$88 Million Powerball Winner Jeff Wilson From Kings Mountain NC

Jeff Wilson's father, Bill Wilson, is a self-described 'lottery freak.' He buys a lot of lottery tickets and always told people that he would win some day. Bill even buys lottery tickets for his kids, including Jeff. He would often buy the tickets, lay them out, and ask his kids to choose which ones they want.

That's what Bill Wilson, of Kings Mountain, NC, did with the June 20, 2009 Powerball drawing. He laid out the tickets and his kids chose. But this time, Jeff actually chose a winner. His ticket won the Powerball jackpot. Jeff wilson was the winner of $88.1 million!

It's funny, because at the press conference to announce Jeff Wilson as the Powerball winner, Bill was there and told reporters that he will keep buying lottery tickets. After all, he is the lottery freak. He even already had his tickets for the next Powerball drawing and he said he hopes to be back when he wins big.

Jeff Wilson wasn't too sure about what he would do with his new wealth. He did have some ideas, though, including a new car, new house, a vacation, donating to charity, and, of course, sharing with his father. He also said that he doesn't mind old acquaintances trying to call him because he knows how to change his phone number and move to a new address.

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Martha Cuellar's Itchy Palms Foretells Of $94 Million Win

In May of 2006, Martha Cuellar's palms were itching... fiercely! Old folk tales say that an itching palm foretells of money in your future. Martha's itch was fierce and she won! $94 million in a Mega Millions lottery jackpot in June of 2006. Nice! I wish my palms would start to itch.

Actually, Martha Cueallar isn't the first lottery winner we've covered that had itchy palms prior to a big win. Ric Wallace did too. And, he won a big house.

Whether you believe in the itch palm theory or not, Martha does. She seems to be quite superstitious. For instance, she says that she always buys three lottery tickets because she was born in March, the third month. I guess that superstition pays off sometimes. Maybe she wouldn't have won if she had only bought one Mega Millions ticket.

When she won the lottery, Martha Cuellar was living in El Paso, Texas. She heard on the radio that someone in El Paso had won the lottery. So she stopped into the store to check her tickets and that's when she found out that it was her. She called her fiance to tell him and she said to him, "Le pegamos, le pegamos!" In Spanish, that means 'We hit it, we hit it!" So her fiance asked, "Who did you hit?" Funny!

Before she won the lottery, Martha Cuellar worked hard. She had three jobs. She was even willing to take a fourth job to help get her son through medical school. When she won the lottery she said she would be quitting all three jobs and would retire. That's what all big jackpot winners should do, in my opinion - RETIRE! She also said she would buy a new house and car and take care of her family.

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NJ Lottery Winner John Feeney - Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee Company Employee

Coffee is wonderful. It keeps you awake when you're working hard for your salary. It keeps you alert on those long road trips. It wakes you up in the morning. And, the aroma... Mmmmm. John Feeney should know. He worked for Chock Full O' Nuts Coffee Company for 29 years. Now he's retired, but he could buy all the coffee he wants. Heck, he could buy coffee for the whole city. That's because John Feeney and his wife, Linda, won the lottery!

John and Linda Feeney won $12 from the Mega Millions lottery in September of 2007. They actually didn't even claim the money until a few weeks after that. After signing their ticket and putting it in a safe place, they took some time to let it sink in and to figure out what they wanted to do with the money prior to making the claim. It's good of them to do that, so says one of the lottery directors. They say that people that win big jackpots should do that. I disagree. I'd be at the lottery office right the next morning, before it even opened! I'd want my money NOW!

John and Linda Feeney purchased the winning Mega Millions ticket at Fontanarosa's Grocery & Deli Totowa, Passaic County, NJ. They have lived in New Jersey their entire lives. John is actually a Navy vet and, after the Navy, enjoyed a long career with New York based Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee Company. They said that 2007 was a really good year for them and that the lottery win just made it a VERY good year. What a coincidence, a lottery win would make 2009 a good year for me!

When John Feeney went to claim his money, he said that he and Linda haven't made any big decisions yet, but he was planning on a nice 30-year-anniversary celebration. Other than that, they will make sure that their family is well taken care of.

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Princess Margaret Home Lottery Winner Tammie Pinnock

The Princess Margaret Hospital Home Lottery is a popular lottery draw in and around the Toronto area. It offers some amazing top prizes with relatively good odds because only a limited number of tickets are sold.

Tammie Pinnock works for City TV in Toronto. She works for the TV station as a news writer. City TV has a morning show called Breakfast Television where they do the Princess Margaret Home Lottery draw live. Tammie Pinnock might have actually been in the studio while the draw was taking place. She had bought a ticket, so she would have been interested in the draw. And, as luck would have it, Tammie actually won the grand prize.

Tammie Pinnock's prize consisted of a 6,226 square foot mansion in Woodbridge, Ontario (20 minutes from Toronto), a 2009 BMW 323i, and $10,000 in cash. The total prize was worth $2.6 million.

Tammie Pinnock says she just couldn't believe that she had won. She had never in her life even been in such a big house and she says that her entire apartment could fit into the kitchen; that's how big the house really is!

The other big winners in the Princess Margaret Home Lottery draw from the May 27, 2009 draw are:

Steve Wilson: $2.5 million house
Robert Coates: $750,000 house
Victoria Webber: $730,000 house
Louis Zuccala: $700,000 house
Robert Bernardi: $630,000 house
Mohan Mann: $100,000 cash
Laura Humphrey: $100,000 cash
Jennifer & Chris Kinber: $100,000 cash

Congratulations to all of the winners. And, even if you bought a ticket and didn't win a prize, the proceeds of the lottery goes to help cancer research. Cancer research helps everybody, so everybody's a winner.

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Nelida Lombard - $1 Million Winner From Saunierville NS

What if you had the same set of lottery numbers and played them every week. What do you think your odds of winning the jackpot would be if you played those numbers every week for five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Do you think your time will eventually come? Try asking Nelida Lombard of Saunierville, NS. She's played the same numbers for thirty years... and she won! But hold on. She didn't win with her regular set of numbers. She won with an Insta Pik. Maybe that means you should throw your own regular set of numbers out and start playing quick picks. Who knows. It worked for Nelida Lombard.

Nelida won $1 million playing Atlantic 49 on April 29, 2009 from Atlantic Lottery Canada. $1 million is Atlantic 49's top prize; it is a 6/49 type of game and, so, the odds of winning the jackpot on it are approximately 1-in-14-million. But for $1, you actually get two sets of numbers, meaning that for every $1 played the odds come down to approximately 1-in-7-million. Not bad odds for a $1 million jackpot.

Nelida Lombard said that she was in total shock when she found out that she won the million dollars. That's why the Saunierville, Nova Scotia woman waited three weeks before going to claim her prize. Heck, shock or not, I'd go the next morning. But everybody's different. For three weeks Nelida kept checking the ticket. She even got her kids to check the ticket. She still couldn't believe that she had the winning numbers.

Nelida Lombard really did have the winning numbers and, for that, we congratulate her!

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Missouri Lottery Winner Philip Bequette Has Date With Banker

Missouri lottery winner Philip Bequette's banker must be drooling. That's because when Philip won Missouri Lotto's jackpot of $2.4 million on August 2nd, of 2008, he said he had a date with his banker. Heck, he could get a date with anyone now. Ahem, no sorry he can't... He's married to his wonderful wife, Lisa.

It was Lisa who called Philip when she found out that someone that bought their tickets at AMVETS Post won the jackpot and that's where Philip bought his quick pick tickets. And, sure enough, when he checked his numbers, it really was him. Winning $2.4 million in the lottery is a great feeling.

At the time of his win, Philip Bequette, who is also an army vet, was living in De Soto, Missouri. He actually won the lottery on his 61st birthday. Now that's a nice birthday present!

Philip Bequette says he plans to use the money to pay off some debts and to make some investments. That's where his date with his banker comes in. Aside from that, he also plans to buy a four-wheel drive Dodge Dakota pickup truck.

The jackpot that Philip won was actually a $4.9 million jackpot. He received half of it because there was one other winning ticket sold. It was won by Marva Wilson, a 59-year-old woman from Kansas City, Missouri.

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Earl Fritz Wins $777,777 Playing Georgia Lottery's Super Lucky 7's

In June of 2009, Earl Fritz felt like a lucky man. That's because he won $1000. But, at that time, he really had no idea how lucky he really was. One week after he won $1000, he won an additional $777,777 playing Georgia Lottery's Super Lucky 7's instant scratch-off lotto game. Now that's lucky!

The 66-year-old Earl Fritz lives in Augusta, Georgia and works as a carpenter. He bought the winning Super Lucky 7's ticket at Ms. Carolyn's Store on Windsor Spring Road in Augusta, Georgia. He said he wasn't wearing his glasses when he scratched the ticket, so he probably didn't even realize that he won; it was all a blur. He said that he has no immediate plans for the $777,777 win.

Check out the video of Earl Fritz from News Channel 6:

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Teenager Lottery Winner Ollie Kennedy - Folkestone Dog Pound Crew Member

In September of 2007, Ollie Kennedy was a teenager when he won the lottery. At 18 years of age, Ollie won £716,766 ($1,184,061 USD). But since his win, he's been dubbed Lotto Lout 2. The original lotto lout was Michael Carrol, a lottery winner that had a blatant disregard for laws that he became such a nuisance to society. So, not a good person to follow in their footsteps.

Of course, at 18, Ollie Kennedy was just a teenager with a lot of growing up to do. After all, all kids run into some trouble at some point or another, right? The media ran stories about Ollie being a member in a gang called the Folkestone Dog Pound Crew. Ollie denied being in the gang.

But the lotto lout label was there for other reasons, as well. Prior to the teenage lottery winner winning the lottery, he had to go to court over an incident with his girlfriend, Kelly Lucas (Also 18-years-old), in which he smashed her mobile phone during an intense argument and she called the police. He says that was nothing, just a normal argument. He says he doesn't even remember what the argument was about anymore. He says he's been in a little trouble, but nothing big.

OK, OK, all kids get into a little trouble, right? You can't really label a guy a "lotto lout" for something that most kids do, right? However, in March of 2008, Ollie Kennedy was to appear in court on two assault charges. This, after he split up with his girlfriend, Kelly, because she cheated on him. No word on what incident brought about the assault charges.

Ok, I may be wrong... maybe Ollie Kennedy is the Lotto Lout 2.

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Kenneth Blount - First Ever Lucky For Life Winner In Connecticut

$1000 a week for life seems kind of crappy now that CT lottery offers a $2000 a week for life lottery game in Connecticut called Lucky For Life. Which would you rather have: $1000 every week or $2000 every week? Hmmm.

Lucky For Life is a new game from CT Lottery that gives the winner $2000 a week for the rest of his life. And, Kenneth Blount is the first ever winner of the game. Kenneth said that nobody believed him when he told his co-workers about the win. He works as a manager of a wine store in Watertown, Connecticut and he said that he doesn't plan on quitting the job. At least we know he'll be the richest employee in the store (Maybe even richer than the owner).

Lucky for life has been hugely popular since it was launched by CT Lottery. People really enjoy the concept of winning what would amount to an additional two or three paychecks every week. Although Kenneth Blount plans to keep working, any winner of that amount could really retire and live off of the money. After all, it works out to $104,000 per year. Another reason that people enjoy the game is that the odds are, relatively, good. The odds of winning the $2000 a week for life jackpot are approximately 1-in-3.2-million. Compare that to the usual lottery games that have odds in excess of 1-in-10-million and more and you'll see that it's a pretty good deal.

Congratulations to Kenneth Blount on his lucky win!

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Mercedes Marriott Should Buy A BMW And Stay At Hilton

Mercedes Marriot should buy a BMW and stay at the Hilton. Just kidding, no she shouldn't. She should buy whatever car she wants to and stay at whatever hotel she wants to. She could sure afford it.

Mercedes Marriot is a lottery winner. Yes, that is her real name. It sounds so cool, doesn't it? Mercedes Marriot. Sounds like a Hollywood movie star name.

Mercedes Marriot won the jackpot in the $200 Million Spectacular instant scratch-off game from Florida Lottery. The Orlando, Florida woman won $1 million, the top-prize which had odds of winning set at 1-in-1.5-million. The $10 ticket also has other prizes, ranging from $10 to $20,000.

Marriot is pictured here with her family during the check-presentation ceremony. She said that she first thought she had won $1000, but when the retailer checked it and told her it was a million dollar winner, she couldn't believe it. She still in shock.

Actually, we do have some advice for Mercedes. Forget about buying a Benz or a BMW and forget about staying at the Marriott or Hilton. Buy an Audi and stay at The Four Seasons. It's better!

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EuroMillions Winner Brian Caswell Wants To Grow Carrots In His Garden

EuroMillions winner, Brian Caswell, must love carrots. The 74-year-old man from Bolton, England has been trying to grow them in his garden, unsuccessfully, for quite some time. But when he won the Euromillions jackpot of £25 million ($40,992,772 USD), one of the first things he said he would do was to bring in a professional to get it done. Ya, Carrot growing professionals... there's so many of those around!

Brian Caswell always used to take his mother-in-law shopping on Friday mornings. She would always buy lottery tickets and return to the house with lotto tickets for everybody. She would ask each person to choose one and then she would call on Sunday morning to see if anybody won. Joan died two years ago, but Brian took on the tradition and bought lotto tickets every Friday. In June of 2009, Brian Caswell won £10 playing EuroMillions. The following week, he walked in to have his new tickets checked. He thought he was on a roll because of his £10 the week before. Boy was he ever on a roll! That's when he found out that he won £25 million! Brian's wife, Joan, believes that her mother had a hand in the win.

Aside from growing carrots in his garden, Brian Caswell also has some other big plans for his EuroMillions win. The new millionaire plans to buy a new Range Rover. Brian also used to be in the sales profession and his job took him to many places, but one place he had never been to before was South America and, now, he is planning to visit Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. As well, he would like to stand at the foot of Mount Everest. He flew over Everest once, but now wants to see it from the ground.

Brian Caswell sure does sound adventurous, and that's the way you should be when you win millions in the lottery!

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Idaho Lottery Winner Lisa Zhang Gets Bad Cardboard Check

If I was to win the lottery, I'd want one of this cool promotional cardboard checks to hang on my basement wall. Kind of like the one that Charlotte Peters got. Lisa Zhang got one from Idaho Lottery when she won, but hers just looks dorky, doesn't it? Oh well, at least she got the money.

Lisa Zhang won $200,000 from Idaho Lottery playing Powerball in February of 2008. She actually lives in Utah, but bought the winning lottery ticket in Malad City, Idaho, which is on the Utah-Idaho border. Just a note, you don't have to be a resident of a state to win the lottery in that state. In fact, you don't even need to be an American citizen - You could be a tourist from Canada, it doesn't matter. There's a lot of people that just don't realize that.

Lisa Zhang was actually close to winning the entire jackpot. Her $200,000 was the second prize. She was off by just one number from winning the big one.

Congratulations to Lisa Zhang on her lucky lottery win!

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Italian Lottery Winner Margherita Porporo Wants A New Mattress

Margherita Porporo lives in Canada, but she was born in Italy. The Italian-Canadian lady could barely even speak English. But she knows how to fill out a lottery slip, perhaps because numbers are universal. And, it's a good thing, too, because Margherita won the Lotto 649 jackpot in May of 2009. $8.9 million!

Do you know what Margherita Porporo wants to buy now that she's a millionaire? New car? Nope. Lavish vacations? Nope. A glamorous wardrobe? Nope. A new mattress? You guessed it! Margherita's family has been telling her for some time now that she should get a new mattress. And, now that she's won millions of dollars, she's going to splurge and buy it. OK, she does also want to buy a house, preferably a bungalow.

When she won the Lotto 649 jackpot, Margherita Porporo was 79-years old, retired, and living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Aside from the house and mattress, the Italian immigrant also planned to share the money with her four grown children and nine grandchildren. She also plans to keep playing the lottery... you know, because $8.9 million isn't enough these days.

Congratulations to Margherita Porporo on her lucky win and we hope the rich lady enjoys her new mattress, too.

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Michigan Lottery Winner Angela Rollins Wins Wintertime Wishes Jackpot

Angela Rollins looks happy in this photo with her big cardboard check, doesn't she? Well, of course she does. It is a check from Michigan Lottery for a whopping $500,000!

Angela Rollins won a $500,000 jackpot from Michigan lottery playing an instant scratch lotto game called Wintertime Wishes. When she won, Angela said that she was so stunned that she just stood there and stared at the retailer in disbelief. Ya, that could happen when you win hundreds of thousands of dollars. For me, it would happen with just a one thousand dollar win. But that's just me.

When she won the Wintertime Wishes jackpot, Angela Rollins was living in Nashville, Michigan. That's Michigan, not Tennessee. Nasville, Michigan is in between Grand Rapids and Lansing.

Michigan Lottery enjoys its instant scratch lottery tickets. They introduce a new one almost every week, with jackpot prizes ranging from $500 to $2 million.

Congratulations to Angela Rollins on her lucky win!

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$340 Million Powerball Winners Steve West And Bob Chaney

Steve West And Bob Chaney are Powerball winners. The Medford, Oregon residents and friends won a $340 million Powerball jackpot in October of 2005 (That's Steve in the picture, smiling, and Bob in the wheelchair, surrounded by their wives and families). You'd expect such a jackpot to lead to a lavish life. But that's not the case for these two. They're more concerned about helping others.

Sure, they bought a few big ticket items, like new houses within a mile of eachother and a few new cars. And, they've taken a few trips to Italy, Switzerland, and Hawaii. But their lives after Powerball were all about helping others because they had, previously, been in financial difficulties and they know what it feels like. They set up charitable foundations to do that.

Steve West created The West Family Foundation with $10 million in seed money. The Foundation had an aim to help local children and other worthy causes. It donated to things like high schools in Medford and social service groups. Chaneys' Foundation will give to groups like veterans' causes because he was a Korean-war-vet, as well as public safety and faith-based organizations.

It's great to hear stories of people like Steve West and Bob Chaney winning the lottery. It couldn't have happened to better people.

On a side note, Bob Chaney had since passed away from a brain injury suffered during a fall.

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Maine Lottery Winner Venizon Turner Jr Get Social Security Number Published In Sentinel

Maine's Morning Sentinel newspaper made a bad mistake. In the February 27, 2007 edition, Sentinel ran a story about lottery winner, Venizon Turner Jr. There's nothing wrong with that as names and photos of lottery winners are published all the time. But what Maine's Morning Sentinel did was they published the address and Social Security Number of Venizon as well. That's a no-no.

The morning Sentinel's photographer went to Venizon Turner Jr's home to do a story for the newspaper. He asked Venizon if he had anything official from the lottery to take his picture with. Usually, lottery offices take a picture with a big promotional cardboard check. But Venizon didn't have this. He did have the claim form, though, and the picture was taken with this. However, the claim form showed his home address and Social Security Number on it. Nobody caught this until the picture and story was published in the newspaper.

Venizon Turner Jr won $300,000 and this is perfect information for con-artists to do some damage on a guy they know just won a lot of money from Maine Lottery. Not good.

Of course, The Morning Sentinel newspaper didn't publish this sensitive information on purpose. They would never do that. Nonetheless, it was a bad mistake.

Let this be a lesson to all you future lottery winners out there (Yes, someone reading this will, one day, win the lottery; I hope it's you). Necer let anybody take a picture of your lottery prize-claim form. Got that?

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PA Lottery Winner Jerome Conway Wins $111,000

Jerome Conway had been playing PA Lottery's Treasure Hunt game since its debut in May of 2007. The game is cool because it's the only online game where the numbers are drawn at noon, so there's no waiting until the evening to check your numbers. Perhaps that's why Jerome liked the game.

In PA Lottery's Treasure Hunt, players must match 5-out-of-30 numbers to win the jackpot. The jackpot starts at $10,000 and if nobody wins, it is rolled over to the next day's jackpot. The odds of winning the jackpot are, relatively, good at approximately 1-in-142,000. There are also smaller prizes in the game, ranging from $1 if a player hits 2-out-of-5 numbers to $100 if a player hits 4-out-of-5 numbers.

When Jerome Conway won the jackpot, his total prize was $111,000. Jerome had been persistent, playing Treasure Hunt since the game started and, now, he has finally won. Of course, he had won smaller prizes along the way, but this was his first jackpot win.

Jerome Conway bought the winning ticket at West Village Pharmacy in the Wynnfield Heights section of Philadelphia. The store also gets a $500 bonus from PA Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

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Susana Sagastizado Slept In Missed The Bus And Won Scratch-Off Lotto

Susana Sagastizado is a 21-year-old university student from Maryland. She studies criminology at the University of Maryland. For the summer of 2009, she got a job working at an optometrist's office.

However, one day in June, Susana Sagastizado slept in and missed the bus to work. Kids need their rest these days, you know. So, she ended up spending the morning at home with her father. Her father loves playing instant scratch-off lottery tickets and, that morning, convince Susana to buy a ticket. She did. She bought a Lucky Times 10 scratch-off from Maryland Lottery. And, wouldn't you know... She won! Susana won $100,000 on her ticket.

Lucky Times 10 is a $10 instant scratch-off lottery ticket from Maryland Lottery, with the top prize being $100,000, which Susana Sagastizado won.

Susana Sagastizado plans to use the $100,000 that she won to help her parents pay off some bills, buy books for her mother who is planning to go to college in the fall, and to buy herself a new laptop computer.

Congratulations to Susana Sagastizado on her lucky win!

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Florida Lottery Winner Alex Toth Went Broke, Mental, And Died

People dream of winning the lottery all the time. They think it would be a dream come true. It usually is. But not always. Sometimes winning the lottery is a curse, like it was for Florida lottery winner, Alex Toth.

Alex Toth won $13 million from Florida Lottery in 1990. He took the 20-year annuity payments. $666,666 for twenty years. Perhaps that was a bad omen from the very start. Things started well, though. When he won the lottery, Alex and his wife, Rhoda, were broke. They couldn't even afford electricity. Their only source of electricity came from an extension cord attached to their car. That's how bad it was for them before winning the lottery. The lottery win opened up a world of possibilities, free from financial worries. Finally, the money-stress was gone.

But it wouldn't last for Alex Toth and his wife. Going from poverty to sudden riches exposed them to the good-life. The money was being spent and fast, on everything from gambling, gift-giving, and living the high-life. It may have all started shortly after winning the Florida Lottery when they took a three-month trip to Las Vegas, staying at a $1000-a-night luxury room at The Mirage Hotel and Casino. $1000/night plus gambling and entertainment adds up really fast.

In 2008, Alex Toth was broke and going to court because of a charge of filing fake tax-returns. A year earlier, Alex split with his wife after checking in to a mental health institution. In April of 2008, Alex died before even making it to court.

What started with a big $13 million win from Florida Lottery might have ended up being the biggest curse of Alex Toth's life.

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Harvey Brown - Retired Army Major From Colorado Springs Wins Powerball

Harvey Brown is a retired Army Major with the United States Army. He says that he's had good luck all his life. Proof in point, he was married to his wife for fifty great years. But of course, nobody lives forever; Harvey's wife passed away in 2007.

However, his Harvey Brown's luck continued, even after his wife was no longer with him. That's because a few weeks after she died, he won $400,000 in the Powerball lottery on the May 19, 2007 draw. Harvey thinks that his Powerball win had something to do with his wife. He says that she had a hand in it. Even so, he couldn't even believe that he had won. He had to check his numbers three times with three different sources: The Colorado Lottery website, the Sunday newspaper, and a local lottery retailer. Sure enough, he was a winner!

When he won the lottery, the retired Army Major was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Harvey had two daughters and two sons. One of his son's even served a tour of duty in Iraq.

The one wish Harvey Brown had was to have won the lottery before his wife passed away. He had been playing Powerball since the game was introduced in Colorado in 2001.

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Steve Hollingsworth Wins Lotto 649 - Has No Hair To Pull Out

On May 20, 2009, the Lotto 6/49 jackpot in Canada was a massive $49 million. Steve Hollingsworth was so close to winning it. He matched 5-out-of-6 numbers, plus the bonus number in the draw. That's the second prize and it netted him $292,297. Nevertheless, Steve was super excited about the win. He even said that he was lucky that he didn't have any hair to pull out! Oh, come on, Steve, there must be hair on other parts of your body to grab onto!

In Steve Hollingswaorth's own words, "I had a good feeling about my Quick Pick ticket as soon as I bought it. The numbers added up to unlucky 13, but when you subtract 1 and 3 you get 9, which happens to be my favorite number."

Uh... Steve, 13 is a lucky number. The $49 million jackpot on the draw was won by a group of lucky 13 in Edmonton, Alberta. That's 13 co-workers that work on the 13th floor of their office building. Perhaps it is time to change your lucky number?

At the time of his win, Steve Hollingsworth was 54-years-old and living in Campbell River, BC, Canada. Congratulations to Steve on his lucky win!

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Lottery Winner John Garcia - Fortune Cookie Foretells Of Inheriting Large Sum Of Money

Question: What's the best fortune you could get from a fortune cookie? Answer: Any type of fortune that tells you you are going to be rich.

It's true, just ask John Garcia of Nampa, Idaho. In March of 2008, John and his friend, Eddie Dietrich, ate at a Chinese restaurant. John's fortune read, "You will inherit a large sum of money." So John kept the fortune in his wallet and the two friends bought some Powerball tickets and won. $600,000! And, guess what? They are glad the fortune cookie was right. No kidding!

Congratulations to John Garcia and Eddie Dietrich on their good fortune!

Check out the story in the video:

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Gary Allhiser Of Shawano Wisconsin Won SuperCash Jackpot

One thing that I love about playing games with smaller jackpot prizes is that the odds are more reasonable. It's virtually impossible to win the jackpot on games like Powerball (1-in-195 million) or Mega Millions (1-in-175 million). Wisconsin Lottery's SuperCash game is one of those games with better odds. The odds of winning the jackpot on SuperCash is approximately 1-in-1.6 million. That's because you have to match 6 numbers out of a possible 39.

I'm sure it's better to win something than nothing and that's why I love the lower odds games. Just ask Gary Allhiser of Shawano, Wisconsin. He won the SuperCash Jackpot of $350,000. Sure, it doesn't compare to a massive $100 million jackpot that you'd often see on Powerball, but it's still a lot of money!

SuperCash' top prize is $350,000. There are other, smaller, prizes too. Matching 5-out-of-6 numbers wins you $500 and the odds of hitting that are 1-in-8,239. Matching 3-out-of-6 numbers wins you $30 and the odds of hitting that are 1-in-206. The prizes are small but the odds are relatively better than the big lotto games.

Gary Allhiser bought his winning ticket at Auto Prep Center, an auto repair shop and car wash in Shawano, Wisconsin.

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Brenda Ripton Wins Lottery Four Years After Buying Hold Em' Poker Instant Scratch Ticket

Picture this scenario: You buy an instant scratch lottery ticket at the store. You scratch the ticket and it's a loser. But, there's a promotion going on: All losing tickets for this particular game get a second chance. All you have to do is fill out the info on the back and mail it in for a chance to win $1 million. So, you do that, hoping to win a million dollars. But you know the odds are against you, so you're not banking on it. Years later, you totally forget that you ever sent that ticket in. Four years after sending it in, you get a call saying that you won $1 million from a prize draw. What would you do? Would you even believe it?

This scenario happened to Brenda Ripton of Newport Maine. Four years ago she bought a Hold Em' Poker instant scratch lotto ticket from Maine State Lottery. The ticket was a loser but the game had the extra shot at winning a million dollars. Brenda completed her info, sent it in, then forgot all about it. In April of 2009, she got a call from Maine State Lottery that she won. She thought someone was playing a prank on her, so she hung up the phone and then called Maine State Lottery herself to verify. She did, in fact, win! And, now she's $1 million richer.

It took four years because that is how long it took to sell all of the Hold Em' Poker instant scratch tickets. They had to sell them all before they could do the draw.

Brenda Ripton said that the win could not have come at a better time because both her and her husband were out of work. Now they could relax and take it easy, stress-free!

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Robert Hong Wins Lottery Twice - Daughter Wants A Hummer

That looks like a happy family in the picture. That's Robert Hong with his wife, Susan and daughter, Julia at the check presentation ceremony for his $15 million Lotto 6/49 win in November of 2007. They must be really really happy because that was their second time in less than a year to visit the 6/49 prize office in less than a year. Robert Hong won the lottery twice; he also won $340,000, the second prize, in a Lotto 6/49 draw in April of the same year.

So, what does Robert Hong plan to do with all the money he won? Well, his daughter Julia now wants a Hummer and his other daughter, which couldn't make it to the ceremony because she was studying in university will get the wedding of her dreams.

At the time of his win, Robert Hong and his family lived in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. He was a restaurant owner. The restaurant, Pagoda Chinese restaurant, had been in his family for three generations. He planned to stop working and hire someone else to run the restaurant. His wife, Susan, also planned to retire; she worked as an executive assistant.

Have a look at the two-time lottery winner in this video:

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Jeff Carl And Wife Sandy Win SuperLOTTO Plus Jackpot Of $47 Million

Jeff Carl was celebrating his 23rd wedding anniversary with his wife, Sandy, in Monterey, California in August of 2008. He was in a supermarket in Monterey and saw a newspaper headline; it said winning SuperLOTTO Plus ticket was bought in Goshen. That's where Jeff bought his tickets. He looked closer and recognized the first four numbers drawn. He knew he won. When he got home, Jeff checked his SuperLOTTO Plus ticket and found out that he had won the jackpot of $47 million.

Jeff Carl, the new mega millionaire planned to use the money to buy real estate and, also, put money aside for his son's education.

Congratulations to the lucky winners, Jeff and Sandy Carl!

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Peggy McKenna Wins Biggest Instant Scratch Lottery Game In U.S. History

Instant scratch lottery games have relatively better odds of winning than the online games like Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lotto 6/49. Better odds of winning also usually mean lower payouts and lower jackpots. But Massachusetts State Lottery tried something different in September of 2007. They created a game called Billion Dollar Bluckbuster that featured a grand prize of $10 million. That is the biggest single prize for an instant scratch lotto ticket in U.S. history, and probably the world.

Well, the prize has been won and it goes to Peggy McKenna of Holyoke, Massachusetts. She won the Billion Dollar Blockbuster jackpot in April of 2009 and is, now, $10 million richer. It's funny because $10 million is a lot of money and it set a new record for prize payouts in instant scratch lottery games, yet it doesn't get even a fraction of the news coverage that big Powerball winners, like Neal Wanless, get.

Actually, Billion Dollar Blockbuster has helped Massachusetts State Lottery set new sales records for 2008. It took less than six months after the game was introduced to have sales of the game pass the $500 million mark, and the big payouts in the game were a big reason for that (Aside from the $10 million prize, there were also multiple prizes of $1 million). The game helped boost overall lottery sales by 6.1% over the previous year for fiscal year 2008, setting a new record for Mass. Lottery.

Peggy McKenna bought the winning ticket at R & R Variety on Sargeant Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The store received a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

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Willie Jean Roberts Of Franklinton Louisiana Wins 5X The Money

That's Willie Jean Roberts In The Photo with her grandson, Shawn. She looks happy doesn't she? Well, a few days prior to this photo being taken, she wasn't so happy. In May of 2009, the woman from Franklinton, Louisiana bought some lottery scratch-off tickets. On her way home, she was having car trouble. Her car stopped three times on the ride home. That really sucked. But her mood changed when she got home because she scratched her tickets and won big money on the 5X The Money ticket. That must've made her happy!

Willie Jean Roberts won $100,000 on 5X The Money instant scratch lottery ticket from Louisiana Lottery Corporation. The game costs $5 to play and $100,000 is the top prize. The odds of winning $100,000 on the game are approximately 1-in-2.44 million. There are other smaller prizes in the 5X The Money game, ranging from a free ticket to $1000. The odds of winning any prize are 1-in-3.69.

So, what do you think that Willie Jean Roberts plans to do with her lottery winnings? She said that she isn't sure yet, but she does know that she will buy another car. We think that she'll buy one that's reliable so that she can drive to the store many more times to buy more lottery tickets and, hopefully, she'll have another big win coming in the future.

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Terry Plamondon Is Ice Cold

If I just found out that I won the lottery, I'd probably get really hot from all the excitement. But not Terry Plamondon - She went ice cold. She must've froze.

Terry Plamondon, from Thorhild, Alberta, Canada won $100,000 playing Extra from Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). Extra costs $1 to play and has a top prize of $250,000. The odds of winning the top prize are 1-in-6 million. Terry won $100,000 which is the second prize in Extra. The odds of winning $100,000 are 1-in-1.2 million.

Terry Plamondon said that she couldn't believe it when she found out that she won. She checked her ticket after filling up at the gas station and that's where she found out that it was a winner. She immediately called her husband to tell him the good news and he thought she was pulling his leg. That's when she said that she went ice cold. She said that she was even too excited to drive. I wish I knew what that felt like - Maybe one day!

Terry said that she's been buying lottery tickets since the lottery began. Wow, that's a long time! Congratulations to Terry Plamondon for finally winning some big money.

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Dennis Moore Jr Hates Missing The Mega Ball

Have you ever been so close to something that you really wanted but just missed getting it? It probably feels crappy, doesn't it? Dennis Moore Jr of Bridge City, Texas, USA knows exactly how that feels. In May of 2009, he matched five numbers on the Mega Millions lottery with his Quick Pick ticket. Sure, he won $1 million, but he was just one number away from the big jackpot. He only missed the Mega Ball. Dennis, although happy with the million dollars that he won, said he just hates missing the Mega Ball.

Of course, $1 million is an awesome prize and Dennis Moore Jr was excited to win it; he called everybody he knew after finding out that he won - Starting with his mother, and then his wife, then his sister-in-law.

Dennis Moore Jr had just bought a piece of property prior to his big win and was about to start working hard to pay it off. The win came at a perfect time for him because, now, he could put the money towards the property.

Although he hates missing the Mega Ball, Dennis says that he has not given up actually winning the jackpot one day. I hope he knows that the odds are against him (1-in-175 million odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery jackpot).

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Don Clark Of Halifax Nova Scotia Wins A Million In Atlantic 49

In June of 2009, Don Clark thought he won $1000 in the Atlantic 49 lottery. He thought that was news worthwile enough to wake up his wife, Georgia, at midnight to tell her. She said, "that's great, honey!"

Little did they know that they had actually won, not $1000, but $1 million. Don Clark went to the store the next day to have his ticket validated. The retailer told Don that it was nice to have someone from the area win. But the retailer didn't even tell him how much he had won. He said that Don has to go the bank to collect his money (Note: We've never heard of anybody having to claim their lottery ticket at the bank. Perhaps Atlantic Canada is weird and they do things differently.). It was at the bank that Don Clar found out that he actually won $1 million and not $1000. He said that when he heard that, he 'went to pieces.' When Don got home, he grabbed Georgia and exclaimed, "We have a million!"

The win was a blessing for the couple. They were actually planning on selling their condo in Halifax, Nova Scotia and getting something more affordable. Now they don't have to.

The retired couple (Don is 78-years-old and Georgia is 76-years-old) that have been married for 56 years plan on using the money to pay off debts, exchange their 13-year-old car for a new one and vacation to places like Germany and Florida.

The couple are regular lottery players and play games like Lotto 6/49 and Atlantic 49. They always use the same numbers, which include birthdays and family anniversaries.

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Neal Wanless - Huge $232 Million Powerball lottery Winner From South Dakota

Neal Wanless was a 23-year old cattle rancher from Todd County, South Dakota. Todd county is the seventh poorest county in the entire United States, according to the Census Bureau. And, true to that, Neal was a poor man, living with his parents at their 320-acre ranch. The family doesn't own a home, they've had a mobile home repossessed in the previous year, and they had fallen behind thousands of dollars in property taxes.

But none of that matters now. That's because Neal Wanless won a huge Powerball jackpot in May of 2009. HUGE. $232 million!

In his own words, "I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it," Neal said.

It is fitting that such a man would be the winner of such a big prize because he wants to use the money, not only for himself and his family, but to also give back to the community. Neal Wanless said that his family has been helped by the community and he wants to repay them many times over. Aside from that, he says that he, now, wants a bigger ranch.

Congratulations to Neal Wanless on his amazing win!

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Ted Cormier Jr Wins Max-A-Millions Jackpot From CT Lottery

Don't you just love relaxing on your friend porch... Sipping on a coffee, reading the newspaper, listening to the birds chirp, winning $2 million. Ahem, excuse me, it's not everyday you win two million dollars, so maybe you don't really know what that feels like. But Ted Cormier Jr does. He won the $2 million jackpot in October of 2008 playing CT Lottery's Max-A-Millions instant scratch game while relaxing on his front porch.

When he won, Ted Cormier Jr screamed to his wife to come outside because he had some life-changing news to tell her. Then he showed her his winning Max-A-Millions ticket and told her he won $2 million. Neither of them could sleep that night. They kept on walking down to the fridge to look at the ticket that was left hanging there.

Ted Cormier Jr didn't say much about what he would do with the winnings, except to say that he will be seeking advice from a financial professional and that the kids are, now, set for college.

Max-A-Millions is a $20 instant scratch lotto game from CT Lottery. When the game was printed there were eight top prizes of $2 million available, of which Ted won one. There are other smaller prizes, ranging from $20 to $100,000. 4 million tickets were printed, meaning that the odds of winning the grand prize are 1-in-500,000. The overall odds of winning any prize on the Max-A-Millions game are 1-in-3.55.

Congratulations to Ted Cormier Jr on his lucky win!

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Rondal Eaton - Camping And Fishing Enthusiast Wins Powerball Jackpot

That's Rondal Eaton in the picture with his fiance at the time, Roberta Claunch, holding a ceremonial check for $50.5 million from Powerball lottery. Since the photo was taken, he must have done more camping and fishing than he had his entire life up to that point. Rondal won that jackpot way back on February 1st, 2003.

At the time of his win, Rondall Eaton was 52 years old and working at Sanders Pre-Cast in Whitestown, Indiana, building concrete walls. When he picked up his check at the prize office, he said he was tired of shoveling concrete. We agree, shovelling anything sucks! But we're sure he'll never get tired of camping and fishing because camping and fishing is awesome... and, relaxing too!

Rondal always chose his own numbers whenever he played Powerball even though his friends always told him that he should get random quick pick numbers. But, Rondal saw patterns in the numbers being drawn and, so, always played according to those patterns. He said that he always knew that he would win one day and, even if he didn't, his lottery dollars would have gone to a good cause. Sounds like a decent man!

Congratulations to Rondal Eaton on his lucky win!

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Joanne Gilbert - Lottery Winner Won't Quit Her Job At Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital

Most people dream of winning the lottery so that they could quit their jobs. But, have you ever talked to someone that said they wouldn't quit their job even if they hit a big lotto jackpot? You probably thought they were lying. But maybe not. Take Joanne Gilbert, for example. Her job involves cleaning dirty sheets at Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, Gwent, UK. You'd think that she'd be the first to quit her job if she won the lottery. After all, the job pays just £6 an hour. But she wouldn't quit.

Joanne Gilbert actually did win the lottery. £1.1million ($1,823,228 USD) in 2007. She was sick and off work when she hit the jackpot. Her co-workers never expected to see her again. But, as sonn as she was well enough to get back to work, she went back.

Perhaps you'd think that was strange. But, if you looked at her situation, you'd understand. Joanne Gilbert had struggled with money her entire life. She had a son when she was just 16 years old and had to find ways to make ends meet. She worked at Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital for 21 years prior to winning the lottery. That was her life and that was normal for her. When she won the lottery, she just wanted her life to stay normal. So, she didn't quit her job because that would have been too big of a change for her. She liked her life as it was and didn't want to change.

One thing that she did do with her money though was go on some vacations. She took her son and his girlfriend on a trip to Turkey and a trip to Disneyland in Florida (It had always been her lifelong dream to visit The United States of America and she never had the opportunity to do so before).

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Wayne Johnson - Oshawa Power Generation Employee Wins Ontario Instant Millions

Imagine walking into a corner store, buying a $5 intant scratch lotto ticket, and walking out with $1 million. It happened to Wayne Johnson of Oshawa, Ontario. In May of 2009, he walked into the Shopper's Drug Mart pharmacy and bought a $5 Ontario Instant Millions ticket. He scratched it and found that he was the winner of $1 million! The odds of winning the million dollar jackpot on the game is slightly more than 1-in-1-million.

At the time of his win, Wayne Johnson was 53 years old, living in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, and an was an employee of Ontario Power Generation. And, because he is Canadian, unlike his American counterparts, his $1 million win is completely tax-free.

Wayne Johnson was really surpised at the win and couldn't believe it. He said, however, that it felt a lot more real when he went in to the prize office and got his cheque (By the way, that's another good thing about Canadian lotteries - You walk in to the prize office to make a claim and you walk out a few hours later with the money; sometimes, American lottery winnings take weeks to process.). With his winnings, Wayne said that he plans to buy a new car and, also, to do some traveling.

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