars in the parking lot, or you can go by some sort of formula. The possibilities are endless; as is the fun you will have playing the Mega Millions lottery drawing.

Buy Washington Mega Millions Lottery Tickets

If you want to buy Washington Mega Millions tickets or any other Washington lottery tickets, simply log onto your official state website. These sites explain how to purchase tickets, and often times tickets can be purchased online so you can play most state lotteries from the comfort of your own home. You can also refer to official state websites for custom lottery news. Many sites offer lottery number generators to help make your lottery number picking easier for you. If you would like to purchase your tickets in person, you can also visit a local lottery terminal. You can also log onto Lucky Lotto for all your lottery needs. This site offers the player the opportunity to play most state lotteries from the comfort of their own home. Make sure to visit LuckyLotto for all of your custom lottery news and check out our new LuckyLotto lucky lottery number generator! No matter how you choose to purchase your tickets, or which tickets you choose to buy, you’re bound to have some fun!

The National Lottery in the UK has created over 800,000,000 winners (yes that’s 800 million) since it first started back in November 1994. Every week, an estimated 750,000 ticket holders win prizes in the UK lottery, yet it’s always the big winners who attract the most attention.

UK Lottery Biggest Individual Win

The largest individual ticket win on the UK lottery was back in June 1995, when Paul Maddison and Mark Gardiner from Brighton shared £22,590,829. The winner’s right to anonymity if they wish it, was instated after the identity of a single £17.44 million winner was leaked to the press in December 1994. The shy ticket holder, an Asian factory worker from Blackburn, was easily tracked down by the media.

UK National Lottery Biggest Jackpot Win

The largest UK National Lottery jackpot was £42,008,610, shared by three ticket holders back in January 1996. The largest European individual winner was on the Irish lottery, where a Limerick woman won £77million, whilst in Spain an entire town won a life-changing US$263 on the El Gordo lottery.

The Biggest Lottery Win in the World

Yet all these lottery wins pale into insignificance beside the largest win of all, $365 million, (£210 million) won by a lucky Powerball ticket holder in the US state of Nebraska. Alain Maboussou, an immigrant from the Republic of Congo working at a meatpacking plant, caused a massive stir by not claiming his money straight away. Needless to say, he quit his job after winning!

The National Lottery: Unclaimed prizes and sports!

It may seem incredible, but some lucky winners of big money prizes on the National Lottery never actually claim their cash!

Claim that UK lottery money!

The UK lottery web site reveals that between March and July 2006, an astounding £5,313,852.50 of prize money was unclaimed. What’s more, unless the ticket owners get their skates on, by January 2007 they will have relinquished their claims, and all that prize money they won in the UK National Lottery will have passed on to the lottery’s Good Causes.

Recent National Lottery unclaimed prizes

The unclaimed cash include two cool £250,000 prizes, one for a EuroMillions draw (who said we never get anything out of Europe?) and one for a Thunderball draw. Perhaps the most amazing unclaimed amounts are the TWO jackpot wins of £1,666,667 for the same date, Saturday 29 April 2006. What tremendous event could have caused two lucky winners to not check their tickets, one in Warwickshire and one in Glasgow? Why, footballer Wayne Rooney breaking his metatarsal bone just six weeks before the opening match of the World Cup of course!

The biggest National Lottery unclaimed prize?

Back in August 2006, the Doncaster Town Crier was employed to try and jog the memory of one winner, whose enormous £9,476,995 jackpot from a Wednesday draw was still languishing in the uk lottery bank account a month later. Again, the winning date is significant, as it was the day that London won the right to stage to 2012 Olympics. Perhaps the winner was another forgetful sports fan!

they won the powerball

I must be the luckiest person alive. In the past three days I found out I won 1.5 Million Euros in the UK lottery, One Million Euros in the Winx International Lottery, 1.5 Million Euros in the 2007 E-Mail Lottery, and 500,000 Pounds in an e-mail lottery held by the Coca Cola Company. Wow! What did I do to receive all these riches?

The sad truth is there are actually people who fall for these schemes. For the promise of a quick buck (or million Euros as the case may be) people will turn over their bank account numbers, wire money in the hopes of getting more back, or give other information that could lead to identity theft.

These lottery and sweepstakes schemes have gone on long before the internet, with one of the oldest being the phony sweepstakes which required an entrance fee to claim your prize, which amounted to more than the “prize” was worth. Another variation of that scheme was requiring the potential “winner” to call a certain number to find out if he or she was a winner. The phone call cost the potential “winner” a certain amount per minute with an unusually-long wait time on hold. The real winner was the scamming company which made money off the phone calls.

Today’s thieves have a wide choice of scam-delivery mechanisms, including in person, the mail, phone and internet. However, the same holds true no matter how the scam is delivered: if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

How Can You Recognize the Lottery or Sweepstakes Scam?

There are certainly legitimate lotteries and sweepstakes offers. Who hasn’t bought a state or multi-state lottery ticket from their local lottery retailer? Or, who hasn’t seen one of those sweepstakes offered by a recognized company advertising in the coupon section of the Sunday newspaper? You fill out the entry form or reasonable facsimile (usually a 3”x5” card) with your name and address and send it off.

Therein is your biggest clue as to whether you’re the victim of a scam. In a legitimate lottery or sweepstakes you have bought the ticket or entered your name and address. In a scam lottery or sweepstakes you are notified you’ve won when you haven’t even entered or bought a ticket.

In addition, it’s illegal to use the mail or telephone to play lotteries across borders, whether national or state lines. Any lottery offer involving the purchase of lottery tickets for other state or country lotteries could end up with you being charged with illegal activities.

One ploy used by foreign scammers involving lotteries or sweepstakes is offering you an “advance” on your winnings. The scam artist will send you a check for part of your “winnings.” All you have to do is wire them payment for “taxes” or other official purposes. By the time you find out their check has bounced the money you wired is in their hands. And, because it was wired it’s harder to trace.

Lottery scammers don’t always use e-mail or the phone. Sometimes they do their dirty work in person. A typical scam would go something like this: You are approached in person by someone who claims he or she just won the lottery but isn’t eligible to claim it. They offer to split the money with you if you claim the prize. Sounds good, right? Except that before you claim the prize from the lottery retailer you are required to withdraw some money from your account and give it to the ticket holder as a good-faith gesture. By the time you find out you’re holding a non-winning lottery ticket, the thief is long-gone with your good-faith money.

In order to protect yourself from these scams, it’s important to remember the following:

Lotteries

• It’s illegal to use the mail or telephone to play lotteries across borders.

• If you ever receive a phone call, letter or e-mail announcing you just won a lottery, it’s a scam.

Sweepstakes

• It’s illegal for a company to require you to pay to win or claim a sweepstakes prize.

• It’s illegal for a company to suggest that buying something will improve your chances of winning.

• Companies cannot ask for money from you for taxes they say you owe on a sweepstakes winning.

• Be cautious when entering sweepstakes from displays you see in malls – often times these are people just wanting your name and address for a future sweepstakes scam.

• Only enter sweepstakes from recognizable companies, and never pay a fee to enter.

Avoiding being the victim of a scam takes a healthy dose of skepticism. If you are ever unsure about the legitimacy of an offer made to you, you can call the National Fraud Information Center’s Hotline at 1-800-876-7060.

Read about real lottery winners

If you are in need of a good pick-me-up, nothing can beat the thrill of scratching off a Minnesota lottery ticket, especially if it happens to be a winner. The Minnesota state lottery has much to offer in the way of instant win games and also weekly and daily drawing games. From Powerball to Hot Lotto and Northstar Cash, you can’t go wrong with the Minnesota lottery.

Minnesota Hot Lotto

If you like the thrill of watching a televised drawing and you enjoy picking out your lucky lottery numbers, then Hot Lotto just might be the game for you. The jackpot for the game starts at one million dollars, and the prize money is rolled over each time no one wins the drawing. The game involves picking five numbers between one and thirty-nine and one additional number called the HOT ball. This number must fall between one and nineteen. The Hot Lotto game is played among several different states, including Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and South Dakota in addition to in Minnesota. Your odds for winning any prize in this Minnesota lottery game are one in sixteen. However, if you will only be happy with the jackpot, your odds stack up to be a bit more grim, at one in eleven million.

Minnesota Powerball

The Minnesota Powerball lottery game involves choosing six different numbers. Five of these numbers must range from one to fifty-five, and the sixth number, the Powerball number, must fall between one and forty-two. The rules of the game are simple. If you get all six Minnesota Powerball numbers correct, you win the jackpot. This is a really big deal, considering that the jackpot has climbed to more than six hundred million dollars in the past! Jackpots are able to climb so high because Powerball lottery game tickets are sold in twenty-seven different states, making it the largest multi-state lottery in the country. The Minnesota Powerball lottery jackpot builds from one drawing to the next, and if there is no winner of a drawing, the jackpot amount rolls over. This means that a single winner could win more money from the Iowa Powerball lottery than he or she could ever imagine.

Minnesota Powerball Lottery Prizes

Even if you do not win the big grand prize, there are still quite a few smaller prizes that are awarded for having less than the needed six numbers. For instance, if you match all five of the one to fifty-five numbers but do not match the Powerball, you will still win two hundred thousand dollars from the Minnesota Powerball lottery.

Minnesota Powerball Lottery Results

You can find the Minnesota Powerball lottery result on the official Iowa Powerball website or on powerball. You can also watch the drawings live on television on a variety of local Iowa television stations. Powerball drawings take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 pm.

Where the Money Goes

However, there is more to the Minnesota state lottery than meets the eye. While some of the proceeds go to prize money, the majority of the proceeds from the Minnesota lottery go toward a state environmental trust fund that supports national resources, gaming and fishing, and other environmental issues. This makes purchasing a lottery ticket worth a lot more than just a dollar, even if you do not ever win a penny. Every time you purchase a Minnesota lottery ticket, you can rest assured that your money is going to a good cause, and who knows, you just might end up winning something after all!

Buy Minnesota Lottery Tickets

While the Minnesota lottery offers decent odds, you may want to consider playing other state lotteries. If you want to buy these or any other lottery tickets, simply log onto your official state website. These sites explain how to purchase tickets, and often times tickets can be purchased online so you can play most state lotteries from the comfort of your own home. You can also refer to official state websites for custom lottery news. Many sites offer lottery number generators to help make your lottery number picking easier for you. If you would like to purchase your tickets in person, you can also visit a local lottery terminal. You can also log onto Lucky Lotto for all your lottery needs. This site offers the player the opportunity to play most state lotteries from the comfort of their own home. Make sure to visit LuckyLotto for all of your custom lottery news and check out our new LuckyLotto lucky lottery number generator! No matter how you choose to purchase your tickets, or which tickets you choose to buy, you’re bound to have some fun!

Read about lottery winners

How do people win the lottery over and over again?

Simple:
They cheat the system!

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How To Cheat The Lottery