Julie McGregor - Partially Blind Lottery Winner (Nystagmus) Wants Surgery To Get Her Eyesight Back

Are you one of those people that believe that money can't buy happiness? Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but consider this - What if you were partially blind and needed surgery to get your eyesight back. The surgery is expensive and, really, the only way to pay for it is to win the lottery. If you won the lottery and were then able to afford to pay for the surgery, would you be happier after you got your eyesight back? I think the answer would be yes. See, money does buy happiness!

I used this example because there is a real-life case of a partially blind lottery winner that wants to use the money to pay for eye surgery. Julie McGregor was part of a six-member lotto syndicate that won the UK Lotto jackpot on new year's eve, December 31, 2009. The group won £10,257,210 ($16,378,341 USD). That means that each member of the syndicate received £1,709,535 ($2,729,744 USD). Julie suffers from an eye-condition called nystagmus and now hopes to use her money to be able to finally see properly.

The group of six that hit the lottery jackpot were a group of friends that met regularly at the Irish Centre in Newcastle. For this particular draw, they bought five Lucky Dip tickets (Quick Picks). Julie didn't waste much time quitting her job when she found out that she won - It was one of the first things she did.

Congratulations to Julie McGregor on her fantastic win and good luck to her in fixing her nystagmus problem.

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Bill Swann - Crazy Lucky NM Lottery Winner

When Bill Swann called his daughter Stacey to tell her that he won the lottery, she didn't doubt him for a second. She says that he's not a practical joker; he's crazy lucky!

Crazy lucky? Yes, because Bill Swann won the jackpot in New Mexico Lottery's Hot Lotto game in the January 16, 2010 draw. $3.54 million! Hot Lotto is played in 15 states, including NM. The odds of winning the jackpot are almost 1-in-11-million.

Bill Swann bought five tickets for the January 16 draw. He checked the tickets the next morning on the internet. That's when he found out that he was a big winner. Most people have some intense reactions the moment that they find out they won the lottery. But not Bill. His reaction? He just looked at the tickets and replied, "Well, looky here." Nice!

Bill Swann split the prize money equally between himself, his wife Janet, and his daughters Lisa and Stacey. They all plan to use the money to go on some exotic fishing and hunting trips. Lisa and Stacey plan to put some away for retirement too.

Congratulations to the crazy lucky man from NM on his big win!

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Sean Mayer - American Man Wins Canadian Lottery (Lotto 649)

A lot of people don't realize this - You don't need to be a resident of a certain country to win the lottery in that country. But Sean Mayer definitely knows this now; he is an American man that won a Canadian lottery - $7,478,217 on Lotto 649.

Prior to his big lottery win, Sean Mayer was a senior director of a company called SNC Lavalin, a construction and engineering firm. He worked out of their Bothell Washington office (Near Seattle), but did frequent business trips to the company's Toronto, Ontario office. In January of 2009, Sean was on one of those business trips to Toronto. That's when he decided to purchase a Lotto 649 ticket - Just one ticket. And, it was the first time he had ever bought a lottery ticket in Canada. It was beginner's luck because he beat the odds of approximately 1-in-14-million and won the jackpot - $7,478,217!

Here's where the story gets even more interesting. If Sean Mayer living in Canada as a Canadian citizen, the money that he won would have been tax-free (All lotteries in Canada are tax-free). However, Sean is American and he has to claim the money with the American taxman and that taxman will take his cut. The IRS will have been owed about $2.1 million.

At the check presentation ceremony, Sean Mayer said that he wished he was Canadian. That way, he wouldn't have to pay the tax! Sucker!

Do you play the lottery while traveling? If not, maybe you should. Sean would never have won if he didn't play.

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Quang Dao - Featured In Docomentary Movie About Lottery Winners Called Lucky By Jeffrey Blitz

Jeffrey Blitz wanted to make a movie about lottery winners and, more specifically, about luck. The movie is now complete and was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2010.

Here's what Jeffrey Blitz says about luck: "Our culture is built on the notion of how unimportant luck is and how important work is. I think that's false in some ways. I hope that by the end of my movie, people want want to appreciate that there's luck in the world."

So, the documentary that Jeffrey Blitz made is called "Luck." It tells the story of various lottery winners and how luck changed their lives. It is about how people's lives can be turned upside down without having to work for it. Just one lottery ticket can change your life - If you're lucky!

One of the people that was featured in the movie was a man named Quang Dao (Pictured above). He was one member of a group of eight co-workers in Nebraska that won a $365 million Powerball jackpot. They each received $45.6 million. Quang Dao had an interesting story to tell. He was seriously injured during the Vietnam war. Then in 1988, he and his family escaped the communist country by boat and found his way to the United States. He ended up working at a meat-packing plant in Nebraska, the same meat-packing plant where a group of co-workers pooled their money together to buy lottery tickets. They hit the $365 million jackpot in the February 18, 2006 Powerball draw.

When the group of eight claimed their prize, Quang Dao remarked that The United States was a great country. Ya, it's better than Vietnam!

Have a look at Jeffrey Blitz discussing his documentary:

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1992 Lottery Winner Kim Haggarty Teaches Figure Skating

Ever wonder what your life would be like after you win the lottery? Perhaps the best way to find out is to look at past lottery winners and see how their lives ended up.

Let's look at Kim Haggarty. In the early 90's, Kim Haggarty was Kim Walker (She's gotten married since). She had always wanted to live in a ski town and had always wanted to teach figure skating. Those were her dreams. Then in March of 1992, people in Colorado were talking about the Colorado Lotto jackpot because it was huge. The jackpot was $27 million. That was a big deal in 1992. Huge. You gotta remember that that was a time before the massive Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots. It was $27 million and everybody was talking about it.

Kim bought a few lottery tickets for the big draw. She won. $27 million. BAM! Her dreams were just about to come true!

Kim quit her job. Her boyfriend at the time, Dan Haggarty, quit his job too. They got married. They moved to a ski town - Steamboat Springs, Colorado (About 200 miles northwest of Denver). Steamboat Springs is the perfect little ski town. It gets lots of snow and it's base elevation is 6,900 feet and the tallest ski peak is 10,568 feet. The ski area is 2965 acres and has 165 trails. The longest ski run is more than 3 miles long. The couple moved into a log cabin in Steamboat Springs. Just picture that - A Perfect life. A lottery winner's dream come true.

When Kim Haggarty first moved to Steamboat Springs, the town rink was an outdoor rink, meaning that a heavy snowfall would close it down. Since, she's helped to make it fully enclosed. Today, she teaches figure skating to kids. The rink also hosts both youth and adult hockey programs.

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Roy Higbee - Kansas Powerball Winner's Plans Change Thanks To Check-A-Ticket Machine

Roy Higbee had his day all planned out on Sunday, December 13, 2009; he was to go deer hunting with his wife. That all changed when the man from Severy, Kansas stopped at the store and scanned his Powerball ticket on the check-a-ticket machine. He won some money and that changed his plans; he went shopping instead.

Roy Higbee's story actually started the day before. He and his wife were deer-hunting on Saturday, December 12. While hunting, they needed to get something to eat. So they stopped at the convenience store to get some food. After his purchases, Roy had $5 left over, so he decided to spend it on Powerball tickets for that night's draw. The next day, on his way to go do some more deer hunting, he stopped at the store to scan his tickets on the check-a-ticket machine and that's when he found out that he won a big prize - $200,000. That's when it was decided that there would be no more deer hunting that day - He and his wife went shopping.

When Roy Higbee picked up his Kansas Powerball prize, he told lottery officials that he couldn't wait to get back to work the next day. Why would a newly-minted lottery winner be so eager to get back to work? That's a pretty cool story too. At Spirit AeroSystems, where he works in Wichita, a group of people had a lottery pool going. Roy had asked to join the pool but, for some reason, they wouldn't let him. If only I could have been their to have witnessed the reactions of his co-workers when they found out that Roy won the lottery and they didn't. IN YOUR FACE!

Roy Higbee plans to use the money he won from Kansas Powerball to buy a new home and a new car.

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William Hastie - No Flashy Lifestyle Planned For $16 Million Lotto 649 Winner

William Hastie just won $16 million in Lotto 649. But don't expect him to live a flashy lifestyle. He's too set in his ways to change much (The man is 71-years-old). So you won't be seeing him driving a fancy exotic sports car. Actually, he says that he plans to just buy a Ford because you can't even drive sports cars where he lives - The roads are too bad.

So where does William Hastie live? Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. That's about 7.5 hours north of Toronto (Perhaps 12 hours if William's driving) and in the middle of nowhere. In fact, he hated the fact that he had to come to the Toronto prize office to claim his $16 million prize. He hates city life. He likes home. They have fresh air at home! Ahhh, fresh air!

William Hastie has actually been playing the lottery for 42 years without hitting a big prize. He finally hit it with his big win on Lotto 649 in the January 2, 2010 draw.

At the time of his win, William was retired. He used to work for Ontario's Ministry of transportation (MTO). Now, retirement will be financially easy. In fact, his biggest joy in his winning of the lottery is that his family will never have to worry about having enough money - Even if he drops dead tomorrow.

William Hastie was asked if there would be any travel plans in his near future. He replied, "Yeah, back home." See, he really likes his home!m Nothing flashy about him - At all!

Congratulations to William on his lucky win!

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Susan Herdman Tells Facebook Friends She'll Win The Lottery

Susan Herdman was so confident that she would win the lottery that she told her Facebook friends about her impending win. Why was she so confident? A tarot card reader told her that she would come into money.

Susan must have been really confident because, if she didn't win, here Facebook friends would have a good reason to tease her and give her a good ribbing. I know I would have. But alas, she did win.

Susan Herdman won £1,182,714 ($1,667,685 USD) in the lottery on January 16, 2010. She was watching the draw live on TV, when she realized that all her numbers came in. She won. She was shocked. But then she realized that she already knew that she would win and the shock faded. Now she could tell her Facebook friends, "I told you so!"

At the time of her win, Susan Herdman was 41-years-old and working as a hairdresser. She said that she plans to continue working as she loves her job and loves to keep busy. However, she'll probably work one less day every week so that she could focus more on her hobbies.

Susan's first order of business with the money is to go on a holiday. She said that she will be going to New York with her 17-year-old son. Aside from the trip to New York, Susan also plans to pay off her mortgage, buy a new Audi or BMW (I hope she chooses the Audi), and give some away to her family.

On a side note, if you go to see a fortune teller and she tells you that you will win the lottery or come into money, don't believe it. Although Susan Herdman believed her fortune teller, that is also one of the most common things for a fortune teller to tell someone. If hundreds of thousands of people, every month, are told that they will be winning the lottery, chances are that a few of them will (Like Susan). It's just the law of large numbers at work.

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Ken Olson Will Win The Lottery Three Times In His Lifetime

Imagine if you were lucky enough to win the lottery just once - That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Well, Ken Olson from Minnesota wants to win it three times. What a quack, right? Wrong! Ken's well on his way to winning the lottery three times.

First lottery win - $162,633 on January 24, 2997. Check. Second lottery win - $379,397 on January 8, 2010. Check. See, he's gonna do it - Just one more to go!

Perhaps Ken Olson's secret to winning the lottery is the type of game he chooses to play. Ken won both of his jackpots on a game from Minnesota Lottery called Gopher 5. He could've chosen to play Powerball, but he didn't. See, the odds of winning Gopher 5 are a lot better than winning Powerball - A LOT BETTER! The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately 1-in-195-million. The odds of winning the Gopher 5 jackpot are approximately 1-in-1.5 million. That means that if you buy just one ticket for each of the two lottery games, you'd be about 130 times more likely to win the Gopher 5 jackpot. See what I mean?

So Ken Olson won two jackpots, bringing his total take to $542,030, for now. He'll win again.

It's actually a funny story about how Ken managed to win his latest lottery jackpot. He suffered a heart attack (No, that's not the funny part) and, while in the hospital, realized that he didn't buy any lottery tickets that day. The fact that he didn't have any lottery tickets really bothered him (I don't know why the fact that he had a heart attack didn't bother him, but that's another story). He managed to be released from hospital in time to buy Gopher 5 lottery tickets prior to the 6:10 pm cut-off time and those are the tickets he won with. Ken says that if he didn't have a heart attack, he wouldn't have won his latest lottery prize.

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Latest Euromillions Winners - George Sturt And Kids Colin, Gary, & Teresa

The latest EuroMillions winners have been announced - They are George Sturt (Pictured here) and his kids Colin, Gary, and Teresa. They have won a jackpot of £26.1million ($37,576,843.65 USD).

Usually big lottery winners would rather shy away from the media. Not George Sturt, however. He actually walked into a the office of a local newspaper to announce himself as the winner. No waiting for the obligatory press conference, he just did it himself.

It's funny that George would actually do this since he doesn't even seem to be like the typical lottery winner. He's a 76-year-old taxi driver, yet he has no intentions of quitting his job after winning the EuroMillions jackpot. He says that he has met a lot of nice people while working and wouldn't want that to end. Not only that, he doesn't even want the money. He plans to donate the majority of his share to charity.

George's kids, however, to want the money. Colin, who builds houses for a living said that it will be difficult to go back to building houses now that he could buy any house that he wants. I hope he quits his job and does buy a nice house!

Prior to their win, the family put in £4 each to buy lottery tickets. Yet,. never in their wildest dreams did they think they'd ever win so much money. It happens and congratulations to the latest big Eurmillions winners!

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Crazy Memphis Lottery Winner Jeannie Ford

Jeannie Ford, of Memphis, Tennessee, isn't crazy. But ever since she found out that she won a million dollars in the Powerball lottery, she says that it's taking everything she has not to go crazy. Damn, imagine if she won the jackpot - She'd be in the nuthouse in no time!

Jeannie Ford won $1 million playing Powerball in January of 2010. She won that by matching the five whiteball numbers, but missed the Powerball number. That's good for second prize, which is normally $200,000. But since she bought Powerplay for an extra $1, that $200,000 increased to $1,000,000.

Jeannie Ford has been playing the same Powerball numbers for many years. She uses a combination of her kids birthdays for the numbers. Finally they came through!

At the time of her lottery win, Jeannie Ford lived in Memphis, Tennessee and had worked with the United States Postal Service for 30 years. She says that she will use the money to buy a new car, pay off her mortgage, and help he family - That is, if she doesn't go crazy first.

Congratulations to Jeannie on her lucky win!

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David Coterel Jr - 2007 Powerball Winner Buys Harley Davidson Dealership

David Coterel Jr is pictured here with his father, David Coterel, and his sister Lynn Hiles, from a September, 2007 photo when the family won a $314.3 million Powerball jackpot from the August 25, 2007 draw. Now, David Coterel is the new owner of a Harley Davidson dealership in Xenia, Ohio, which is near Dayton.

The family was probably destined to win the Powerball lottery. Prior to their big win, David Corterel would drive 45 minutes to buy Powerball tickets at the nearest Powerball retailer in Indiana (He lived in Ohio and Ohio doesn't sell Powerball). He did the drive every week and it finally paid off in August of 2007. The rest is history.

In December of 2009, David Coterel Jr, along with his minority partner, Jason Dennis, bought a Harley Davidson dealership in Xenia, Ohio. Jason is the president of Dave Dennis Auto Group, the #1 Chrysler dealer in Ohio. David hopes to use Jason's experience in auto sales to help increase motorcycle sales at the Harley dealership. And, the experience will come in handy as their is stiff competition; there are a total of three Harley dealerships in the Dayton area. Not only that, the previous owners saw a decrease in sales in 2009 compared to sales in 2008. The dealership normally sells about 200 bikes every year in the first place, which isn't very much.

Why would a huge Powerball winner want to run a Harley Davidson dealership? David Coterel Jr says that he began riding the bikes and has become passionate about them. Thus, with all the passion, the next logical step from riding them would be to sell them.

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Claude Gyug To Buy New Fishing Boat With Lottery Money

Claude Gyug retired on January 1, 2010. Now he can buy a brand new fishing boat and retire in style. That's because the Saskatchewan man won $20 million playing Lotto Max exactly one week after he retired.

The Lotto Max jackpot on January 8, 2010 was $40 million. There were two winning tickets sold in the draw, one held by Claude Gyug and the other by Michel Villeneuve, a man from Quebec.

Claude Gyug worked as a conductor for Canadian National Railway until December 31, 2009. His wife, Dianne, was still working the night shift at a group home for mentally challenged adults when he won the lottery. In fact, when he checked his numbers and found out that he was a big winner on the morning after the draw, his wife was still at work. It was still an hour until she was due to come home. That was the longest hour of Claude's life - He just couldn't wait to tell her. After he told her, Dianne decided to retire too. See, winning the lottery is fantastic!

Claude and Dianne Gyug have been buying lottery tickets for many years. They usually play their own set of numbers. However, on this draw, they won with a random Quick Pick.

Aside from all the retiring, Claude wants to use the money to buy a new fishing boat and Dianne wants to buy a new car. They also plan to share some of the money with family.

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Russell Hall - 87 Year Old Casino Gambler Wins The Lottery

On Saturday, January 9, 2010, 87-year-old Russell Hall and his wife, Rita went to the casino to do some gambling. They weren't very lucky. They lost some money. But it's a good thing that they sell lottery tickets at the casino. Russell bought $5 worth of Lotto 649 tickets. He might not have been lucky on the casino games, but he sure was lucky with the lottery - He won $7.1 million!

If it wasn't for that trip to the casino, Russell and Rita Hall would never have won the lottery. And, Rita didn't even want to go in the first place. They were out at the store that day, when Russell suggested they go do some gambling. Rita didn't want to because she said that she wasn't dressed for it. Russell convinced her to go and she caved in. Now, Rita will never be able to use the clothing excuse to not want to go out because Russell said that he is sending her out to buy two or three new bras and three more new night shirts. They could sure afford it now.

At the time of their win, Russell was 87-years-old, Rita was 66-years-old, and both were retired. Russell had worked as a family doctor until he was 77-years-old. Now, the couple have some extra money to enjoy their retirement. Perhaps a few more trips to the casino for these gamblers are in order.

Rita and Russell Hall said that they planned to use the money to have some fun sharing it with friends, family, and their dog. Damn, that dog's gonna get spoiled!

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Loto Quebec Winner Michel Villeneuve Wins $20 Million lotto Max Prize

Are you one of those people that play the same lottery numbers every week? How's that going for you? Still haven't won the jackpot? Well, you know that playing the same lottery numbers every week doesn't actually increase your odds of winning. I know you'll probably keep on doing it anyway.

If you are one of those people that play the same lottery numbers every week and you've done it for years, you probably won't want to read the rest of this story. Today, Loto Quebec announced the winner of a $20 million Lotto Max prize. His name is Michel Villeneuve and he won it in the January 8, 2010 draw. He's been playing the same numbers since the Lotto Max game started. However, Lotto Max is a fairly new game; it started just under four months ago.

How does that make you feel about playing the same lottery numbers for years? Michel Villeneuve does it for less than four months and wins a prize of $20 million! Oh well, keep on playing... Your day will come eventually.

Michel Villeneuve told Loto Quebec that he would be sharing the $20 million prize with family.

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Nathalie Stanislavsky - DC Lottery's $100,000 Cash Bonanza Top Prize Winner

Nathalie Stanislavsky has some advice for lottery players - "If it can happen to me, it can happen to you." Hmm, It can happen to you - Reminds me of a movie about the lottery starring Nicholas Cage. Nevermind, it was a bad movie.

Anyways, Nathalie Stanislavsky was the top prize winner in DC Lottery's $100,000 Cash Bonanza. She won $100,000. Speaking of winning the lottery, she exclaimed, "It happens." really? Never knew that. Wow, Nathalie has some amazing quotes _ It happens, it can happen to you. I need to write those down.

Nathalie Stanislavsky was recently laid off from her job as a graphic artist. After she found a new job, she decided to take $10 out of her first paycheck to buy a $100,000 Cash Bonanza instant scratch lotto game from DC Lottery. It turned out to be the best investment of her life after it turned out to be the top prize winner.

The $100,000 Cash Bonanza instant scratch game costs $10 to play and offers a top prize of $100,000, which is what Nathalie won. The odds of winning the top prize are approximately 1-in-120,000. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-3.76.

Congratulations to Nathalie Stanislavsky on her lucky win!

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Free Lottery Tickets - Sign Up For The Lotto Max Pool

Wouldn't it be nice if somebody gave you free lottery tickets? You'd have a chance to won big money and not have to pay for that chance. Ya, that would be nice. Well, a man named Graham is running a free Lotto Max pool. All you have to do is sign up; he doesn't charge anything. I know because I've signed up myself.

Here's how it works. Graham is offering up to fifty people (including himself, I think) a 1/50 share of $25 worth of Lotto Max tickets each week. If you sign up, he even emails you a copy of the ticket so that you can check the numbers yourself. If the ticket wins the jackpot, you win a 1/50 share of it. Again, it's totally free.

Why Lotto Max? Well, I believe Graham is doing a Lotto Max pool because Lotto Max has big jackpots. The jackpots start at $10 million and could increase to $50 million. So, if the pool wins $10 million, your share would be $200,000. If the pool wins $50 million, your share would be $1 million.

If the Lotto Max pool hits the jackpot, all of the proceeds are tax-free as Canadian lotteries are not taxed. However, if you are American and you win money in the pool, you'd be taxed on it in the United States. Of course, the Lotto Max pool is open to anyone in the world - You don't have to live in Canada. So check out the site and sign up. You have nothing to lose and much to gain.

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$165 Million New York Mega Millions Winner Mary Morrison

Mary Morrison bought $5 worth of New York Mega Millions tickets on December 21, 2009. Then, the next day, she watched the numbers on her television screen for the December 22 draw. They all matched. Any time someone wins a lottery, it's got to be a great feeling. But this was no ordinary lottery - It was Mega Millions, with a $165 million jackpot. That's huge and Mary knew it. Mary doesn't drink, but she spent the rest of the day drinking champagne!

Mary Morrison, and her husband Richard, must have known exactly what they wanted to do if they had ever won the lottery. That's because they immediately bought a new Lexus - That's even before claiming their winnings. What they didn't plan on was discussing $950,921.90 worth of taxes owing due to an accounting audit of a homeless shelter that they once ran. More on that later.

New York Mega Millions had just announced Mary Morrison as the winners of the $165 million jackpot from December 22, 2009. At the press conference, Jim and Mary Morrison said that they planned to use the money to pay off their mortgage, open a restaurant, and help the poor. As well, the couple plan to hold a lavish reception to celebrate their 40-year wedding anniversary.

Now, back to the money they owe. Mary and Richard used to run an organization called Love’M Sheltering, which ran homeless shelters before going out of business in 2005. In 2004, Love’M Sheltering was audited and irregularities were found, some of which included inflated salaries and missing equipment purchased with Suffolk County funds. Mary and Richard claim they did nothing wrong. Suffolk County claims that they are hiding behind their corporation. As it stands, the couple owe Suffolk County $950,921.90. Big deal, they just won $165 million!

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William Rivenburgh - Lottery Winner Doesn't Have Enough Money To Post Bail For Drug Charges

You would think that a lottery winner would have enough money stashed away somewhere for those unexpected circumstances when he needs some extra money, especially if that unexpected circumstance was money to post bail. But no, not all lottery winners them do. Take William Rivenburgh, for example. He won the lottery, yet he didn't have enough money to post bail on drug charges.

It all started for William Rivenburgh when he won $1 million on an instant scratch lotto ticket on October 25, 2010. That was just a couple of years after coming home from a tour-of-duty in Iraq. He had been working as a security guard and then he won the lottery. Life was looking good!

When he won the lottery, William Rivenburgh said that it was not enough money to retire on. However, the money would remove the financial pressure from his life. He said that he would use the money for home repairs, bill payments, and put the rest into safe investments.

Fast forward a few years - January 2009. William Rivenburgh is broke. The money is gone. So much for his plans about being safe with his money. He bought a house and gave away money to relatives. Perhaps he blew a lot of it on drugs too - That's a possibility because William has been charged with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies. He didn't even have enough money to post bail. He has offered a plea to do two years in jail, but he could get more than that.

The drug charges stem from a $50 sale of cocaine that he was busted on. That's what it came down to for a man that won $1 million in the lottery - a $50 drug deal, and now he's headed for jail.

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WCLC Alberta Scratch N' Win Lottery Winner Joy Bailey

In early January of 2010, Joy Bailey's fiancee was working out of town. She missed him and decided to phone him. Joy asked her fiancee, "What would it take for you to come home?" He replied, "I would come home if you won the lottery." BINGO!!! Joy did win the lottery!

Joy Bailey won $2 million playing the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) instant scratch n' win game called Super Set For Life.

Joy bought her scratch n' win game at Shoppers Drug Mart in Leduc, Alberta. She then took at back to her car with her. That's when here daughter, who was tagging along, wanted a hot chocolate. So, while in line at the drive-thru to get the hot chocolate, she took out a coin to scratch the Super Set For Life ticket. It looked like a winner. Then she through it on the empty seat beside her because the hot chocolate was ready. After she was finished with her order, she pulled over to take another look at the ticket. It looked like a big winner and Joy didn't think that could be right. That's when she took the ticket into the store to have it verified there. Sure enough, she won $2 million! That's when she phoned her fiancee to come home.

Joy Bailey said that she isn't in a rush to spend the money. The only immediate plan is to pay off the mortgage. Aside from that, she also plans to see a financial planner because she really does wanted to be set for life.

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Chad Gustafson Never Buys Lottery Tickets - But He Won $1 Million

How can a man that never buys lottery tickets win $1 million in the lottery? I don't know, but ask Chad Gustafson. He says that he never plays the lottery... except... once a year. Ok, I get it now - It's not that he never buys tickets, he just rarely buys tickets.

Chad Gustafson thinks that the lottery odds are astronomical, so he doesn't play. He only buys one ticket a year and that's for the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle because the odds are relatively good. The odds of winning the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle, which draws on the 1st of January every year, are a respectable 1-in-250,000.

On January 1, 2010, Chad Gustafson won $1 million!

When he found out that he won, Chad said that he was in shock. He couldn't believe it. He was trembling. He wanted someone else to confirm the numbers, just to make sure that what he was seeing was real. So he phoned his father - No answer. He called his brother - No answer. He called his other brother - No answer. Damn, just when you need your family, they're not around. His fourth attempt at a phone call worked, though. He called a friend; the friend verified the numbers and Chad Gustafson was finally able to believe that it was real!

Chad Gustafson said that he plans to use the money to do all of the "normal things" that lottery winners do - Buy a car, buy a house, and share with his family (The same family that didn't answer his phone calls, I might add!).

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Megamillion Winner Doris Ramey

Doris Ramey is a Megamillion winner. She won the second prize of $250,000 from the December 4, 2009 draw by matching the first five numbers. She missed the jackpot by just one number.

Doris Ramey is a regular lottery player that buys a couple of tickets every week. She says that she took a chance on a Megamillion quick pick ticket and it turned out well for her.

At the time of her win, Doris Ramey was living in South Amboy, New Jersey, which is just outside of New York City and was a mother of one. She bought the winning ticket at Skyline Food in Brooklyn.

The Megamillion winner said that she would be using the prize money to pay off bills. Congratulations to Doris Ramey on her lucky win!

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Lottery Winner Stuart Donnelly - Dead After Too Much Sleeping, Watching TV, Surfing The Net

When Stuart Stuart Donnelly won £2 million ($3,198,784 USD) in the National Lottery in 1995, he toasted his win with Coca-Cola. That's because he was too young to drink champagne. He was just 17-years-old, making him one of the youngest lottery winners in the world.

Stuart Donnelly's story perhaps strengthens the argument that there should be a minimum age to play the lottery. Can a 17-year-old kid deal with a big lottery win and sudden wealth, accompanied by big media attention? If Stuart represents the average 17-year-old, then probably not. In 2010, 15 years after winning the lottery, Stuart was found dead at his home.

Shortly after winning the lottery in 1995, Stuart Donnelly became anti-social. It wasn't immediate, but it did happen. As soon as he won the lottery, he took his friends on a vacation to Thailand. But shortly after that, he moved away from his hometown and away from his friends. He described the attention that he got: "It was very hard to deal with all the attention I got. I even had people camping outside my house. It put a huge strain on me and my family." He became secluded in his house. He recently described his interests on an internet social networking site as: "Sleeping, watching TV, listening to music, surfing the net. Basically, anything that involves not leaving the house."

Stuart Donnelly was not living a healthy lifestyle. Now, it appears as though that lifestyle has caught up with him. On Wednesday, January 6, 2010, police found him dead at his remote cottage in Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.

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Kentucky Powerball Winners Rob & Tuesday Anderson: $128.6 Million

Rob Anderson made a BIG mistake on Christmas Eve of 2009 - BIG! He was out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping and stopped at the store to buy some stocking stuffers. He needed three small items, so he decided to buy three Kentucky Powerball tickets. That should have been three separate tickets. The mistake was that the clerk printed all three sets of numbers on one ticket, whereas it should have been one set of numbers to be printed three times. The clerk could have canceled the ticket since it was a mistake, but Rob decided to keep it for himself. That turned out to be the BIGGEST decision of his life. That ticket turned out to be the winner of $128.6 million!

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010, Kentucky Lottery finally announced the winners of the $128.6 million prizefrom the December 26, 2009 draw: Rob and Tuesday Anderson. That was actually the biggest lottery prize ever won in Kentucky.

What do Rob & Tuesday Anderson plan to do with their new-found wealth? For starters, Rob plans to go back to school to study finance and Tuesday is dreaming about a vacation to Hawaii and a new car.

New car... trip to Hawaii... Nothing wrong with that. However, the couple did say that they don't know yet if they would quit their jobs. They work at a factory that builds seats for Toyotas. Are you friggin kidding me??? You just won what just about every citizen in the United States wanted to win. And you're telling me you have to make a decision about your jobs??? Building car seats??? There's something terribly wrong here; people play the lottery because they dream about quitting their jobs and living the good life. I really hope Rob & Tuesday Anderson make the right decision because it should be time to party!

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$6.7 Million Lotto 649 Winner: Karl Hoolsema From Aldergrove, BC

Some people buy lottery tickets for every draw, hoard them, and then check them once a month. I could never ever do that. I check all my tickets the morning after each draw. It would kill me to have won the lottery and not even know it. That would mean that I'd still be going to work every day when I really wouldn't have to. I couldn't imagine doing even an hour of work after winning the lottery. So I check my tickets right away.

Karl Hoolsema, from Aldergrove, BC, Canada is one of those guys that hoards his tickets and checks them once a month. Recently, in his stack of tickets, he had a winner - A $6.7 million Lotto 649 win from the December 19, 2009 draw. And, he didn't even know that he won it until after the new year.

Aside from doing what I would never do (Hoard lotto tickets), Karl Hoolsema seems like a really awesome guy. Just look at his emotion in the picture. Does he seem excited to have won the lottery? Hell ya! That's what lottery winners need to be like - Show some emotion! After all, winning the lottery should be one of the best days of their lives.

"I joked with my wife when I got home from checking my ticket asking her if she wanted to quit her job," exclaimed Karl. She laughed and asked me if I'd won the lottery. I told her we had." Sounds like the guy has a good sense of humor too.

At the time of his Lotto 649 win, Karl Hoolsema lived in Aldergrove, BC (Aldergrove is a suburb of Vancouver) and worked as a truck driver for Langley School District. He and his wife will both be quitting their jobs and retiring.

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Winner Of Ohio Lottery's Cleveland Browns Instant Game: Patricia Reynolds

Patricia Reynolds is a Cleveland Browns fan and she has a reason to cheer. She's not cheering because the Browns NFL team did well this year - They missed the playoffs and had an abysmal record of 5-11 in the 2009-2010 season. Rather, Patricia Reynolds is cheering because she won big money on Ohio Lottery's Cleveland Browns instant scratch game - $100,000!

The Cleveland Browns instant scratch game from Ohio Lottery costs $5 to play and offers a top prize of $100,000, which is what Patricia won. There are also other cash prizes available to be won, ranging from $5 to $10,000. There's also some cool team related prizes available to be won like Cleveland Browns season tickets, luxury suites, and road trips. That's perfect if you're a fan of the NFL team!

Patricia Reynolds won the $100,000 prize in September of 2009. At the time of her win, she lived in Warren, Ohio. Warren is about 50 miles east of Cleveland.

Speaking of her big win, Patricia Reynolds said, "I am a die hard Browns fan and I never would have gotten this ticket and money if I wasn’t so passionate about my team. Thanks to the Ohio Lottery, and go Browns!" See, it pays to be a big fan, even if the team is losing.

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Washington Redskins Mania Instant Scratch Lottery Winner Cody Clement

Cody Clement must be a huge Washington Redskins fan. Not because the NFL team played well this year (They had an abysmal record of 4-12 and missed the playoffs). Rather, he must be a big fan because he won $1 million playing the Redskins Mania instant scratch game from Virginia Lottery.

The Redskins Mania instant scratch lottery game is pretty cool. The top prize is $1 million, which is what Cody won. The odds of winning that top prize are 1-in-305,600. Besides the top prize and other cash prizes ranging from $20 to $20,000, there is another really cool prize - Washington Redskins season tickets for the next 20 years! The good part about this prize is that the Redskins can only get better; they can't get much worse than they were in the 2009-2010 season. And, the winner could be there to witness the team's turnaround!

Cody Clement actually won the $1 million prize on new year's eve. He first bought an instant scratch game and won $50. He used that $50 that he won to buy the Redskins Mania game, which costs $20. That's when he won the million dollars.

What did Cody Clement do when he found out how much money he won? In his own words, "I was running. I was screaming. I went home and woke everyone up. We’ve been jumping all weekend." Jumping sounds like fun!

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Anthony Broccoli - Last Year's Million Dollar Lottery Raffle Winner

RI Lottery does a million dollar raffle every new year's eve. This year's winner was Cherie Faria, who was very quick to claim her prize. Last year's winner was Anthony Broccoli. Now that it's been a full year since he won a boat load of money, Anthony's had some time to reflect. He says that, when you win the lottery, you find out who your real friends are.

Anthony Broccoli was ecstatic to find out the he was the winner of Rhode Island's Million Dollar Raffle prize on New Year's Eve of last year. Actually, a few months before winning the million dollar prize, he won $21,000 playing Keno. He used the money to build a pool in his backyard. But when he won $1 million, it was a little different. He wanted to live life as he did before the win. He wanted to live life as if he never won the lottery. However, that is difficult to do because when you are the winner of a major lottery prize, your name gets publicized and everybody knows who you are.

People wanted a piece of Anthony Broccoli's money. Some people just flat out asked for it. Others tried to overcharge him for goods and services. For example, one guy tried to charge him $600 for the spring cleaning of his yard - That's just crazy. Now, whenever he shops, Anthony just tries to keep his name quiet. He doesn't want people to know who he is. Anthony did give money to some people, though. He gave money to some people that needed help, though - The kicker was that none of the people that he gave money to actually asked for it.

Since winning the Million Dollar Raffle from Rhode Island Lottery, Anthony Broccoli and his wife haven't changed much. They both still work at their same jobs and they have not bought anything flashy.

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RI Million Dollar Raffle Grand Prize Winner Cherie Faria

RI Lottery has a special Million Dollar Raffle prize that takes place on new year's eve and they just announced the grand prize winner of $1 million - Cherie Faria, of Cranston, Rhode Island, which is just outside of Providence (She is pictured here with her husband and sons).

The cool part of raffle lotteries is that there is a guaranteed winner. Whereas a normal lottery draw, like Powerball or Mega Millions, can go multiple draws without a jackpot win, raffles are guaranteed to be won. Also, they usually print just a limited amount of tickets. The RI Million Dollar Raffle was no different - For the purchase price of $20 per ticket, people could rest assured that only 120,000 tickets would be sold and someone was guaranteed to win the million dollar prize. That means that the odds of winning were 1-in-120,000. That's pretty decent odds compared to other lottery games.

So Cherie Faria won the $1 million and she is ecstatic about it. She checked her numbers just after she and her husband went out to dinner. When they found it that they won, they both spent about a half hour crying and laughing in the parking lot. I guess winning the lottery makes you emotional!

At the time of her win, Cherie Faria was working part-time at a daycare. She called them, even before claiming the money, to tell them that she would be quitting. Her husband, meanwhile, will continue to work at his job with a plumbing company.

What does Cherie Faria plan to do with her winnings from the RI Million Dollar Raffle? For starters, her youngest son, who is in high school, will get the opportunity to go to absolutely any college that he wants!

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Priscilla Hollis Wins Lottery Thanks To Bananas

Priscilla Hollis, of Arlington, Wisconisn, can thank the bananas for helping her win the Megabucks lottery. Back on April 25, 2009, Priscilla needed to buy bananas. So she stopped into the Kwik Trip store to buy some. While there, she also decided to pick up some lottery tickets. She ended up with a big winner. She won a $5.6 million Megabucks jackpot and all thanks to the bananas!

She found out that she was the big winner when she was reading the newspaper on a Sunday morning. She was checking her lottery tickets when she said to her husband, Jim (Pictured with Priscilla above), that she just won $5 for matching three numbers. That was a nice surprise. But then came an even bigger surprise. She kept looking at the numbers and realized that she won matched more than three. There were 4... no, 5... actually, she matched all 6! She won the jackpot! $5.6 million!

Priscilla Hollis beat the odds in the Megabucks lottery game. Do you know what the odds of winning the Megabucks jackpot are? 1-in-6,991,908!

While delighted to have won the lottery, Priscilla Hollis says that she cannot even fathom how to deal with receiving such a large sum of money. She says that she and her husband are just common people that never expected to be so rich.

At the time of her win, Priscilla Hollis said that she didn't know how she would be spending the money. She said that she would need some time to think about it. However, she did say that she planned to share some of it.

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Heidi Alves - 26-Year-Old Wins $5000 A Month for Life From CT Lottery

Winning the lottery is amazing. Winning the lottery while you are still young is even more amazing. Heidi Alves is young. She's just 26-years-old. And she won the lottery. $5000 every month for the rest of her life. And she'll be able to enjoy that for many many years to come! Fantastic!

Heidi Alves won the top prize of $5000 a week for life in CT Lottery's instant scratch lotto game called Win For Life 16th Edition. The ticket costs $3 to play and the odds of winning the top prize are approximately 1-in-1.9-million. The game offers other prizes too, ranging from $3 to $500. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-4.19.

At the time of her win, Heidi Alves was 26-years-old and living in Torrington, Connecticut, which is about 30 miles west of Hartford, and was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). She actually wanted to go back to school to become a Registered Nurse (RN). She didn't know if she would ever be able to, but with the big lottery win, she definitely will.

Speaking of her lottery win, Heidi Alves said, "It’s a dream come true, you never expect something like this to happen." She exclaimed that she couldn't believe it happened to her. Other than going back to school, Heidi said that she will share the money with her family and stay healthy so that she could live to be 1000 years old. Let me do the math: 1000 - 26 = 974. That's 974 more years to live. $5000 a month equals $60,000 a year. $60,000 a year times 974 years equals $58,440,000 to be paid to her by CT Lottery! Nice!

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Bethel Pippin - 2010 Cash Celebration Scratch Lottery Winner

Just in time for 2010, Bethel Pippin will receive $2,010 every week for one year from Georgia Lottery. When all is said and done, Bethel will have received $104,520. It's gonna be a fantastic new year for him!

Bethel Pippin won the top prize in Georgia Lottery's 2010 Cash Celebration Game. The game costs $3 to play and the odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-4.03.

Bethel Pippin won the lottery prize while he was on the road, driving to Florida. He stopped at a Shell gas station to get gas and that's when he decided to shell out another $3 for the 2010 Cash Celebration instant scratch lottery ticket. Thanks to that stop he gets a few extra thousand dollars every week for 52 weeks!

At the time of his win, Bethel Pippin was 75-years-old and had seven grandchildren. He said that he had no plans for the money for himself. However, he said that he would be sharing it with his garndkids.

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Kansas Lottery's Holiday Millionaire Raffle Grand Prize Winner Victoria Mason

Victoria Mason stocks beer at the Bourbon Street Bar & Grill. She also promised her boss that she would continue working, even if she won the lottery. Guess what boss? Victoria actually did win the lottery. And, she was back to work at Bourbon Street Bar & Grill the very next day after collecting her lottery prize!

Victoria Mason won $1 million in Kansas Lottery's Holiday Millionaire Raffle. Kansas Lottery announced her as the winner just moments before they closed their office on December 31st, 2009.

The Holiday Millionaire Raffle from Kansas Lottery was a special raffle draw. Tickets costed $20 and there were only 150,000 tickets printed. The top prize in the raffle was $1 million, which Victoria won. There were also five prizes of $50,000 and 500 prizes of $500. The odds of winning any prize in the raffle game were 1-in-296.44.

Victoria Mason was lucky, in that she barely ever buys lottery tickets. She only bought a Holiday Millionaire Raffle ticket because she overheard some people talking about it. She had an extra $20 on her, so she bought one.

Victoria said that 2009 was a very difficult year for her, financially. She said that she expected 2010 to be much better, now that she's won a million dollars. In fact, she didn't do anything on New Year's Eve of 2009 and now that she's rich, she expected New Year's Eve of 2010 to be much better! What an awesome start to the new year for Victoria Mason!

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New Albany Lottery Winners Phyllis Stonecipher And Delores Wheeler

Phyllis Stonecipher is a 75-year-old widow from New Albany, Indiana. Delores Wheeler is her grand-daughter and is a married 35-year-old mother of four. Delores lived in Phyllis' home while she waited for her new house to be built. The two always play the Hoosier Lotto every Wednesday and Saturday. They had an agreement that if either of them won the jackpot that they would split the winnings down the middle. Their dreams came true in December of 2009. Phyllis Stonecipher purchased some quick picks and won the jackpot - $5 million! True to her word, Phyllis split the jackpot with her grand-daughter, Delores.

The win was perfect timing for Delores Wheeler. The day that she won the lottery, she was in the bank finishing up some of the paperwork for the mortgage for her new house. That night, after the draw, the loan for the house was not even necessary anymore. Just imagine!

Delores Wheeler works in the lingerie department at Walmart. She says that she will continue working there because, she says, the money will eventually be gone and she won't have a job if she quits working. However, she did say that she plans to take some time off.

Phyllis Stonecipher said she will give some of her share of the money to each of her six children, and put the rest away for when she wants to go somewhere.

Congratulations to Phyllis Stonecipher and Delores Wheeler from New Albany, Indiana on their lucky win. It looks like 2010 will be a great year for them!

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New Zealand Lottery Winning Wheel Winner Dennis Curel

Now that we've just gone through the Christmas season, here's a question for you - Do you give lottery tickets as Christmas presents? Here's another question - Do people give you lottery tickets as Christmas presents? How would you feel if you gave someone a lottery ticket that turned out to be a jackpot winner? You spend your whole life trying to win the lottery; then you finally buy a winning ticket, but you give it away. Sure, you'd probably be happy for the recipient, but the happiness might be bittersweet. I know that if someone gave me a lottery ticket that turned out to be a big winner, I'd give that person half, but everybody's different.

I'm talking about this because Dennis Curel, of Warkworth, New Zealand, bought his sister, Laurel, a lotto ticket as a gift. Her ticket was chosen to be on New Zealand Lottery's Winning Wheel game show (Read Ethel Hume's story for an explanation of the Winning Wheel). Laurel was unable to make it onto the game show, so Dennis appeared for her and won $300,000 ($217,800 USD) on her behalf.

There was no word on whether or not Dennis Curel's sister, Laurel, would be giving some of the money to Dennis, but I sure do hope she does - Half of the winnings would be nice!

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