Clarence Seay - I'm A Millionaire

I'm a millionaire...

That's what Clarence Seay kept on saying over and over again, after he won $5 million from a Virginia Lottery scratch-off ticket a few weeks ago - "I'm a millionaire!"

That has a good ring to it, eh? I hope I get to say that one day soon too!

But the thing is, when Clarence Seay bought his winning scratch ticket, he wasn't even hoping to become a millionaire.

I was hoping to win maybe $100,000. Winning $5 million never entered into my mind.

As you already know, he didn't win the $100,000 he was hoping for. Oh well. But hey, at least he got 50 times more than what he was hoping for ;)

Enjoy your fortune, Mr Millionaire!

Postscript: I gotta go now - I'm off to the store to buy a scratch-off ticket. I'm crossing my fingers; I hope to win
$100,000 ;)

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Andrew Garth - UK Millionaire Raffle Winner

Check out Andrew Garth...

That's one happy lottery winner, eh?

Gotta love the emotion... Who wouldn't be happy with winning the lottery? Andrew sure is!

Andrew Garth's win was extra special - He found out about his win while celebrating his 29th birthday on December the 26th, 2012. And, it was a special Christmas day draw that he won on.

UK's National Lottery occasionally does a special Millionaire Raffle with guaranteed winners. That's what they did for their Christmas EuroMillions draw - In addition to the regular EuroMillions prizes, they drew 25 extra raffle prizes of £1 million ($1,624,885 USD), all of which were guaranteed to be won. Andrew Garth won one of those prizes. And, now he's ecstatic!

Great birthday present? Great Christmas present? Whatever he considers it, Andrew's now £1 million richer.

Andrew Garth will put the money to good use too - He's always dreamed of opening up his own live music venue. And, now he's got enough money to do it, so that's what he will do. Chalk that up to another dream come true, all thanks to the lottery!

Postscript: My friend, Mik, just started a super-cool new business. Check it out: www.LightHillSolutions.com.

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Dwayne Hampton - Go For It!

When Dwayne Hampton walked into a convenience store in Monticello, Indiana a few weeks ago, his intention was to buy one particular scratch ticket.

But once inside the store, a completely different game caught his eye - The Lucky Millionaire game. The Lucky Millionaire game must have really stood out... The game card is big, it's green and purple, and it's appealing.

Now what? Should he buy the game that he originally came in for or should he buy the game that was jumping out at him?

The Lucky Millionaire game cost $20. That's an expensive ticket.

Then the clerk at the store said, "Go for it."

So Dwayne Hampton went for it... He dropped twenty bucks and bought the expensive Lucky Millionaire game.

Well, it turns out that Dwayne was lucky that particular store clerk was working that day and urged him to go for it. That's because he ended up winning the game's top prize - $1 million. Nice!

Thanks to that store clerk, Dwayne Hampton now has enough money to buy a new truck and enough money to put away for his two kids' educations.

Postscript: A brand spankin' new year is fast approaching. 2013 would be the perfect year to win the lottery, eh? I hope you win big, preferably in the early part of the year. I'd love to write a story about you.

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Susan Flam - Money Is Not Important

Susan Flam thinks that money isn't important.

That's ironic... Because she's got LOTS of it.

Susan just won a $50 million Lotto Max jackpot. She's rich. She's rolling in the dough.

Even still, money isn't important.

Nevertheless, Susan Flam is thankful for the gift she just received. Not because she's extravagant and can now buy anything she wants. No, you already know that's not important to her. Rather, she's thankful that she can now make sure that everyone in her family is doing well. She has two kids and five grand-kids. Her family will be well taken care of. And, that's all she really wants.

Not only does Susan Flam plan to take care of her family, but she also plans to give to charities.

It's what I can do for others that will make me happy.

A good-hearted woman that likes to help people. Looks like the right person won the lottery this time!

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Jacob Skala - I Don't Like To Rush Into Anything

If I won $200,000 in the lottery ten months ago, that money would have been so long gone by now. I mean, My Audi alone would have eaten up a third of my winnings. Then, factor in all the traveling I would have done and all the cool stuff I would've bought and I'd be left with... ZILCH!

Now check out Jacob Skala. He won $200,000 in the lottery ten months ago, in February of 2012. Guess how much he has left? ALL OF IT!!!

Yep, Jacob hadn't even spent a cent. Actually, he didn't even claim his prize until this week. That's why he hadn't spent a cent.

After discovering he won $200,000 in Illinois Lottery's Little Lotto game, Jacob Skala simply just put the winning ticket in a safe deposit box at the bank and he just let it sit there for ten months. "I don't like to rush into anything," he said. "I'm a patient person."

Jacob won $200,000 and he just let it sit there... Now that's what I call a patient man!

If you had to guess what Jacob Skala would be doing with his winnings, what would your guess be? Buy a fancy car? Wild spending spree? Traveling? Nope, none of those fit this man's personality. He's just going right back to the same bank where he had the safe deposit box and depositing the money in his account. The money will probably sit there for a while.

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Les and Beverley Cassidy - We Enjoy The Cold!

The number 4 reason why I want to win the lottery is to escape the cold every winter. You see, I live in Toronto, Canada. The winters here get cold. I'd much rather just f-off and spend the winters in the Caribbean...

...Maxin' and relaxin' on the beach with a cigarette in one hand and a Dr Pepper in the other (Most places down there don't have Dr Pepper, so I'd have to bring my own).

So, you can imagine my shock when the latest big lottery winners, Les and Beverley Cassidy, said that they don't plan on taking off for the winter to escape the cold. "We enjoy the cold," Les said. Whaaaat?!?

Les and Beverley Cassidy just won a $21.2 million Lotto 649 jackpot. And, they live in Kirkland Lake. That's in Northern Ontario, Canada. It gets damn-cold there. But, as you already know, they like the cold.

In fact, now that they won the lottery, they plan on going on an Alaskan cruise. Brrrr.

I'm gonna make a prediction... I'm gonna predict that this nice couple will visit Sweden's Ice Hotel in the next few years. They'd fit right in there. Brrrr... I can't even fathom all the coldness in that place.

All kidding aside, Les and Beverley seem like an awesome couple. "I already won the lottery when I met my wife," Les said. "This is just a bonus." Awww, so sweet!

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Matt Good - Arizona Powerball Winner

So Matt Good, who is pictured her, walked into Arizona Lottery's prize claim office this week and claimed his half of the $587,500,000 Powerball jackpot from the November 28, 2012 draw...

Then he took off...

He didn't stick around for the usual press conference to announce the winner.

Arizona Lottery held the press conference anyway. But they didn't name Matt as the winner. They just said it was a man in his 30's from the Phoenix area. They said he wanted to remain anonymous.

They did release a statement from the winner, though:

It is difficult to express just how thankful we are for this wonderful gift. We are extremely grateful and feel fortunate to now have an increased ability to support our charities and causes. Obviously, this has been incredibly overwhelming and we have always cherished our privacy.

Privacy? OK, I get that... But... You can't claim a big lottery prize anonymously in Arizona. So the Associated Press filed a request to get the winner's name. Arizona Lottery had to oblige and released the name...

Matthew Good.

Now we know who the winner is. Sorry Matt, You gotta take the good with the bad. If you win big money like this, people will want to know who you are. Hopefully, you will soon fade from people's memories and get to enjoy the millions relatively anonymously.

Matt's share of the prize was $293.75 million. The other half of the jackpot was already claimed by Cindy Hill. Congrats to both winners!

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Ron Peyton - We Need To Spend A Million Dollars

If you won a million dollars in the lottery, would you save it for retirement?

What if you're already retired?

Meet Ron Peyton, from Virginia. He won a million dollars. He's retired. So I guess there's no point in saving for retirement since he's already retired.

Ron matched the first five numbers in the December 5th, 2012 Powerball draw. The first thing he did when he discovered his win was call his girlfriend. Wanna know what he told her?

We've got to find a way to spend a million dollars!

Friggin' right, man! Screw saving the money. It's time to spend spend spend... Time to have some fun fun fun!

OK, Ron may have been joking when he told his girlfriend they need to find a way to spend a million dollars. If so, I think he was only half joking. I have a feeling he's gonna have some serious fun with that cash. And, hey, why not? You never know when your time on this planet will expire - Might as well have some fun while you're still here!

Ron Peyton is 62-years-old and is from Richmond, VA. Congrats on the win, buddy!

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Shaun Sanders - The Shot That Wasn't

A few weeks ago, there was a whole-in-one contest at a golf course in Brauton, Devon, UK. There was quite a nice prize available to be won for anybody lucky enough to get the whole-in-one - A brand-new Mini Cooper.

So Shaun Sanders entered the contest.

Oh Shaun, why even bother, man? You know what the odds are of hitting a whole in one? I did the math once and it's, like, a-gazillion-to-one!

But Shaun entered the contest anyway...

He stepped up to the tee, took a shot, and the golf ball went airborne. It drifted towards the whole. It was a good shot. Actually, the shot was looking quite promising; it was heading straight for the whole. As it came down, it was heading closer and closer to the whole. Then something miraculous happened - The ball landed smack-dab in the middle of the whole...

It was a whole-in-one!!!

But hold up... Don't get too excited for Shaun just yet... The ball bounced right back out of the whole.

Oh so close. He was that close to winning. He could hear the engine of that Mini Cooper revving. But he lost. He got nothing.

I was the talk of the town after "the shot that wasn't"

The shot that wasn't, eh? Oh man, I would've crawled into a deep whole and never came out. Luckily, Shaun didn't do that. I say 'luckily' because just a week after the shot that wasn't, Shaun won the lottery.

One week after the shot that wasn't, Shaun bough a scratch-off ticket and won £100,000 ($161,129). I guess that universe has a mechanism to right the wrongs!

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Zippy Vonier - Lottery Strategy Pays Off

How's this for a lottery strategy:

Zippy Vonier bought a quick pick ticket years ago. Then he kept playing those numbers over and over again, week after week, month after month, year after year...

Years went by and those numbers never hit the jackpot. You'd think he'd get the idea that his numbers were duds, that he'd never win, right?

NOPE... He kept on truckin'!

Well, it's a good thing that he kept on truckin' because those numbers finally paid off; they hit BIG...

Zippy's numbers matched all of the numbers drawn in the November 27, 2012 Mega Millions draw. He won $50 million. Yep, his strategy worked!

Zippy's wife, BJ, was in the middle of brushing her teeth when he was checking his lottery numbers. That's when he interrupted her - Zippy screamed out, "Come here, come here, come here!" So she went over to her husband. That's when she found out the big news and all she could say was, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

Oh boy, I hope she went back to finish brushing her teeth. Good oral hygiene is important, you know? There's no excuse for not brushing thoroughly, even if you just won the lottery!

Zippy Vonier is from Thomasville, Georgia. He has absolutely no plans for the money at the moment. He plans to sit back and weigh his options. Hey Zippy, if you can't figure out what to do with the money, give some to me... I could think of thousands of things to do with that kind of cash ;)

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