Hugh Hawkins - Largest Iowa Lottery Jackpot Winner Ever

There have been some huge lottery jackpot winners in The United States of America. But in Iowa, the biggest jackpot winner to date was won by Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines. He won $113,200,000 on Powerball in December of 2005. Sure, there have been bigger jackpots won throughout the country, but $113 million is still massive, and we're sure that Hugh's not complaining.

At the time of his win, Hugh Hawkins was married with three children. He worked for Metro Engineers, a commercial real estate development company. Just a year prior to winning the lotto, Hugh actually filed for bankruptcy as his debt ballooned. Now, he doesn't have to worry about debt for the rest of his life. He said that he still planned to keep working, but no more 100 hour work weeks; he will work on his own schedule and will throw out his alarm clock. Alarm clocks suck, anyway - they wake you up. Who'd wanna be wakened when they've got all the money in the world?

Hugh Hawkins said he would use the money to start a foundation to help non-profit startups and, also, to go on some luxury vacations. As well, Hugh planned on sharing some of the money with friends and family (he said that he has one brother and that his wife has seven brothers and seven sisters).

Oh ya, and the biggest lottery jackpot winner ever? that would be Andrew Jackson "Jack" Whittaker Jr. He won a $315 million Powerball jackpot in 2002.

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Christopher Crane Of Washington Township Michigan Is Nuts And Living The American Dream

Christopher Crane is nuts! Well, not really... but he wants to grow nuts. Christopher wants to become a pecan farmer. And, you know what? He could do whatever he wants. That's because the resident of Washington Township, Michigan won the lottery, a $42 million Mega Millions jackpot in October of 2008.

Ahh, growing nuts... the American dream! Not only that, his wife planned to quit her job as an x-ray technician and start a horse ranch for disabled children. Do you think anybody would be able to consider doing these types of things without a big lottery win? Let that be a lesson... winning the lottery really allows you to do whatever you want.

These folks are really interesting. Normally, people that win the lottery talk about buying new houses and cars. This couple talks about pecan nuts and horse farms. Really cool!

When Christopher Crane won the lottery, he said that he had been playing the same lottery numbers for years. Persistance really paid off for him.

Congratulations to Christopher on his nice win. We wish him all the best with his future endeavors.

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Canadian Encore Winner Karen Coaton Is From Windsor Ontario

Ontario Lottery And Gaming Corporation (OLG) has a tagline: "Say yes to Encore." Encore is an extra game you can play whenever you purchase any online lottery ticket through OLG, including Lotto 649, Super 7, Lottario, Pick 3, Payday, and more.

Karen Coaton, thankfully, said yes to Encore and she won! Big time! $1 million!

Karen Coaton is a regular lottery player from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. At the time of her win in February of 2009, she was an administrator at Walkerville Manor retirement home. She also had two children.

While Karen is happy that she won the $1 million from Encore, she also said that she will continue to play lotteries. She wants to be richer and win more money. We don't blame her.

Encore costs $1 to play, but it cannot be purchased on it's own; it must be played in addition to another lottery game. Encore costs $1 to play and the prizes range from $2 to the grand prize of $1 million (Don't forget - Canadian lotteries are tax free). The odds of winning the grand prize are 1-in-10 million.

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Felon Fred Topous Of Kent City Michigan Gets Out Of Jail And Wins Mega Millions Lottery

Fred Topous of Kent City, Michigan is a felon. He was convicted of break and enter in 1984 and 1988. In 1999, he was convicted of attempted criminal sexual conduct with intent to commit penetration. He went to jail. He was released from jail in 2006. Then in June of 2008, Fred Topous won the Mega Millions jackpot of a whopping $57 million!

Wow, did this guy ever get a second chance in life! Actually, Fred Topous is not the only felon to have won a lottery jackpot. Michael Carrol collected his lottery winnings while still wearing a police-issued ankle bracelet and, in an ironic case, convicted child molester, Alec Ahsoak, wins a lottery created to benefit victims of sex crimes.

Actually, from his initial plans, Fred Topous seems to be putting his life back on the right track. He told lottery officials that he would use the money to buy a house and plan for his kids to attend college. He said that the win was a relief because he thought he would have to struggle to make ends meet for the rest of his life. We sure hope that Fred can now do some good to help compensate for his past wrongs.

Fred Topous bought his winning Mega Millions ticket at Party World in Comstock Park.

We congratulate Fred on his lucky win and wish him the best.

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Freddie E. Ramsey Has Precious Jewels Worth $100,000

Freddie E. Ramsey doesn't really have precious jewels. But he could buy some if he wants to. That's because he won $100,000 on the Precious Jewels instant scratch lottery game from Texas Lottery.

Freddie E. Ramsey is a construction supervisor and often travels all across North Texas. He often buys lottery tickets when he stops for gas or coffee while he's on the road. In April of 2008, he was doing just that and stopped at Deli-Quick in Cross Roads, Texas. That's where he purchased a Precious Jewels instant scratch lotto ticket and won $100,000.

Freddie has had lotto luck in the past, including a $10,000 win. But the $100,000 he won on Precious Jewels is his biggest win to date. He says he doesn't have any system for choosing lotto tickets; he just picks the one that jumps out at him.

Precious Jewels had four top prizes of $100,000 and other smaller prizes, ranging from $10 to $2500. With $29 million in total prizes, the overall odds of winning any prize are 1-in-3.89. The game costs $10 to play.

Congratulations to Freddie on his lucky win!

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Mark &Trina Myatt - National Lottery Winners Buy Son Lego Star Wars Death Star

Don't ever promise things that you cannot deliver. It happened to Mark Myatt. He promised his son that when he won the lottery, he would buy him a toy shop. Well, guess what? Mark's wife, Trina matched all of the numbers in UK's National lottery and won £1,014,308 ($1,491,258 USD). But Mark didn't buy him a toy shop; his son had to settle for a Lego Star Wars Death Star. Oh well, but we're sure he's happy with that anyways.

Mark & Trina Myatt won UK's National Lottery on New Year's Eve of 2008. So, they started off 2009 as brand new millionaires! Trina wanted to tell her family about the big win, but stopped at the store first to get two bottles of champagne. At the checkout, the retailer asked Trina if she realized how much the champagne costs; they were £25 each. That's when Trina told her that she just won the lottery. That was the first person that she told!

The first thing they did with their new riches was they bought a brand new Mercedes, their dream car. Of course, they also went on a shopping spree at Toys R' Us where they bought that Lego Star Wars Death Star. They do also plan on going on some family holidays, perhaps Disneyland or the Maldives.

Congratulations to Mark and Trina Myatt on a nice win. We're sure they will enjoy it!

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Edward Tussey Of Cincinnati Wins Ohio Lottery's Cash 5 Jackpot

For lottery addicts, the worst thing might be having to wait for the weekly lottery draws to take place. For example, if you play Powerball, you have to wait Wednesdays and Saturdays for draws to occur. The good thing about Ohio Lottery's Cash 5 is that draws are held every day. So, gambling addicts can play every day without waiting.

Edward Tussey was one of the Fantasy 5 jackpot winners. We're not saying that Edward Tussey is a gambling addict. We're just trying to make a point that Ohio Lottery's Cash 5 is pretty cool. Edwatd won $297,000 playing Cash 5 on September 14, 2008. He bought the winning at a speedway in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cash 5 is a daily lottery from Ohio Lottery. It is a 5/39 game, meaning that player have to match 5 out of 39 numbers to win the jackpot. The odds of hitting the jackpot in the game are 1 in 575,000. Not bad, compared to Powerball's odds of 1 in 195 million. However, the jackpot prize in Cash 5 is a lot smaller. The jackpot in Cash 5 does roll over, meaning that if nobody wins on any given draw, the jackpot increases. Cash 5 costs $1 to play.

Congratulations to Edward Tussey on his nice win!

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$5 Million Lotto Super 7 Win Helps Paul Jaques Pay For Physiotherapy

Paul Jaques, from Toronto, Ontario, had a tough life. When he was twenty years old, he was in a bad car accident and was badly injured. He had a back injury and was told that it would be difficult to work because of it. But he had to make ends meet and worked through the pain for fifteen years. He worked as a machine operator. Six years ago, he had to stop working six years ago; he just couldn't anymore. Then, at the age of 41, he won the Lotto Super 7 jackpot. $5 million!

Now Paul Jaques doesn't need to work. He was so relieved when he won the $5 million Super 7 jackpot in October of 2008 because he had a wife and kid to support. Not only that, he could now pay for his physiotherapy and also pay off some bills.

Actually, Paul Jaques told his wife one Sunday night that he would check his lottery numbers on the internet so that he could go to bed a millionaire that night. It was just meant to be a joke, but that's when he found out that he won.

Super 7 has some pretty cool commercials running in Canada. Here's one from the "Two Weeks Notice" man:

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Ohio Man Andrick Humphreys Wins Lotto - Was It Intuition Or Luck?

Andrick Humphreys had an intuition; it was a hunch that he would win the lottery. So, in 2008, he was telling his friends that he needed to win the lottery by December of that year. Then he won in September. He won a $15 million Mega Millions jackpot. That's a whole three months sooner than he actually needed to win! Wow!

Actually, Andrick Humphreys needed to win the lottery because he was a student and needed to pay off the bills for his college degree. Maybe, Andrick is on to something here. Perhaps this is a new strategy to help you win the lottery. Pick a date, some time in the future. Then tell all you friends, family, and dog that you will win the lottery by that date. Then buy a few tickets and win!

Actually, it's not that easy. Andrick Humphreys' win was just plain luck. Almost all lotto players have that intuition or hunch that they will win one day, but so few people actually do. Anyways, Andrick Humphrey managed to win a lot of money; it wasn't intuition, but just plain luck. Good for him, anyways!

Andrick bought the winning ticket at Jeep Fuel store in South Webster, Ohio. The retailer received a $15,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

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California Lottery Winner Rick Camat Shot Dead At St. Louis Rams-Seattle Seahawks Game

If you were to win the lottery, would you do something that could put you at risk of being jailed or, even, killed? I mean, when you win the lottery, you suddenly get to live the good life. So you wouldn't want to put that in jeopardy by doing something stupid, would you?

I would put carrying a gun in the doing something stupid category. Rick Camat won the lottery in 2000. He was a group of 13 Starbucks employees from California that split an $87 million prize. That left him with approximately $6.7 million. So why was he carrying a loaded gun with him while attending a St. Louis Rams-Seattle Seahawks football game October of 2004? It ultimately led to his death.

Rick Camat was Shot Dead at the St. Louis Rams-Seattle Seahawks football game. Police say that he fired shots at a fleeing car. Then he crouched behind the car and pointed a gun at the cops. That's when the police shot him. Rick's family says that he was merely trying to break up a fight by firing a shot into the air and that he didn't shoot at a car. Either way, if he wasn';t carrying a gun in the first place, he would probably still be alive.

It's too bad because it sounded like Rick Camat was, otherwise, a good and generous man. He even bought his mother a house and he also bought cars for his siblings. This story should have had a better ending.

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James Green - Money Doesn't Grow On Trees - It Grows On Yellow Paper

Money doesn't grow on trees, but it grows on yellow pieces of paper. That must be one of our favorite quotes ever from a lottery winner. It's what James Green said when he went to pick up his lottery winnings.

James Green won $500,000 in April of 2009. He'd been buying lottery tickets every week for twenty years. And, as he usually does, he gave his tickets to the retailer to verify them. But this time, he won a lot. The retailer showed him the computer screen and James thought he had just won $500. The retailer told him to take a closer look. James did so. That's when he realized that he didn't win $500. He won $500,000. That's half a million dollars! Actually, James lives in New Zealand, so it's about $275,000 USD. That's still a fantastic win!

The win came at the perfect time for James Green. He had been laid off from his job as a welder just four weeks prior to the big win. And, now, he doesn't plan on being a big spender. He thinks he could live off the $500,000 and not have to work. He doesn't want to work any more. He'd rather just sit in front of his computer. Ahh, the good life!

Prior to this win, the biggest amount James ever won was $900. Congratulations to James Green on his nice win!

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BC 49 Quick Pick Winner Robert Sibley Receives 2 Million Dollars

Robert Sibley won 2 million dollars playing the BC 49 Lottery with a quick pick (random numbers chosen by the computer).

BC 49 is a 6/49 type of game that costs $1 to play. The jackpot is always $2 million and the odds of winning are approximately 1-in-14 million. There are also smaller prizes, ranging from $5 if you match 2 out of 6 plus the bonus, to $75,000 if you match 5 out of 6 plus the bonus.

When Robert Sibley won, news of his win spread quickly through his hometown of Gibsons, BC. Gibsons is a town of 4000 people and is not far from Vancouver; a short drive and ferry gets you from Vancouver to Gibsons.

When Robert won the lottery in late 2008, he was 80 years old. He said he would use the money to pay off his mortgage and also the mortgages of his two sons. He also said that he would take a vacation to England.

Congratulations to Robert Sibley on a nice win!

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Liquor Locker In Georgia Helps Alisha Styles Strike It Rich

There's nothing better than going to the liquor store to buy some cognac and get a lottery win while you're at it. Actually, I don't really know how that feels; I've never won the lottery, let alone won it at the liquor store. But Alisha Styles might know how it feels.

Alisha Styles purchased a Strike It Rich instant scratch lotto ticket from Georgia Lottery while at the Liquor Locker in Albany, Georgia in April of 2009. She scratched the ticket in the store and she won. $104,468! That must feel great!

$104,468 is a weird number for a grand prize in a lottery. But, this one is $104,468 for a reason. For the year 2009, it is a game that pays $2009 per week for a year, which is the same as a $104,468 lump sum.

What's even better, the winning lotto ticket was purchased and won on the day of Alisha Styles' tenth wedding anniversary to her husband, Malcolm. Happy anniversary! She said that she couldn't believe it and that she was still in disbelief.

So, what does the couple plan to do with their huge wedding anniversary present from Georgia Lottery? They say that they plan to buy a new house and a new car.

*** Check out the complete list of black lottery winners.

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Russian Lottery Winner Albert Begrakyan - Gosloto - Russia's New Lotto

Gosloto is Russia's new lottery; it started in October of 2008 with a 6/45 game. The odds of winning the jackpot in a 6/45 game are 1 in 8,145,060. Albert Begrakyan managed to beat the odds and won 100 million rubles ($2,968,372 USD) in April of 2009.

Albert Begrakyan's win was the biggest ever in Gosloto's short history. He was so afraid of somebody finding out that he won the lottery that he hired bodyguards to travel with him to Moscow to claim his prize. But he got his money and is now safe and sound with the money in the bank.

Russia's lottery is way different than lotteries, say, in North America. Canadian and American lotteries are government run, whereas Russia's new Gosloto is run by a private businessman. His name is Sandor Demjan. This is crazy. As most people probably know, lotteries generate billions in profit. And, it is usually a government monopoly as private businesses are prohibited from creating a lottery. Giving a private businessman the opportunity to create a lottery is like him winning the lottery himself. But instead of winning millions, he wins billions. Having the only lottery franchise in a country like Russia is like starting the most lucrative business ever - with absolutely no risk whatsoever. It really is crazy.

Now, Sandor Demjan does have to give a percentage of all lottery sales from Gosloto to government programs. We couldn't find out the exact percentage, but we still think this situation is crazy.

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Joe Kainz - Wild Onion Brewing Company Owner Wins Huge Lottery Jackpot

When Joe Kainz found out that he won a huge lotto jackpot worth $181 million in May of 2000, he didn't dance. That's because he doesn't dance very well. Instead, he hobbled! Oh, the excitement! And, the first thing on his agenda after winning the lottery... to get a new roof! Exciting! This guy's living the good life!

All jokes aside, Joe Kainz won a massive lottery jackpot, and good for him. Prior to winning, he was a regular lottery player. He said that when he was checking his ticket, he was afraid to look at the last number because he never gets the last number. I don't know if that meant that he often got 5 out of 6??? It sounds like it. If so, he must have been on a lucky roll. Most people never get 5 out of six in their lifetime.

Prior to winning the lottery, Joe Kainz and his wife Sue owned a succesful brewing company called Wild Onion Brewing Co. They had three kids that worked at the brewery - Michael, Patrick, and John. At the time, the couple said that they didn't plan to retire.

Other than the new roof, John also planned to pay some bills, expand the Wild Onion Brewing Co and have some fun! John thinks that money doesn't really mean anything other than freedom. We agree. But unlike Joe Kainz, we want the freedom to never have to work again!

The lottery jackpot that Joe won was actually a $363 million Big Game jackpot. There were two winning tickets. The other was held by a man named Larry Ross, who lived in Michigan; he also won $181 million.

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Set For Life Scratch N' Win Ticket Makes Raymond Sidjak Rich

Winning $1000 a week is nice! It's like getting an extra paycheck every week for the rest of your life. It sure does make life financially easier. That's why people play it. But those lotteries usually have smaller prizes as well. Raymond Sidjak won one such prize.

Raymond Sidjak must feel rich after winning $100,000. He won it with a scratch n' win ticket from Western Canada Lottery Corporation through a game called Set For Life

Set For Life Is an instant scratch lotto game where the top prize is $1000 every week for 25 years. It also offers other prizes, such as $100,000, $10,000 and 1000 prizes of $1000. The overall odds of winning any prize on the game is 1-in4.2.

Raymond Sidjak is pictured with his wife, Pat in the photo. At the time of their win, the couple lived in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. When they won, they said that they were both shocked and could not believe what was happening.

Cash for life style lotteries don't offer huge jackpots but we still think they're pretty cool. We've covered such winners before, including Dan Tobe Smith Jr, Brandon Nikiforuk, Kris K. David, and Margaret Marshall.

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Unemployed Laid Off Shantay Britman Wins Lottery - A Sign Of The Recession

One of the sad things about recessions is that lottery sales tend to increase. Some people that are laid off and unemployed might think that playing and winning the lottery is there only hope in bad economic times. They sometimes see news stories of unemployed and broke people hitting the jackpot and they think they could to. Those stories stick out but the odds are so against them, sometimes more than 100-million-to-one. There are better things for unemployed people to do with there money than buy lottery tickets. However, it will still happen because winning the lottery is there way out of the mess.

Shantay Britman is one of those unemployed people that one the lottery. We're not trying to put her down, we're actually quite happy for her.

Shantay Britman won $6 million in the Hoosier Lottery in April of 2009. She lives in Elkhart, Indiana and was laid off from her job in July of 2008. The unemployment rate in that area when she won was as high as 18%. At the time of her win, she was living in her mother's house with her three kids. She'll now be able to get a nice place of her own if she wants. Actually, when she found out that she won, she was most excited about finally being able to pay off her bills.

With such a high unemployment rate and news of a local woman hitting the jackpot, the store retailer figures that that might give local area residents some hope for the future.

Shantay spent $5 on tickets and purchased them from 7-11. The store will get a $65,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

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Christina Yellow Boy Thought Lottery Win Was A Joke

The odds of winning even the second prize of the Powerball lottery in The United States are astronomical. Actually, it's more than 1-in-5 million. That's why when Tom Yellow Boy told his wife, Christina, that they won the $200,000 second prize, she thought it was a joke.

It was no joke. They won!

Christina and Tom Yellow Boy won the $200,000 prize in the Saturday, April 11 Powerball draw.

When Christina actually checked the numbers herself and found out that they really did win, she was so excited that she started jumping up and down. He brother was there as well and he got in on the action too; he started jumping up and down. There was no word as to whether Tom got in on the jumping action. Heck, I'd be jumping higher than anyone!

The winning ticket was purchased with a $4 win that Christina had won playing Powerball a week before. So, it must've been a sweet win as she was able to parlay her $4 into $200,000. It was purchased at Flying J store and the retailer receives $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.

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Winning The Lottery For Luis Gordillo Must Be Nice

Winning the lottery must be nice. Sure, it would be great to win a super duper mega jackpot, but $200,000 is probably a nice start.

Perhaps you could ask Luis Gordillo how it feels. The man from Providence, Rhode Island won just that amount in January of 2008. Luis Gordillo won the $200,000 by matching the five numbers on Powerball. He would've won the jackpot if he had matched the Powerball number, but we're sure he's not complaining. There's nothing wrong with winning six figures!

Luis Gordillo doesn't even play the lottery very much. The day he bought the ticket, he was on his way to help a friend whose car was broken down. On his way, he stopped at Jefferson Global store and bought a ticket while there. Whadaya know? Perhaps winning the lottery is a reward for being a good samaritan.

Check out the complete list of lottery winners here.

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Dallas Cowboys NFL Football Player Won The Lottery

Even famous people win the lottery! Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson is one of those.

Hollywood was an NFL player and played football as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys from 1975 to 1979. He even played in three Superbowl games. But he was cut from the team because of alcohol and drug problems. The drugs and alcohol took a toll. In 1983, Thomas was arrested after he threatened a teenage girl with a gun, held her against her will, and sexually assaulted her. For that, he spent 28 months in jail. It was the low point of his life and he didn't have much will to go on.

But Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson persevered. He turned his life around. He quit alcohol and drugs. He gave back to the community, even going as far as buying the land that his old high school used to be (it was torn down and turned into a parking lot) and building a football field for the community on it.

Then he won the lottery. In March of 2000, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson won $28 million from Texas Lottery. Wow!

Hollywood wasn't the only pro sports player to win it big in the lottery. Greek soccer player Kleopas Giannou also won more than a million dollars playing the lottery.

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Random Lottery Number Generator To Help You Win

We're here to help you win the lottery. Click here to get lottery tips and advice from The lottery guru himself. And, use the random lottery number generator below to get your lucky numbers!

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Verlin Little Light Of Billings Montana Wins $100,000

Mike McGivern won $1 million in the Montana Millionaire draw. But he wasn't the only winner. There were others, including Verlin Little Light of Billings, Montana.

Verlin Little Light won $100,000 in the January, 2009 Montana Millionaire draw.

Montana Millionaire is a once-a-year lottery draw from Montana Lottery; it offered one grand prize of $1 million, 5 prizes of $100,000, of which Verlin Little Light won one, and 5 prizes of $10,000. There were also other smaller prizes.

Verlin Little light said the he planned to use the money to pay off some bills and to put a down payment on a house. He would also like to use some of the money to help start a new business.

Congratulations to Verlin Little Light on his nice win!

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How To Win The Lottery Twice - Dream Of The Lotto Numbers And Buy Two Tickets

Do You want to know how to win the lottery twice? Just follow these easy steps:

1. Dream of the lottery numbers.

2. Buy two tickets with those same lottery numbers (for the same draw).

Actually, don't do that. That just might be a waste of money. Or is it?

Mary Wollens had a dream. There were numbers. Six of them. She wrote them down when she awoke. She played the lottery with those numbers. But then she was so sure that they would win that she played the same numbers on a second ticket for that same draw.

That was in September of 2006. It was for a $24 million jackpot in Canada's Lotto 6/49. There were three winners for that draw: A person from British Columbia, Mary Wollens, and Mary Wollens. Yep, Mary Wollens won. The jackpot was split between 3 winning tickets. Mary had two of them. She received $16 million!

So, let this be a lesson for all of you... Have a pen and paper handy at the bedside table. When you dream of six numbers between 1 and 49, write them down and buy two lottery tickets for the same draw. That's how you win the lottery twice!

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Arnim Ramdass Is A Dumbass - Hides Lottery Winnings From Wife

Arnim Ramdass is a dumbass.

Let me explain... when you get married, it's for better or worse. Arnim Ramdass got better. But he hid it from his wife, Donna Campbell.

Arnim was part of a group of 17 airline mechanics that worked at American Airlines that won a $19 million jackpot in June of 2007. After taxes they each took home a share which equaled $600,000. But Arnim never told Donna.

Donna started to become suspicious when Arnim kept the television off and disconnected the phone line in the house. Her suspicions came to fruition when she found a postcard about a new home purchase. So, Donna Googled the words "Ramdass" and "lotto" and, sure enough, there was a story about him and his co-workers winning the lottery jackpot.

When she confronted her husband abouthad found, Arnim took off, never to be seen by her again. She wants to sue him, but he cannot be served the court papers because she cannot find him.

Here's to hoping Donna Campbell finds the dumbass and gets more than half.

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Richard Norman Wins Lottery While Driving Truck Through Car Wash

Richard Norman needed to clean his truck. So, he bought an instant scratch lottery ticket and drove the truck through the car wash. While going through the wash, he scratched his ticket. And, what do you know - He won! $100,000!

When Richard scratched his ticket while driving through the carwash, he thought that he must've been seeing it wrong. So he put on his glasses and took another look. It still looked like he had won. He still couldn't believe it, so he took it into the store after the car wash ended to have the retailer verify the win. Sure enough, he was a big winner!

The $100,000 win came via a Instant Jackpot scratch lotto ticket from Kansas Lottery. Instant Jackpot costs $20 to purchase and $100,000 is the top prize. There are other smaller prizes, ranging from $20 to $10,000. The overal odds of winning any prize are 1-in-3.06.

When he won the money in April of 2009, Richard Norman was living in Lawrence, Kansas and worked at Schlumberger, an oilfield services provider, for thirty years.

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Man Dies Of Heart Attack - Leaves Wife Charlotte Peters More Than 10 Million Dollars

Donald Peters had been buying lottery tickets for over twenty years; it had become a tradition. It was no different on November the 1st, 2008. He bought two tickets at the 7-Eleven convenience store on Mill Plain Road in Danbury, Connecticut. That same day, he had a heart attack and passed away.

A few weeks later, Donald's wife, Charlotte Peters, checked those lottery tickets while hoping to win a few dollars. She did win. But it was a lot more than a few dollars; it was $10,022,823!

On January 2, 2009, Charlotte Peters went to the CT Lottery's prize office with an entourage of family members to claim her winnings. That made her CT Lottery's first millionaire of 2009.

Congratulations to Charlotte Peters on her nice win. She really deserved it.

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Jose Lima Warned To Change Phone Number After Winning Millions In Lottery

Jose Lima received some advice from OLG staff at the Toronto prize centre when he went in to get his $14.5 million that he won in Lotto 6/49 in March of 2008:

Get out of town until things settle down and CHANGE YOUR PHONE NUMBER.

He should have listened to the last part of advice.

Jose Lima was a generous man after the big win. He worked at a meat shop and gave $5000 each to fifty employees. He also gave away 30 thousand kilograms of free chicken to customers. And, he gave $1000 each to friends. The rest was for his grandchildren. He didn't even splurge on anything big for himself, other than to take more vacations than usual.

But that wasn't good enough for some people. Friends and even people that barely knew him wanted cash. They would tell him sob stories and anything else they could think of to get their hands on some of it. There were even "long lost" relatives in Portugal that wanted money. These were relatives that he had never even heard of. Jose says that he lost about five close friends due to the lottery win.

But even with all of the headaches, Jose Lima was glad that he won because he is now able to take care of his grandchildren. And, that is what matters most!

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Lucien Nault Of Montreal Wins Lotto 649 - Dreams Of The Best Billiards Table Money Can Buy

Lucien Nault dreams of getting the best billiards table that money can buy. Money should be no object for this man from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. That's because he won a Lotto 649 jackpot of $16,889,976 on March 4, 2009.

Lucien Nault was checking his lottery numbers in the newspaper one day when he saw that all of his numbers matched. He screamed out to his partner, Carole de la Durantaye, to come to the kitchen. She took a look and thought that there must've been a printing error. So, she went to the store to get a print-out of the winning numbers. And, they still matched! Then Lucien actually went to the store himself to have his ticket validated. It really was a winner. Whew!

In his own words, Lucien Nault said, "even if we are certain we have won, well, there is always a persistent doubt." I guess he really just couldn't believe it.

The winning ticket was purchased at Dépanneur S.T.T. in Montreal and the retailer gets a 1% commission for selling the winning ticket.

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Lottery Winner John McGuinness Loses Everything Including Ferrari Modena Spyder And Majorca Seafront Property

There's no shortage of lottery winners going broke after winning big jackpots. That's why stories such as John McGuinness' aren't too surprising.

John McGuinness won £10 ($14,699,261 USD) million in January of 1997. Today he owes over £2 million.

When John McGuiness won the lottery, his splurging began. It included a new Ferrari Modena Spyder, £3 million worth of gifts for his family, and a £500,000 seafront property in Majorca.

But his biggest mistake was an investment in Livingston FC. That was an investment of £4million. The investment in the soccer club was a huge disaster and it ended up costing John a fortune.

Now John McGuiness is broke and probably dreaming of the days when he was a rich millionaire.

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Pete Kyle Wins UK's National Lottery - Ends Up Broke And On Welfare

Pete Kyle won £5.1 million ($7,502,268 USD) from UK's National Lottery in January of 2005. At the time of his win, he was so happy because he would be able to set up his children for life. Think again, Pete.

It is now 2009 and Pete is broke and living on welfare. Too bad for his kids.

Oh for Pete's sake!

It's unbelievable how someone can squander away the opportunity of a lifetime in just a few short years. That £5.1 million was one of Britain's biggest lottery wins at that time. Everybody dreams about winning the lottery. Pete Kyle did it and he blew it.

It's just too bad.

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Chuck Mickes Wins $1 Million In St Patrick's Day Raffle From Oregon Lottery

On St. Patrick's Day of 2009, Oregon Lottery had a special St. Patrick's Day Raffle which featured 1,011 cash prizes, including a top prize of $1 million. All prizes were guaranteed to be won, so it was quite a popular game. The game costed $10 to play and there were a limited number of tickets sold, which made the odds relatively good.

The game featured 3 prizes. There was one grand prize of $1 million and had odds of winning set at 1 in 250,000. There were 10 second prizes of $20,000 and the odds of winning that were set at 1 in 25,000. The last prize was 1,000 prizes of $100 and the odds of winning that were set at 1 in 250. As you can probably calculate, only 250,000 tickets were sold.

The winner of the $1 million grand prize was Chuck Mickes. On March 17, 2009 Chuck found out that he had the winning ticket. The next day, March 18, was his birthday; he celebrated it with his family. Two days after his birthday, he took his family to the Salem, Oregon prize center to collect his winnings.

We're betting this was Chuck Mickes' best birthday ever!

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Joanna Raulerson Of Fruitland Park Florida Wins $1 Million From Billion Dollar Blockbuster Instant Scratch Game

Joanna Raulerson must spend a lot of money playing lottery games. Either that or she's one of the luckiest people in Florida. That's because Joanna had previously won lotto prizes such as $12,000 on Fantasy 5 and $10,000 on an instant scratch ticket. But none of the compares to her latest win. $1 million!

Joanna Raulerson, a resident of Fruitland Park, Florida, won $1 million playing Florida Lottery's Billion Dollar Blockbuster instant scratch lotto game in March of 2009. At the time of the win, she said that she could never imagine winning such a big amount in the lottery. She also said that she hopes to win day win the Powerball. With her luck, Joanna probably win the Powerball jackpot... more than once!

Billion Dollar Blockbuster is a $20 instant scratch lotto game game from Florida Lottery that offers a grand prize of $10 million. The odds of winning the grand prize are more than 1 in 6.5 million. Joanna Raulerson won $1 million, a prize which had odds of winning set at 1 in 546,000. The game also has other smaller prizes which range from $20 to $20,000.

Congratulations to Joanna on her nice win!

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Sexy Lottery Winner Sarah Cockings Buys Lots Of Breasts

Sarah Cockings. Sounds like a pornstar name, doesn't it? It's not. But she sure is sexy. And, she's also a lottery winner. It's a good thing too because she paid for breast enlargements for her two sisters. Breast enlargements are expensive so the lottery money sure did come in handy!

Sarah Cockings is pretty and sexy. And, she won £3million ($4,465,351 USD) in UK's National Lottery in April of 2005.

At the time of her win, she was living Morpeth in Northumberland, England and studying to become a social worker. With her winnings, she bought a five-bedroom house for herself, a four-bedroom house for her parents, and two pairs of breasts, a pair for each of her two sisters. She also dreams of winning more money, especially a big Euromillions jackpot.

We've got our finders crossed that Sarah will win even more money one day!

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Powerball Winner Felipe Piña From Los Ojos New Mexico Gives Bad News To Girlfriend

Felipe Pina decided to play a little practical joke on his girlfriend. He told her that he had a problem. That's when he told her that he hit the lottery jackpot. $63 million from Powerball.

Sure, winning the lottery isn't really a problem. But now Felipe Pina had to find a financial advisor. It might be a problem finding a good one. Poor guy!

Felipe Pina won a $63 million jackpot in Powerball in May of 2007. At the time of the win, he was living in Los Ojos, New Mexica and running an auto repair shop in Chama. He had been living in New Mexico since 1996 and had been playing Powerball ever since he moved there. He said that he always knew he would win the lottery. Actually, many lottery jackpot winners "always knew" they would win. Even the lottery player that have not won yet "know" they will win some day. That's why they keep playing.

When he won, Felipe said that he planned to buy some classic cars to restore.

The winning ticket was purchased at Giant Sundial store. The store received a $50,000 bonus for selling the ticket.

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Maurice Ducharme - 90 Year Old World War 2 Vet From Oakville Wins Lotto 649 Lottery

He's lived a long and productive life. He is a second world war veteran. He fight with the Canadian army for five years during WWII. He served in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. After the war, he worked at Ford in both Windsor and Oakville, Ontario. He retired in 1975. His wife passed away two years ago. He has four kids and eight grand kids. His name is Maurice Ducharme. He is 90 years old. He just won the lottery. Now he wants to live the good life!

In March of 2009, Maurice Ducharme won $4.4 million in Lotto 6/49 from OLG. When he won, he said that he felt young and that he wanted to live the good life. That includes the purchase of a Ford Mustang and trips to Florida and Barbados. Way to party it up, Maurice!

Maurice ain't the first old man to win the lottery that we've covered. There was also Camile Anthony Kelley, who won $200,000 in Powerball. Of course, young people win the lottery too, like Callie Rogers, Brad Duke, Ianthe Fullagar, and Jason Rinaldi

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