We all think about winning the lottery, all of those millions of dollars, and now some of the jackpots are over a billion dollars. That is more than we are even able to actually imagine. Do you ever wonder what becomes of the people who won all of that money , or whether they even really exist at all ? So much of our news today is made up in the newsroom, or is simply manufactured; so why should we believe that the mega-million lottery wins are real ? There is actually some interesting reasons to think that they are fake, too. We might know of someone who has won money from the lottery, even thousands of dollars; but no one knows of anyone who won the big prizes, or even knows anyone who knows someone who did. They all have stories that touch our hearts, families out of work that can now buy Christmas presents for the kids, things like that. But if you look up any of the big winners on the internet, they don't say anything about them except for the name and that they won the lottery on such-and-such a date. We assume that anyone who wins this much money has to move somewhere and protect their privacy and that is why we never hear anything more about them; but maybe that is not true. Maybe these people never existed to begin with . Here is an interesting video that shows them actually posting a number before it was even drawn. How could that happen ? And was it some kind of coincidence that the correct number immediately comes popping out of the bubble ? Watch and see what you think. It seems to me that playing the lottery for smaller numbers that are actually something a person can win makes a lot more sense than trying for the powerball jackpot if it is not really being given to anyone after all.
I am still working on the answer to that question, @Patsy Faye ; but thus far, the possibility of actually winning one of the multi-million dollar jackpots is not looking favorable at all. However, they have to actually give awa y SOME prizes to keep people's hopes up; so along with the sentimental stories we hear about the supposed winners, there are enough smaller prizes that people do actually win. It seems like someone here on this forum won a fairly large sum, like $10,000. @Ike Willis , if i remember right. So , we can all say that we actually "know" someone real who won lottery money. At this point, I am thinking that trying for one of the smaller amounts, maybe up to even $100,000 would be possible. That sure is not as wonderful as that imaginary vision of winning the Mega-millions; but if it is real and the mega-millions is a hoax, then it makes more sense to me to try for a prize that is real. One interesting quote is this one from George Orwell's famous book, "1984". He very accurately describes how our lottery system works . http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/450335-the-lottery-with-its-weekly-pay-out-of-enormous-prizes-was
Well I shared this on another tread before, my Cousin's wife's parents won the Lottery in Louisiana quite a few years ago and they set up their winnings so that it was shared with their kids. Each year for the rest of their lives they all got so much and my Cousin and his wife always used part of their share to help someone in need. One year it was my Mom...our central heating went out...and they paid for a brand new air and heating system for our home and we sure were thankful for that. Also one of my son-in-law's sister's won $10,000. on a scratch off ticket her husband had put in her Christmas stocking a few years ago. Now besides that I have actually watched some TV shows about people who won the Lottery...and how their lives were after winning. I can't remember what Channel these shows were on but it was definitely a cable of dish channel. Many of the people who won spent all their money right away, others paid off their bills and maybe bought a new house and car, took a cruise or trip they had always longed to take. Most of them shared their winnings with their Family in one way or the other. And some even kept their jobs even with their big winnings and kept living the life they had lived before their winnings basically. I have seen at least 3 of these shows in the past. And it was interesting to see what people did after they won....and also to see that those who weren't happy or satisfied with their lives before winning, ended up for the most part still being unhappy and disatisfied even after their winnings. And they spend their winnings quickly in most instances too. Many times people who win the Lottery..especially if it is a large sum...do choose to stay out of the lime light as they have learned that when they don't there is all kinds of friends, family, and strangers,etc. bugging them constantly for money. And there are many people trying to sell them all kinds of things, or want them to invest their winnings, etc. It has been overwhelming for many winners to deal with all this plus all of a sudden "everyone" knows who they are, where they live, etc. and this does not turn out to be a good things for many of the winners. So yes, real people do win the Lottery. Yet there may be some misdealings going on with some Lottery games. I know one thing...I think that way to much tax is taken out of the winnings!
Yes, I won $100,000.00 in 1994. Since then however, the state made the games harder by adding more numbers etc.
Not only did they add numbers but instead of having actual balls that pop out they have computer generated numbers which I do think is scam. But I think they have to let someone win sometime or no one would play at all. They also use to let you play almost right up to the drawing time. Now the cut off time is a couple hours before the drawing so the computer has time to run all the combos ahead of time'
A friend who works in the lotto office said that jackpot winners are given an orientation by a psychologist and financial adviser. That is to make sure that the winner is armed with enough knowledge on how to handle the money. I think that is a good protection they can give especially if the winner happens to be a poor guy who knows nothing about handling big money. He would be susceptible to scams. I think I have already posted this news item. A lotto jackpot winner was murdered while asleep and the mastermind was his wife. It turned out that the wife had the husband killed for a reason that was not clear. And there was this other news that a guy who won the lotto jackpot twice and still remains poor because he had squandered his millions in the casino. There are lots of stories in the archive of the lotto office and I'm sure they are amusing. In fact, some 5 years ago, there was this tv serial with the title Lotto that is a dramatization of the life of actual lotto winners. For me? I admit that I buy lotto tickets once in a while and I'm not lucky even with the consolation prize.
Despite the overwhelming odds against it, I still choose to think that someday I will win the lottery. I don't buy nearly as many tickets as I used to, and neither do my family members, since the number of winners seem to have declined, as the games have been made harder to win. A former co-worker's mother won the 'weekly grand', which comes out to $750 per week after taxes. That would definitely come in handy. I don't need to win one of the top prizes. Actually, I'd prefer that those be split among more people, to increase the benefit, rather than having one or two people become massively wealthy. I had a client who got a $6 million insurance settlement and a few years later was broke. I can't imagine going through that much money, but I'm sure people come out of the woodwork looking for assistance and some, to scam. If I did win, I'd try to keep that information to myself and a few people I'm close to. I'd definitely help others, but not in a loud way, because I wouldn't want to call attention to myself that way. I'd set up at least one foundation to help others, especially those who could receive a lot of benefit from small amounts of help, or access to things such as low interest loans they couldn't otherwise qualify for.
I wouldn't want to win that much money either, I don't need anything really. I would give it to my family. Most of it to my 2 children and I would let them get me whatever I needed. @Diane Lane , the $750 a week would be nice..even too much unless I travel. Would I still get my widow's benefits?
Well it is nice to contemplate, but that is one of the things that always seems to happen to "other people." I guess it is my poor person's mentality...but rather than spending like 10 bucks on Powerball tickets, where the odds are infestimally stacked against you, I would rather have the 10 bucks. My friend gave me like six bucks to spend on Powerball tickets once, and I bought some scratch offs and won on those! I thought I am not going to waste this money on Powerball!
It does happen. We had a state lottery winner from Millinocket, and there are only a couple of thousand people in Millinocket. In fact, someone who I went to elementary and high school with won the Michigan lottery several years ago, and he's from my hometown of only a couple of hundred. Of course, being a pessimist, I figure that further decreases the chances of a second winner from either of those places.
Well one thing is for sure...if you don't buy a Lottery ticket...you have absolutely no chance of winning.
I've read that there have been quite a few people that have one more than once so it could happen. Think they were in the same area for all the wins. I know someone in Canada that won about 100,000 many years ago. He bought his condo in the Toronto area where he still lives.
A gas station about a half an hour from here sold a 100.000 dollar winning ticket. I am not sure how much that is after taxes...but I would take it!! That isn't really life changing money, but it would certainly make things easier. The first thing I would do would be buy a new car, some new furniture, do home repairs and use most of the rest to pay off the balance of my mortgage! I would have to invest some too. Fun to think about!