Burlington Family Wilfred, Herma, & Sanchia Greenwood Win $12.5 Million Lotto Max Jackpot

What better way to win a big lottery jackpot then to win it with your family. Consider this Burlington family - Wilfred Greenwood, his wife Herma, and daughter, Sanchia play the lottery together each and every week. Sanchia collects $2 from each person every Thursday and buys tickets. On Thursday, November 26, 2009 she did just that. She used the money to buy a Lotto Max ticket for the November 27th draw, which was $25 million. That Saturday, she went to the store to scan her ticket in the self-checker and she couldn't believe what she saw. The ticket was a $12.5 million winner! She held one of the two winning tickets for the draw.

Wilfred Greenwood actually felt like giving up playing the lottery since, prior to their $12.5 million win, they never won anything big. But Sanchia was always diligent in collecting the money. It's a good thing that they never actually quit.

At the time of their win, Wilfred, Herma, and Sanchia Greenwood lived in Burlington, Ontario, Canada (About 20 minutes west of Toronto). Wilfred was 71-years-old, Herma was 67-years-old, and Sanchia was 38 year-old.

Wilfred Greenwood says that the money will not change the family. They were happy prior to the big win and will reamin happy after the big win. In fact, when he went to the Toronto OLG prize claim office, he was wearing a sweater handed down from his son. He says that there's no reason to stop wearing hand-me-downs, even though he is a lottery winner.

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Jackpot Chaser Wins 2nd Prize In Lotto Max

A jackpot chaser is somebody that places their lottery bets on whichever game is currently offering the biggest jackpot. Sometimes, they'll even cross country or state lines to buy tickets in big jackpot games.

Donna McLeod is a self-described jackpot chaser. She bets on lotteries with big jackpots. A few weeks ago, the Lotto Max jackpot in Canada was $50 million (Tax-free, of course, as all lotteries in the country are). So that's where she placed her bet. Unfortunately for her, she didn't win the jackpot - This First Nations couple did. However, it's a good thing that Donna played because she did match 6-out-of-7 numbers, plus the bonus number to win the Lotto Max 2nd prize of $133,000.

When she found out that she was the winner of the 2nd prize, Donna McLeod said that she started to scream and dance around.

At the time of her win, Donna lived in British Columbia, Canada with her husband. The couple both plan to retire in 2010. The lottery money will help them in that regard.

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Everday Lottery Player Sandy Olson Finally Won Big

What do you do for entertainment? Probably what most people do - Watch TV, read, hang out with friends, go out to dinner - The usual stuff. Sandy Olson is different; for entertainment, Sandy plays the lottery - Every day! She is an everyday lottery player. But she's never won more than $100. Until now, that is. In November of 2009, this everyday lottery player finally won big. She scratched a $1 million prize on New York Lottery's Super 9's instant scratch lotto game.

At the time of her win, Sandy Olson was a 45-year-old mother of two, living in Falconer, New York (About 100 miles south of Buffalo), and working in the human resources department in a company called Monofrax, a supplier of fused cast refractories.

Sandy Olson described her million dollar win as "thrilling." She went on to say, "It's like being an 8-year-old kid waiting for Christmas morning to come around."

What does Sandy plan to do with the money? For starters, she plans to use it to put her kids through college, do some repairs around the house, and donate to local charities. But, don't forget, she is an everyday lottery player; so she'll be buying more lottery tickets.

The game that Sandy won on is called Super 9's. Super 9's is a scratch-off game from New York Lottery and offers a top prize of $1 million, which Sandy won. The odds of winning the top prize in the game are approximately 1-in-2.65-million. The game offers other smaller prizes, ranging from $5 to $1000. The odds of winning any prize in the Super 9's game are 1-in-4.86.

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Lotto Winner Alex Parry - Generous Girl

Usually, when someone wins the lottery, they talk about all the things that they would buy and do with the money. Alex Parry is a little bit different. She won the lottery. Sure, she talked about some of the things she would buy. But she also shared a bi portion of her winnings with her family. She is a generous girl!

The generous Alex Parry was part of a group of seven IT workers from Liverpool that were in a lotto syndicate and won £45 million in the EuroMillions lottery in November of 2009. They split the prize and received £6,430,000 ($10,820,339 USD) each. I've already written about Donna Rhodes, one of the other winners in that group.

It was actually Alex's sister, Natasha, that got Alex the job at the company where she joined the syndicate. However, Natasha was not a member of the syndicate and, so, didn't share in the winnings. She was a little bit jealous that her sister did, though. But Natasha doesn't need to worry because her sister, Alex, is a generous girl. She actually handed out £2.5 million in total to her family members. The recipients includes her sisters' Natasha and Fiona, her brother Liam, and her mom and stepfather. They received £500,000 each from Alex.

As for Alex Parry, a year before she won the lottery, she decided not to go to university because she didn't want to rack up debt. That's when she started working for the company she worked for when she won the lottery. She has now quit her job and just might go back to school.

At the time of her win, Alex Parry, at just 19 years of age, was still a young girl. Now she's a millionaire!

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Dominican Republic Lottery Winner Throws First Pitch At Mets Game

Winning the Mega Millions lottery can get you more than just millions and millions of dollars. It could even get you on the mound at Shea Stadium in New York to throw out the first pitch at a Mets baseball game. Just ask Dominican Republic man, Gilberto Bueno; he did it!

Gilberto Bueno immigrated to the United States, from the Dominican Republic, in 1990. Since coming to America, he had been working hard stocking shelves at a grocery store in Queens, NY during the night shift. He was a family man and even took in foster kids. People loved him. His co-workers loved him. He was just a good man. Fittingly, good fortune came to a good man. Gilberto won a huge Mega Millions lottery jackpot on April 6, 2007. $105 million!

Winning the lottery was a dream come true for Gilberto Bueno. But he had other dreams that came true because of the big win - He was front-and-center at a Mets game at Shea Stadium. His check-presentation ceremony took place there and he also got to throw out the first pitch. Throwing the first pitch at a Mets baseball game was a dream come true for Gilberto because he was a lifelong Mets fan.

When asked what he would do with the money, Gilberto Bueno exclaimed, "We're family people, hardworking people," he said. "It would be nice to live a good life on a farm." His wife, Nelsy, also chimed in that it would be nice to also have a house in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. But he also said that he could now afford season's tickets to the Mets. Can he ever!

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Bob Twigg - USA Today Reporter & Lottery Winner Dies Of Lung Cancer

Bob Twigg just recently died of lung cancer. The man had a 16 year career as a reporter for USA Today. That was, until he won the lottery in January of 1996. He retired shortly thereafter, in November of 1996.

Bob Twigg found out that he won the lottery while working a Sunday morning shift at USA Today and seeing a news-wire with the lottery numbers. In his own words, speaking of his $9 million lottery win, Bob said, "I was dumbstruck. I didn't move. I just stared. I had won the lottery! I ran down the hall to the bathroom. That's how my Sunday began. Then disbelief took over. I did not say a word -- to anyone. I didn't call my wife; she was at church. I didn't tell my co-workers. Not a peep. I absolutely refused to believe I beat the 7.1 million-to-1 odds." But, believe it or not, he did win.

He reired from USA Today in November of 1996, but didn't stay retired forever. He went back to work at a publication called Senior News in 1998 and then, in 2007, to another publication called Loudoun Times-Mirror.

On November 16, 2009, Bob Twigg died of lung cancer in his home in Lessburg, Virginia.

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Aurbra King Buys Winning Hot Lotto Ticket At Allsup's

On November 18, 2009, Aurbra King walked into an Allsup's store in Elida, New Mexico and bought a Hot Lotto ticket. It was a routine he'd been doing for months, playing the same numbers. But unlike the past few months where he didn't win anything, this time he hit the jackpot. $1 million!

Aurbra King didn't even know that he won. 48 hours after the draw, he hadn't even checked his numbers yet. It was only when his kids told him that New Mexico Lottery was looking for the winner that he checked his tickets. That's when he found out that he was the big winner. Even still, Mr. King didn't get excited. In his own words, "Things like this, they don't get me too excited." What's wrong with this fellow? A million dollars and that doesn't excite him? Damn!

At the time of his win, Aurbra King was 71-years-old and living in Elida, New Mexico. Elida is a small village, about 200 miles east of Albuquerque. Aurbra plans to share the money with his family, including 19 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Hot Lotto is a multi-state lottery game that draws twice every week, every Wednesday and Saturday. To win the jackpot, players must match 5-out-of-39 numbers, plus one "hot ball" number from 1-to-19. The odds of winning the jackpot of $1 million are approximately 1-in-11-million. The game also offers other, smaller, prizes, ranging from $2 to $30,000. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-16.

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Lottery Theft Victim Willis Willis To Fight For His Money

Winning the lottery would be a dream come true for you, would it not? Now, imagine actually winning the lottery, but you don't know it yet. You walk into the corner store to have your ticket checked. The clerk takes your ticket, scans it, and discovers that it's a big winner. But he doesn't tell you that. He just keeps the ticket and claims it himself. Dream come true turns into a nightmare. Don't think it could happen? Don't think you could be a lottery theft victim? It happens! It happened to a man from Texas named Willis Willis (From here on in, I'll refer to him as Willis Squared!).

The above scenario played out with Willis Squared. He had his ticket checked by a store clerk named Panjak Joshi. It was a million dollar Mega Millions winner. But Panjak told Willis Squared that he had won just $2 and kept the ticket for himself. Then Panjak claimed the $1 million himself and skipped town. Panjak Joshi is believed to be in Nepal but nobody knows for sure.

After an investigation, Texas Lottery confirmed that Willis Squared was the rightful owner of the ticket. But, they're not giving him his money. That's because it has already been paid out.

Willis Squared wants to fight back. He wants his money, and I don't blame him at all. I would do the exact same thing. He has hired a lawyer and will soon begine proceedings to sue Texas Lottery. According to lawyers, lawyers Randy Howry and Sean Breen, "The Texas Lottery markets and sells itself as an entity that can make dreams come true; it identifies as one of its core values the 'integrity and responsibility' of the lottery. ... Based upon the experience of Willis Willis, nothing could be further from the truth." I hope Willis Squared wins the fight!

When Willis gets his money, he said that he will use it to put his kids through college and also to get a root canal. Come on Texas Lottery, do the right thing and let the man get his root canal!

On a side note, does anybody know Willis Willis' middle name? My guess is Willis!

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Orlando Instant Lottery Winner Pradip (Tino) Patel

Pradip (Tino) Patel is from Orlando, Florida and he is an instant lottery winner. He bought a $200 Million Spectacular instant scratch ticket from Florida Lottery and won $1 million. The winning ticket was bought in Port St. Lucie, Florida, about 150 miles from Tino's Orlando home. He claimed the ticket at Florida Lottery's headquarters on November 24, 2009. Congratulations to Pradip (Tino) Patel on some fantastic luck!

Florida Lottery's $200 Million Spectacular instant lottery game costs $10 to play and boasts a top prize of $1 million, which Pradip (Tino) Patel won. The odds of winning the top prize in the game are approximately 1-in-1.5-million. There are some other bi prizes too, including a $20,000 prize. The odds of winning the $20,000 second prize in the game are approximately 1-in-600,000. Other prizes range from $10 to $10,000. The odds of winning any prize in the $200 Million Spectacular instant lottery game are approximately 1-in-3.58.

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Abraham Shakespeare - Florida Lottery Winner Missing

Wouldn't it be nice to win $31 million? Of course it would, but maybe not for Abraham Shakespeare, who was just reported missing.

Abraham Shakespeare won $31 million from Florida Lottery in November of 2006. It should've been easy street from thereon in, but it wasn't. He was immediately sued by a man named Michael Ford, a co-worker at the time of the lottery win. Michael Ford alleged that Abraham stole the lottery ticket from his wallet. Abraham was represented by big-time attorney, Willie Gary, and won the case. The $31 million was his to keep.

So, from there on in, it must have been easy street for Abraham Shakespeare, right? Wrong. Now, Polk County Sheriff's office in Florida issued a statement that Abraham is missing and is seeking help from the public. He was reported missing on November 9, 2009. However, he hasn't been seen since April. It is not known why it took so long for his family to report him missing.

Abraham Shakespeare is 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. Polk County Sheriff's Department is asking anybody with information to call them at phone numbers, 863-534-6379 or 863-534-6200.

***UPDATE: In January of 2010, Abraham Shakespeare's body was found buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of an acquaintance. In February of 2010, Dorice Donegan Moore was arrested and charged with first degree murder in Abraham's death.

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

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Yukon Lottery Winners Brian Beasley & Marshall Mintz

Let's say that you and a friend have been playing the lottery together for years and spent a lot of money doing so. Now, imagine if one day your friend calls and says, "We won!" Would you believe him?

It happened to Yukon lottery winners, Brian Beasley & Marshall Mintz. They have been playing the lotto together for decades without a big win. Then in May of 2009, Brian Beasley of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada called his friend Marshall Mintz, who lives in Castlegar, BC to tell him the good news. They won $292,297 by hitting 5 numbers, plus the bonus number in Lotto 6/49. As you probably imagined, Marshall didn't believe Brian. So Brian put the store clerk on the phone to verify the big win. That's when he believed. The two friends split the prize, so they received $146,148 each.

Marshall Mintz said that when he won, he was quite jolly. He planned to use his share of the money to buy properties. Brian Beasley said that he would pit his share in the bank.

As a side note, the size of the jackpot was $50 million on the day that they won the second prize. Had they got that last number, they would have won a lot more than just a few hundred thousand dollars!

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Lucky Lottery Balls Come Up For Dwight & Janeese Cook

Three weeks ago, Dwight and Janeese Cook began a ritual of playing Arizona Lottery's Pick 5 game. It didn't take long for their lucky lottery balls to come up. Three weeks after their ritual started, they won the jackpot of $3.1 million! Even more impressive, they won the lottery on Dwight's 50th birthday! They claimed their winnings on November 23, 2009.

At the time of their win, the couple lived in Surprise, Arizona, which is just outside of Phoenix. Dwight Cook worked at a Home Depot store and Janeese Cook was a manager of a Red Robin restaurant. Dwight plans to keep his job, while Janeese plans to quit.

With their money, Dwight and Janeese plan to open an animal shelter. They love dogs and cats and are passionate about saving them.

Pick 5 is a daily lottery game from Arizona Lottery where player must match 5-out-of-39 lottery balls to win the jackpot. Jackpots start at $50,000 and continue to grow if nobody wins the jackpot. The odds of matching all five lottery balls and winning the jackpot are approximately 1-in-575,000.

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Lotto Black Book - Oklahoma Professor Cracks The Code

Have you heard about the Oklahoma professor that cracked the lottery code and won the jackpot three times? It's all documented in The Lottery Black Book. The Lottery Black Book tells his story, how he he did it, and more. Here's an excerpt from the story:

"Everything happened so quickly … I was walking out in the parking site of the mall when suddenly I was attacked by two masked guys. it's a very strange sensation to know that you have a gun at your head. At first I didn’t know what they wanted from me. I told them to search my pockets and to take all the money. But they wanted something else … THEY WANTED THE SECRET that made me win the lottery three times in a row and a few times before. They would have killed me if I didn't
tell them my lottery secret..."

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Brampton Lottery Winner Orbiton Ollivierre From Bequia Island

Brampton man, Orbiton Ollivierre, was born in Bequia Island, which is part of St. Vincent and The Grenadines. He came to Brampton, Canada in 1994. He's been working hard ever since and he really has to. That's because he has a big family - 7 kids and three grandchildren. So he put in hard days as a dispatcher at a company called Sterling Concrete Sawing in Mississauga, Ontario. But even still, money was tight and it was putting a lot of stress on him. Then, on November 14, 2009, Orbiton bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket. When he went back to check his ticket, he saw what he believed to be a $7000 win. That made him feel incredible. He even thanked God for his lucky fortune. That $7000 would have helped Orbiton Ollivierre immensely. Little did he know that he really didn't win $7000. He won much more than that!

Orbiton Ollivierre actually won exactly $7,167,893! That's a lot more than seven thousand dollars. And, if he was happy to have won $7000 in the lottery, you could imagine how happy he was to win over $7 million. Just imagine!

Orbiton Ollivierre actually credits God and his deceased brother with winning the lottery. Orbiton's brother died suddenly just recently. While Orbiton was looking through his brother's wallet, he found an old Lotto Super 7 ticket. He decided to keep playing those numbers on the ticket. Lotto Super 7 recently retires, so he atarted using some of the numbers to play Lotto 6/49. And, those are the numbers he won with - his dead brother's numbers!

At the time of his win, Orbiton Ollivierre was living in Brampton, Ontario (Just outside of Toronto) and was 43-years-old. He plans to use the money to pay off his bills, help his family, and take a well-deserved vacation.

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IlLottery Winners Ezekial & Karen Garnett Threw Tickets In Trash Bin

IlLottery winners Ezekial "Zeek" and Karen Garnett almost weren't lottery winners. That's because they through their winning tickets in the trash bin and set it out to the curb to be picked up. But, alas, they were lucky twice; they got their ticket back.

It all started in November of 2003 with a $10.5 million jackpot in Illinois. Ezekial and Karen were siblings and played together. Somehow, they through out their ticket without checking the numbers. The ticket was in the trash bin and waiting at the curb to be picked up. That's when they heard that someone in their area held the winning ticket. So they searched for it. Luckily, there was a garbage strike and their trash did not get picked up. They searched the trask and there it was - $10.5 million sitting in the garbage. Wow!

At the time of their win, the Illottery winners planned to keep working. Zeek was 27-years old and Karen was 24-years-old.

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Tinsel Town Instant Scratch Lottery Game Won By Epifanio Guzman

Epifanio Guzman was in the Bronx on business, when he decided to stop into a store to buy an instant scratch lottery ticket. So he went into Jacqueline Mini Market and bought a game called Tinsel Town. He scratched it and found that he won the top prize - $250,000!

Tinsel Town was a brand-new instant game from New York Lottery, which issued the game in time for the 2009 Christmas season and Epifanio Guzman was the very first person to win the jackpot prize.

Tinsel Town costs $5 to play and, of course, has a top prize of $250,000. The odds of winning the top prize are approximately 1-in-1.7-million. The game also has other, smaller, prizes, which range from $5 to $1000. The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1-in-4.68.

At the time of his win in November of 2009, Epifanio Guzman was living in White Plains, Westchester County, New York and working as a sales rep for a phone car company. He was also a father of two kids.

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Millionaire Jumbo Bucks Lottery Winner Michael McCray Had A Felling

You ever get that feeling that you are on the verge of winning the lottery? Then check out the story of Michael McCray, a man from Leslie, Georgia. In November of 2009, he stopped in to Double D Fast Food store and bought an instant lottery ticket called Millionaire Jumbo Bucks. He won $1000. Great! Not bad at all! But, it wasn't until later in the day that he just had a feeling, and you know the feeling that I'm talking about. So he went back to Double D and bought another ticket. The feeling was bang-on - Michael McCray won $2.5 million! Imagine that, two lottery wins on the same day! $2,501,000!

Michael McCray is a lucky man. He considers himself a Mustang man. So guess what he's gonna do, now that he's a millionaire. Why, he will buy a brand-new Ford Mustang, of course.

At the time of his win, Michael McCray was 37-years-old, working as a machine-operator, and living in Leslie, Georgia, USA (Leslie is about 250 miles south of Atlanta).

Millionaire Jumbo Bucks is an instant scratch-off game from Georgia Lottery. The game costs $20 to play and offers a top prize of $2.5 million, which is what Michael won. The game fancies itself as the highest payout percentage in Georgia. The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1-in-3.01.

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Vancouver 2010 Olympics Instant Win Lottery Winner Dennis Paulin

OLG, in Ontario, has a super cool instant win lottery game called Vancouver 2010. The game costs $10 to play and offers some awesome prizes. Aside from the top prize of $100,000, which is pretty good, the Vancouver 2010 game offers some amazing VIP packages for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

There are 40 VIP packages to the Olympic games available to be won. There are various packages available. Some include tickets to the opening ceremonies, tickets to mens and womens gold-medal hockey games, tickets to other events such as snowboarding, curling, alpine skiing and figure skating, as well as tickets to the closing ceremonies. All VIP packages also include airfare, accommodations, and some meals. This is a cool lottery that offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience to the people that are fortunate enough to win it.

Dennis Paulin played the Vancouver 2010 instant scratch game. He didn't win any of the VIP packages. However, he won the top prize of $100,000. Even if he bought the ticket to try to win an Olympics package, he could now afford to go, if he chooses to do so!

At the time of his win, Dennis Paulin was 60-years-old and lived in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He said that he planned to use the money to pay off bills and help pay for his daughter's university tuition.

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Philadelphia Cash 5 Lottery Winner Dara Thach

Did you know that if your palms itch, it foretells of big money in your future? It's true! Actually, it isn't really true, unless you believe in the old folk tale. Dara Thach believes it. That's why the woman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania only plays the lottery when her palms itch. If they don't itch, she doesn't play.

In October of 2009, Dara Thach's palms itched. So she played. And, she won. $360,000!

Dara Thach won $360,000 playing PA Lottery's Cash 5 game. Cash 5 starts with a jackpot of $125,000 and it continues to grow if nobody wins it. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately 1-in-2-million.

The winning ticket was bought in a beer store in South Philadelphia.

Congratulations to Dara Thach on her lucky win!

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Waynesville, NC - Beaver's Drive Inn Restaurant Owner, Ronnie Parton, Wins $1 Million

Ronnie Parton is a man that's worked hard for his money all his life. He worked at Dayco Manufacturing for 27 years. They closed down the plant and he lost his job. Then he worked at another manufacturing plant for two years after that. It closed down as well and he lost his job. That's when he promised himself never to work for somebody else again. So he purchased Beaver's Drive Inn restaurant in Waynesville, NC with his son and set out to work for himself. He still works hard, but he works for himself.

Ronnie Parton buys about $20 worth of Powerball tickets every week. That's $20 that he worked hard for. The most he's ever won was $400. That was until November of 2009. That's when he won big - $1 million! Ronnie has a good philosophy about it all - He worked hard to buy the lottery ticket and, this time, it was his lucky day.

So what does Ronnie Parton plan to do with the million dollars? He plans to invest some of it. He plans to have fun with some of it. He plans on helping some people with some of it. But, most importantly, the Beaver's Drive Inn restaurant at 1605 South Main St in Waynesville, NC will remain open for business. That's because Ronnie will continue to work hard, as he has always done!

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Ex-Husband Says Lotto Winner Donna Rhodes Is A Spendaholic

Watch out if you win the lottery. People from your past might end up talking trash about you. It happened to Donna Rhodes. Donna is pictured to the left. That's an old photo. See her below for a current photo (She's the red-head, second from the right). Donna's ex-husband, Martin Wrexall, says that she is a shopaholic, implying that all of her lottery winnings might be spent within a year.

Donna Rhodes is a member of a seven-member lotto syndicate from Liverpool, England that shared a £45 million Euromillions lottery win in November of 2009. That means they received approximately £6,430,000 ($10,820,339 USD) each. Donna said that one thing she would do with the money was buy her brother, who suffers from MS, a house.

Speaking about the moment that she found out that her lottery syndicate won the EuroMillions jackpot, Donna Rhodes exclaimed, "I shouted out with joy and started dancing down the street. I think everybody thought I had gone completely loopy. It is just such an amazing feeling!"

An amazing feeling it must be... That is until your ex-husband starts trashing you. Donna's ex-husband, Martin Wrexall, met her while they were both army recruits more than twenty years ago. He said that at that time, she was a spendaholic. She would spend, spend, spend, She spent all of her money on clothes, jewelry, and nights out. They married, but the marriage lasted just two years. It's been a long time since Martin knew Donna, yet he still thinks that she will blow all of her money. To me, it just sounds like a bit of jealousy.

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Cicero, Illinois Green & Gold Instant Lottery Winner Eliseo Olvera

The best part about playing instant scratch lotto games is that you don't have to wait to find out if you're a winner, as you do with the terminal games. You just scratch and find out right away if you were lucky.

Eliseo Olvera of Cicero, Illinois, USA (Cicero is just outside of Chicago) must know the feeling. That's because he won $100,000 playing the Green & Gold instant scratch lotto game from Illinois Lottery.

The Green & Gold instant game costs $5 to play and $100,000 is the top prize, which Eliseo Olvera won. You could also win up to 15 times on one ticket. The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1-in-3.64.

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Pick 10 Lottery Winner Henry Zetwick From Brooklyn New York

Pick 10 is a daily game from New York Lottery where players must choose 10 numbers, from 1 to 80. Then 20 numbers are drawn. To win the jackpot, players must match all of their 10 numbers to any of the 20 drawn.

In November of 2009, Henry Zetwick, of Brooklyn, New York won the Pick 10 lottery jackpot of $500,000. Henry Zetwick says that Pick 10 is one of his favorite lotto games. He usually picks his own ten numbers, but this time, he bought a Quick Pick ticket, meaning that the lottery terminal randomly chose his numbers for him. It's a good thing he did that because those Quick Pick numbers won him the jackpot of $500,000!

The odds of winning the top prize in the Pick 10 game are 1-in-8,911,711. The game also offers other smaller prizes, ranging from $4 for matching 0 numbers, to $6000 for matching 9 numbers. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-17.

Congratulations to Henry Zetwick of Brooklyn on his lucky win!

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Donald Damon - $96.6 Million Powerball Winner From Great Bend, Kansas

Donald Damon's wife, Kathleen, was working three jobs after Donald got laid off from his trucking job because of his age. She worked at a medical office, a beauty salon, and a seniors center. But on November 11, 2009, that all changed. That's because it's the day that Donald won a $96.6 million Powerball jackpot. Kathleen quit all three jobs and now she never has to work again!

The couple, from Great Bend Kansas, seen here in the photo with a ceremonial check, were introduced as the latest Powerball winners on Friday, November the 13th. At the check presentation ceremony, Donald Damon talked about how unbelievable it was to win so much money. Then he said, "talk to the man up there. He took care of me." As if praying to God will help you win the lottery!

Don Damon found out about his win when his daughter called to say that someone in Great Bend, Kansas won the Powerball prize. So, he asked his daughter to check his ticket for him. That's when he found out that it was him. He didn't even realize how much he won. He thought the jackpot was $20 million. Little did he know that it was actually $96.6 million!

So what does Donald Damon plan to do with his new fortune? He plans to pay off his debts and buy a bigger house. He also plans to buy a house for his daughter who was recently laid off.

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Les Scadding - Britain's Biggest Ever Lottery Winner - £45.5 Million In EuroMillions

Do you ever go around telling people that you know you will win the lottery one day? Or maybe you know somebody that talks this kind of gibberish? Don't discount what they say, maybe they do know something. Les Scadding was one of those people. He always told people that he'd win the lottery one day. He has been saying that for years. And, whaddaya know, he won... Not just anything, he's now the biggest lottery winner in Britain - EVER!!!

Les Scadding won a £45.5 million EuroMillions jackpot in November of 2009. Actually, to be exact, he won £45,570,835.50 ($75,570,301 USD). The jackpot was actually about £90 million and it was split between two winning tickets. The other winning ticket was purchased by a syndicate of seven IT workers from Hewlett Packard in Liverpool, England. The names of those winners are Emma Cartwright, Sean Connor, Ceri Scullion, Alex Parry, Donna Rhodes, James Bennett, and John Walsh.

Back to Les, though. Les had been playing his same numbers for years. On this particualr occasion, though, he forgot his slips, so he bought a Lucky Dip (Equivalent to a Quick-Pick) and that's what he won the EuroMillions jackpot with. It's a good thing he forgot his regular lotto numbers!

When Les Scadding won £45.5 million, he was unemployed. Actually, he lost his job almost a year prior to that, last Christmas. Since then, his wife, Samantha Peachey-Scadding had been carrying all the weight and working long hours at her marketing business, Simple Profitable Solutions. Now, she says that she will be able to slow down and Les promises that he will take care of everything from now on.

Actually, Les and Samantha were on their honeymoon two years ago in Barbados. That's when Les promised her that he'd build them a house there when he won the lottery (Remember what I said about him telling people he would win one day?). Now, he plans to make good on his promise.

Aside from the house in Barbados, Les Scadding also plans to donate to heart & cancer charities. That's because Samantha's father died after a heart transplant and Les had his own recent bout with cancer.

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New Orleans Saints Instant Scratch-Off Lottery Winner Marie Dinger

Marie Dinger is a fan of the New Orleans Saints. Perfect, because Louisiana Lottery has a New Orleans Saints instant scratch-off game! So Marie bought a ticket. Perfect, because she won $100,000!

The New Orleans Saints is an awesome instant scratch-off game, not because of the prizes that you could win by scratching, which are pretty good, but because losing tickets are eligible to be entered into a second-chance draw. The second chance draw for losing tickets offers such prizes as such as tickets to the football game or autographed merchandise. Nice! I bet some people actually want to lose this lottery game.

Marie Dinger said that the only reason she bought the lotto ticket was because she was a long-time Saints fan.

The $100,000 prize, which Marie Dinger won, is the top prize in the New Orleans Saints instant scratch game and costs $5 to play. The odds of winning the $100,000 top prize is 1-in-228,700. There are other, smaller, prizes available to be won, too, ranging from a free ticket to $1000 and that doesn't even include the second-chance prizes. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-3.66.

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$50 Million Lotto Max Winners, First Nations Couple Kirby & Marie Fontaine

On November 6, 2009, there were big line-ups to buy lottery tickets in Canada. That's because the New Lotto Max lottery reached its maximum jackpot of $50 million. Not only that, there were also 10 additional MaxMillions prizes of $1 million available to be won. Adding up the $50 million and the $10 million in additional prizes, it meant that that was the biggest Canadian lottery jackpot ever! So you could see why so many people would be so excited!

But alas, you probably woke up Saturday morning to find out that you didn't hold the winning ticket. That's because First Nations couple, Kirby & Marie Fontaine, held the only winning ticket. They were $50 million richer, tax-free of course because lotteries aren't taxed in Canada.

The win came at the perfect time for this First Nations couple. They were living in a trailer and broke. Kirby Fontaine had just $10 in his pocket, and that's all he had. So, he bought a lottery ticket. Little did he know that his wife, Marie, also bought one. And, it's a good thing she did, too, because Kirby's ticket was a loser; Marie's won!

So what do Kirby & Marie Fontaine plan to do now that they are one of the richest couples in Canada? Well, to start, the money will be able to pay for the best rehab that money could buy. Kirby actually had a stroke 10 months ago. He now walks with a crane and can't use his left arm. His goal is to one day be able to walk normally again and regain use of his arm. Aside from that, Kirby & Marie Fontaine want to build a dream home and travel the world. They'd also like to do some volunteer work and give back to their community.

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Halloween Lottery Ticket Wins Big For Martinsville Man Maurice Hairston

Maurice Hairston, from Martinsville, Virginia, bought a lottery ticket on Halloween. It was a big winner! October 31st was on a Saturday in 2009. That means Maurice had to wait two days until the Virginia Lottery prize claim office in Roanoke opened on the Monday. You know what that means? Maurice didn't sleep for two days. When he finally claimed his prize on Monday, November 2, 2009, Maurice exclaimed that he could finally go home and get some sleep!

Speaking of sleeping, do you think you'd get any if you won the lottery on a Saturday and had to wait until Monday to get your money? I know I wouldn't!

Maurice Hairston won $500,000 on an instant scratch lotto ticket called $500,000 jackpot that he bought on October 31, 2009 - Halloween! $500,000 Jackpot is a game that costs $10 to play and, you guessed it, offers a top prize of half a million dollars. The odds of winning the top prize are approximately 1-in-1-million. The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1-in-3.54. Aside from the top prize in the game, other prizes range from $10 to $50,000.

At the time of his win, Maurice Hairston was 76-years-old, living in Martinsville, VA, and working as a "yard dog" at a trucking company. Despite his big win, he says that he will not retire. He'd been working in the trucking industry for over 50 years and loves his job.

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Vancouver Islanders Cornelius "Corny" O'Connell & Georgina Martin Win Lotto 6/49

Vancouver Islanders, Cornelius "Corny" O'Connell is from Victoria, BC and Georgina Martin is from Nanaimo, BC. Victoria and Nanaimo are on Vancouver Island, a beautiful part of British Columbia in Canada. Now, their lives will become much more beautiful, as they won the Lotto 6/49 jackpot in the October 14, 2009 draw.

Corny and Georgina are friends that had been playing the lottery together for 24 years. When they won the lottery, both were 61-years-old. That means that they'd been playing together since they were 37-years-old. That's a long time to keep going at it. It just goes to show, if you play the lottery every week, your time may come one day, it just might take a while.

Actually, the two buy ten draws at a time (Lotto 6/49 allows you to play numbers for consecutive draws). With two draws per week, they have lotto tickets to last for a full five weeks. And, Georgina only checks her tickets every five weeks, after the draws have been played out. Luckily, this time she was a winner!

There were two winning tickets for the October 14, 2009 draw. Each winning ticket was worth $1.6 million. That means Corny and Georgina will get $800,000 each after they split it.

Georgian Martin said that she would invest the money. Corny O'Connell said that he planned to go on a vacation.

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Bruce Baraby Puts Lottery Ticket In Lunch Box For Safekeeping

Too many people have become careless with their winning lottery tickets. First, there was John Brush, who locked his ticket in his car, and now there's Bruce Baraby. Bruce put his winning lottery ticket in his lunch box for safekeeping. These guys could have lost a lot of money by storing something so valuable in unsafe places. Could have, but luckily didn't. Either way, you gotta put your winning lottery tickets somewhere safer than that, folks. Or, even better, just cash them in right away.

Bruce Baraby won $250,000 playing an instant scratch lotto game called Idaho Millions. The story goes like this: Bruce bought the Idaho Millions ticket and then put it in his lunch box. That's fine, nothing wrong with that. Then, a few days later, he remembered that he had the ticket and scratched it. That's when he saw that it was a big winner. But he didn't really believe that he won, so he just through it back in his lunch box. That's when anybody could have just stolen it. It's not that hard to steal a lunch box, you know? The winning ticket stayed in the lunch box until Bruce was able to verify it a few days later.

So, what will Bruce Baraby do with all the money? In his own words, "Wow, that will pay off the house, the truck, a few bills!"

Idaho Millions is an instant scratch-off game from Idaho Lottery. The game costs $20 to play and the top prize is $250,000, which Bruce Baraby won. The odds of winning the $250,000 top prize in the game are approximately 1-in-175,000.

Congratulations to Bruce Baraby on his lucky win!

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Jenny Southall - From Hostel To Public Housing To Mansion After Lotto Win

In December of 2006, Jenny Southall was homeless, with three kids. That's because after her divorce, she had to sell her house because she couldn't afford the mortgage on a £9,000 a year income. Yes, you read that right - £9,000 a year... and with three kids to support. That month, she was staying in a hostel. She soon moved out of the hostel and into public housing, which she described as dreadful. At this time, Jenny was at the lowest point in her life.

Soon, though, Jenny Southall's fortunes changed. She won the lotto just a few months later, in April of 2007. £8.3 million ($13,716,579 USD)!!!

But many people will tell you that money doesn't buy happiness, right? Winning the lottery can't make you happy. WRONG!!! Jenny is super happy. And, so is her family.

Jenny Southall recently attended the National Lottery's 15th anniversary celebration, where she shared what winning the lottery has been able to do for her. First off, she doesn't ever need to worry about bills, something she often had to do while she was poor. Second, Jenny had never had a car, passport, or even been on a plane prior to her lottery win. Third, She always wanted to live in a big house and bought a mansion worth £1.5 million. Fourth, she gave away half of her winnings to her family, thus helping them all out immensely.

Two years after her lottery win, Jenny Southall is happy. Her family is happy. And they say that money doesn't buy happiness.

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More Multiple Lottery Winners - Eugene & Adeline Angelo

I love hearing about multiple lottery winners. So very few people ever get to hit the jackpot, relative to the amount of people that play lotteries, yet there's a select few people that actually beat the odds more than once. It's cool to hear about these people, yet it's bittersweet because they get to do twice what so many people dream of doing just once - collect a big paycheck from the lottery.

I've covered multiple lottery winners many times on this blog, including Seguro Ndabene, Stephen Cooke, Erik Martineau, Mary Wollens, Brenda Bailey, and Robert Hong. And, that's just the tip of the iceberg; there have been many more multiple lottery winners. Here's another one - Eugene & Adeline Angelo. They're pictured here with their sons Eugene Jr, Michael, and Steven.

Eugene & Adeline Angelo first won the lottery in December of 1996, when they won $2.5 million from New York Lottery. They won again in August of 2007. That win brought them an additional $5 million. That adds up to $7.5 million all together. After winning for the second time, the couple said that they would keep on playing the lottery. They say it's fun. Damn right... that is, if you're lucky enough to win!

Even with their second win, Eugene and Adeline Angelo said that they planned to continue to live modestly. However, they did say that they hoped the money would buy them good health and longevity. They also planned to give money to each of their children.

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New Zealand Lottery Winner Ethel Hume From Ashburton

New Zealand lottery winner, Ethel Hume, from Ashburton is $125,000 richer thanks to Lotto's Winning Wheel!

The New Zealand Lottery has a pretty cool feature where people that hold losing tickets get a chance to enter them into a second chance draw to appear on a game show and spin the Winning Wheel. This is what happens with the lottery in New Zealand. During every Saturday's live lottery draw, a serial number from all tickets sold that week also gets drawn. If you match the drawn serial number, you will get a chance to appear on a future live draw to spin the "Winning Wheel." The Winning Wheel has prizes on it, ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, and even has other prizes like Mercedes Benz' and Audis. Not only that, the person with the winning serial number gets an all-expenses paid trip to Wellington, NZ, which also includes accommodations for the winner and a guest to stay at a luxury hotel. Not bad at all!

Ethel Hume appeared on the game show on May 23, 2009 where she spun the wheel to win $125,000. At the time of her win, Ethel was a retired grandmother and living in Ashburton, New Zealand. Ethel said that the prize that she won will make a nice addition to her retirement fund. Ethel also said that she plays the lottery regularly and I think that she keep playing for years to come, now that she's had a taste of winning big money!

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Lucky-4-Life Winner Mary Fassio

Lucky-For-Life is a new game from CT Lottery that began on March 29, 2009. It offers a top prize of $2000 every week for the rest of your life. The odds of winning the top prize in the game are approximately 1-in-3.2-million. With relatively good odds, Lucky-4-Life is a great game to play if you live in Connecticut.

Mary Fassio, of Bethlehem, Connecticut is one of the fortunate people to win the $2000/week jackpot in the Lucky-4-Life game in the September 3, 2009 draw.

Although getting an extra $2000 every week is a lot of money, Mary Fassio says that it won't change her. She said that she will keep working because she loves her job. However, a few things will change. Mainly, Mary will now be able to send her son to the college of his choice, she will be able to go on vacations with her family, and she will move to a property that has a barn to house her horse.

Speaking of her horse, Mary Fassio celebrated her big win with a bag of carrots for her horse!

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Last Lotto Super Seven Winner Ever: Jean Canning Of Beechy Saskatchewan

A little over a month ago, Lotto Super Seven held its very last draw in Canada. It was replaced with a game called Lotto Max. Lotto Max fever is now hitting a high note, with the jackpot being a huge $50 million! $50 million is available to be won in the next draw, tax-free of course, as all lotteries in Canada are. But that's not to mention the additional estimated 10 Maxmillions draws of $1 million each. Add it all up and you would see why everybody in Canada is talking about Lotto Max.

But back to the retired Lotto Super Seven lottery. The last jackpot was $23,963,940 and it was won by just one person. That person was Jean Canning of Beechy, Saskatchewan. Not only that, Jean Canning just happens to now be the largest lottery winner in the province of Saskatchewan's history!

Beechy, Saskatchewan is a small village in the middle of nowhere. With a population of just over 200, the only store that sells newspapers was out of newspapers. So, Jean Canning couldn't check her tickets (I wonder if she knows that you can check the numbers online? Or, maybe, Beechy, Saskatchewan doesn't even have internet yet?). She kept her tickets in her purse for a week without even knowing that she was the big winner.

Jean Canning didn't say much about what she would be doing with her new fortune. In fact, after her win, her phone was disconnected and the residents of her village weren't saying anything either.

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