Newlywed Brian Cahill Has Never Met A Lottery Winner - Until Now

Chances are that you've never won the lottery. However, there's a good chance that you know somebody that has won. After all, lottery winners are all around us. Just look at all of these people that have won a big jackpot - They're all just regular, average people that have struck it rich with a jackpot win.

Newlywed Brian Cahill (Pictured here with his wife, Emily) was one of those people that had never met a lottery winner before - That is, until he became one himself. Brian won $100,000 a year for life with a scratch game from Connecticut Lottery called Set For Life 2nd Edition. Now, he is a lottery winner, himself.

The Set For Life scratch game that Brian Cahill won on is a game that costs $10 to play. In fact, Brian had never spent $10 on lottery tickets in his life prior to purchasing this particular instant scratch game. The newlywed's intentions were to win enough money to pay the costs of the wedding he just had. Now he's got more than enough money to pay for it. Call it beginner's luck!

At the time of his win in July of 2011, Brian Cahill was a 27-year-old newlywed. His new wife, Emily (Pictured here beside Brian), was his high-school sweetheart. Brian works as an electrical engineer in Connecticut. The winning ticket was purchased at 7-11.

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Washington State Lotto Winner Jack Poltz Jr Says Best Monday Of My Life!

Most people dread Mondays. After all, Mondays are the beginning of the work week and mark the longest time between then and the weekend. But you won't dread Mondays if you win the lottery. If you win the lottery, you could quit your crappy job and every day would be a weekend.

Jack Poltz Jr knows the feeling. On Monday, July the 18th 2011, he found out that he won the lottery and exclaimed, "This is the best Monday of my life!" Winning the lottery is a great feeling!

Jack Poltz Jr won $6.4 million from the Washington State Lotto. Washington's Lotto game is a 6/49 game, where you have to match 6-out-of-49 numbers. For $1, you get two lines, making the odds of winning the jackpot approximately 1-in-7-million.

Jack plays a lot of lottery games, usually buying tickets every day, Monday to Friday. He stores all of his tickets underneath his car visor. Then, once a week, he takes all of his tickets to the store to check them. That's what he did on Monday, July 18 - He grabbed his stack of tickets and checked them. That's when he found out that he won the $6.4 million. He says he'll always remember that day - Monday July 18 2011 at 10 am - The day he won the Washington State Lotto.

How do you think you'll feel when you win the lottery? Will it be the best day of your life? Will you remember that day forever?

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Ted Buczek - $1.5 MillionTri-State Megabucks Plus Jackpot Winner

The Tr-State Megabucks Plus game is played in three states - New Hamshire, Maine, and Vermont. It offers jackpots that start at $1 million and it grows if it is not won. The odds of winning the jackpot in the game are approximately 1-in-4.5-million.

In July of 2011, Ted Buczek (Picturedhere), a man from Barrington, New Hampshire won a $1.5 million Tri-State Megabucks Plus jackpot.

Jokingly, Ted Buczek said that he feels patriotic and will use the money that he won to help pay down the U.S. national debt. As if $1.5 million will even make a difference!

Ted Buczek was due to win the lottery. See, he's been playing the exact same numbers since 1985, a combination of his and his wife's birthdays. That's quite some persistence!

Ted found out that he won the Tri-State Megabucks Plus jackpot when somebody told him that there was a big winner that bought the winning ticket at George Calef Fine Foods. Ted knew that he bought his tickets there, as he always does. So he went home and checked his tickets. He won!

Ted Buczek said that he planned to use the winnings to fix up his home.

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John Gillen's Blueprint For Checking Lottery Numbers - Think Small

John Gillen has a blueprint that he always follows when checking his lottery numbers, specifically when he checks his Mega Millions ticket. In Mega Millions, if you match the last number, which is the Mega Ball number, you win $2. So John always checks the Mega Ball first to see if he, at least, won a small prize. He describes this as "thinking small."

As usual, John Gillen used his lottery number checking blueprint in the April 15, 2011 Mega Millions draw. Low and behold, his Mega Ball number of 29 matched. John won at least $2. That made him happy. Then he checked the rest of the numbers - 22 – 23 – 33 – 39 – 48. They all matched. Now John was ecstatic. He won the Mega Millions jackpot. $72 million!

"I always check the Mega Ball number first hoping to at least win a few dollars," John said. "That morning I just kept matching number after number and couldn't believe it. I had my family double check for me because I didn't believe what I was seeing."

At the time of his win, John Gillen was 69-years-old, living in Staten Island, and a retired bus driver.

John Gillen split his Mega Millions jackpot of $72 million between himself and his three kids, Suzanne Savino, Patricia Fitzgerald, and John Jr (All pictured above with their dad, although you can barely see John Jr in the background). John said that he always worried that he would leave his kids with bills when he passes away. Now he no longer needs to worry.

As to what John Gillen plans to do with his share of the money, he said that he'll be taking some time to think about it, although he does plan on donating some of it to his favorite charities.

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Charles Durgin - Mass Cash Lottery Winner

If you live in Massachusetts, you should check out the Mass Cash lottery game. It offers a top prize of $100,000. Sure, the prize doesn't even compare to the types of prizes you could win in games like Powerball and Mega Millions, but the odds of winning Mass Cash are quite decent.

In Mass Cash, to win the top prize, you must match 5-out-of-35 numbers. The odds of matching all five numbers are approximately 1-in-325,000. Compare that to Powerball, where the odds of winning are approximately 1-in-195-million, and you could see how much easier it is to win.

The Mass Cash Lottery gets a lot of monthly winners. Charles Durgin, pictured here, won the $100,000 top prize in May of 2011. In the same month that he won, there were 11 other winners: Martin Martinos, Elaine Shruhan, Thomas Allen, Anthony Bevilacqua, Sandra Darlington, Daniel Lourenco, Innocent Adjei, Karen Niddrie, Porfirio Peguero, and Tony Huynh. That's a lot of winners for a lottery game!

The Mass Cash lotto game offers other prizes as well. If you match 4-out-of-5 numbers, you win $250. If you match 3-out-of-5-numbers, you win $10.

At the time of his $100,000 win in May of 2011, Charles Durgin was living in Saugus, Massachusetts, which is just outside of Boston. For the winning ticket, he chose numbers representing his date of birth, along with his daughter's and granddaughter's birthdays. He said that he will be buying his daughter a new car as a reward for being a good-luck charm.

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Clifford Davis - Good Fortune Leads To Lottery Win For Port Coquitlam Man

Clifford Davis is a man from Port Coquitlam, BC (Port Coquitlam is just outside Vancouver). Last month, he had some good fortune. He had some good fortune in that his daughter messed up Father's Day.

Clifford Davis' daughter didn't forget Father's Day, she just messed up the actual date. She thought that Father's Day was a week earlier than it actually was. So she bought her father some lottery tickets and gave it to him one week early. And, Clifford won!

Clifford won the top prize on a scratch game called Set For Life. The top prize in the game offers a choice of $1000 a week for life or a $675,000 lump-sum payment. Clifford chose the lump-sum payment of $675,000.

Now, if Clifford's daughter didn't mess up the date of Father's Day, that ticket wouldn't have been bought by her and the prize would have went to someone else. See, that's good fortune!

At the time of his win, Clifford Davis was 56-years-old, a construction worker and longshoreman from Port Coquitlam, BC.

Clifford plans to use the money to pay for his wedding to his partner, Janey, buy a new house, and spend more time doing what he loves.

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Loyd Fish - Last Year's Thanksgiving Raffle Winner From Oregon Lottery

Do you remember the first brand-new car you ever bought? That's one of those things that everybody remembers. I remember mine - It was a 2003 Audi A4. I still remember the first time I ever sat in it. It was a rainy October day. I remember the feeling. I remember the new car smell. It was awesome!

Unbelievable, some people go through life never buying a brand new car. They never get to know that feeling. Loyd Fish is a man from Rainer, Oregon. He waited 74 years before finally getting his new car. And, that was because he won the lottery. He won $1 million in last year's Thanksgiving Raffle (2010) from Oregon Lottery.

So, with his win from Oregon Lottery's Thanksgiving Raffle, Loyd Fish bought a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. "I love it — if I ever get it figured out!" Loyd said. "It's got so many gadgets, so many buttons."

I've got nothing against the Hyundai Sonata, but I think he could have doe better than that... Maybe an Audi, or a Porsche, or even a Volkswagen. I guess everybody's got different tastes?

A brand new car is one of the first big purchases for most lottery winners. Ever thought about what car you would buy when you win the lottery? If not, try it. Imagine all the other things you would do, too, when you win. It's good to day dream!

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Liakat Ali - MashreqMillionaire Winner In United Arab Emirates UAE

This is something unique that I've never heard of. I don't think they do this anywhere in North America. There's a bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) called Mashreq. If you invest in savings certificates with Mashreq, you are automatically entered into a chance to win AED 5 Million (Approximately $1,361,248 USD). They do the draw four times per year.

The draw is called Mashreq Millionaire. One does not earn any interest on one's savings. instead of giving interest, Mashreq Bank conducts draws to give away prizes.

In June of 2011, a man named Liakat Ali won the AED 5 million draw to become the latest MashreqMillionaire. That's him in the photo (In the middle) posing with the ceremonial check.

At the time of his win, Liakat Ali was running a business in UAE. Business wasn't going very well and he was considering closing it and moving back home to Bangladesh. However, with the win, he could afford to keep his business running. "I am still shocked and presumed somebody was playing a prank on me," Liakat said about his big win. "It is still a dream to me and I can't explain how I feel. My prayers have been answered and now I can still run my business and offer my family a better life."

Liakat Ali has actually bought savings certificates from Mashreq since 1995. He said that he always knew that he would win some day, and now he has. Dreams do come true!

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Edna Palmer Wins Georgia Lottery Black Game

Edna Palmer, pictured here with her husband Welden, says she plays the lottery once a week. But her husband disagrees; he says she plays every day.

Who to believe? I believe Welden when he says that Edna Plays every day. See, Edna just one $1 million playing an instant scratch lottery game called Georgia Lottery Black. On July 22, 2011, she received received her ceremonial check at a press conference Mapco convenience store. That's the store where she bought the winning ticket. While waiting for the press conference to begin, Edna walked over to the cashier to purchase another scratch ticket. It seems to me that she loves scratching. I think, therefore, I'll believe Edna's husband when he says that she plays every day!

Edna Palmer won $1 million playing a scratch game called Georgia Lottery Black. She said that she chose this game because she liked the way it looks (Trust me, it's a nice and appealing design, with various shades of black coloring). Georgia Lottery Black costs $10 to play and offers prizes ranging from a free ticket to $1 million. The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-3.27, while the overall odds of winning the million dollar top prize are approximately 1-in-2.4-million.

Edna describes the feeling of winning the lottery, simply, as a TOTAL SHOCK

Edna and Welden Palmer say that they have no special plans for the money, other than paying off a few bills.

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Kara Flaherty - $250,000 Boston Bruins Scratch Game Lottery Winner

Massachusetts Lottery has a cool instant scratch game themed after the Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins instant scratch lottery game costs $5 to play and has tons of different prize structures. The prize structures range from a low of $5 to a high of $250,000. The odds of winning any prize in the game are approximately 1-in-4.85 per play, while the odds of winning the $250,000 top prize are approximately 1-in-1.6-million per play.

In July of 2011, Kara Flaherty, pictured here, beat the odds of 1-in-1.6-million to win the top prize of $250,000 in the Boston Bruins instant scratch game.

The game had a total of five top prizes of $250,000 and Kara claimed the last one. Hopefully Massachusetts Lottery will bring out a new edition of the game for next year.

Kara Flaherty said that she planned to use her winnings to help out her family, save for a home, and also to have some fun.

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$41.3 Million Winners Loretta And Carmen Demizio - Thanks Number 44

Loretta and Carmen Demizio are huge baseball fans. They always watch the ball games on TV. They're such big fans, in fact, that they use Reggie Jackson's number 44, the number that he wore with the New York Yankees, when playing their lottery numbers. They use Reggie Jackson's number, along with other numbers representing birthdays. They've been playing those numbers for twenty years. Now, thanks in part to Reggie Jackson's number 44, Loretta and Carmen Demizio won a huge $41.3 million Lotto 649 jackpot... Actually, $41,332,986, to be exact!

Thanks number 44!

Now, Loretta and Carmen Demizio, can quit watching baseball games on TV and start going to live ball games. Now that they could afford it, they plan on trips to cities like San Francisco and Boston to watch teams like the Giants and Red Sox play.

At the time of their win, Loretta and Carmen Demizio were both retired school teachers from Niagara Falls, Canada. Both Carmen and Loretta were 61-years old.

Aside from the trips to ball parks, the couple plan to use their money to help out family. They plan to share with their three three kids, fifteen nieces and nephews, and seven siblings. In fact, Loretta and Carmen broke the good news by calling their three children to dinner for a family meeting. Their kids were fearing the worst, expecting to hear news of a possible illness. Instead, they got the shock of their lives when they heard the news that their parents were brand new millionaires!

Carmen also plans to use the lottery winnings to restore his MGB sports car. "It's been in our garage unable to work for 24 years because we didn't have the money to put into it the way he wants to have it," Loretta said. "He couldn't fix it himself so it's been sitting there and it's going to be fixed now."

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Is Playing The Lottery A Waste Of Money? Not For Hector Quinones

Is playing the lottery a waste of money? Some people say that the odds of winning are too high, so it is a waste of money. Sure, the odds may be high, but normal people, people just like you and me, win every day. Have you seen this photo collage of lotto winners? If not, have a look at it. These are real people that won a big jackpot. They're just average people. And they won big!

Playing the lottery wasn't a waste of money for Hector Quinones (Pictured here). Hector Quinones was just about to retire, planning on an October 2011 retirement date, when he bought a Win For Life instant scratch ticket from Connecticut Lottery. Hector won the jackpot of $5000 a month for the rest of his life. Now he'll retire in style. That wasn't a waste of money, was it?

Hector Quinones actually scratched his winning ticket while he was at work. He didn't want to tell anybody until he got out of work. So he tucked it into his backpack, the safest place he could think of, and kept the win a secret for the rest of the day.

After work, Hector told his family. His kids didn't even believe him, so he had to text them a copy of the winning ticket!

Win For Life is a $3 instant scratch ticket offered by CT Lottery in Connecticut. $5000 a month for life is the top prize in the game, which is what Hector Quinones won. The odds of winning the top prize in the game are approximately 1-in-1.88-million. At just $3 a game, Win For Life is a good buy - Definitely not a waste of money!

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Record Breaking EuroMillions Jackpot Won By Colin Weir

Colin Weir, and his wife Chris, are about to embark on an amazing adventure and live the good life. That's because they just won a record breaking EuroMillions jackpot - A staggering £161,653,000 ($260,810,947 USD). Seriously, WTF?!?!? That's insane!

"All our lives we have lived within our means and been comfortable," Colin said. "We appreciate that this money brings about a whole new life for us and our family." That's probably the biggest understatement ever. Colin and Chris are going to be able to live like royalty. In fact, the win will put them in the number 430 spot of the richest people in the UK. And, that just happened overnight. Colin and Chris Weir are now richer than Ringo Starr, richer than Tim Burton, richer than Tom Jones, richer than Eric Clapton, and a lot richer than YOU!

When asked how the record breaking Euromillions win felt, Colin replied, "When we first realized we had won, it felt like a dream. But it feels like a good thing; something we should not be afraid of but for us to enjoy with the children." And, enjoy they will - They plan on buying a new house for their 24-year-old daughter and one for their 22-year-old son. For themselves, they plan to do a lot of traveling, including a visit to the Great Wall Of China, a visit to Russia, and a visit to France. Colin also wants to watch an FC Barcelona match from a private box.

Colin and Chris Weir didn't want to go public with their lucky fortune, but they know that they can't keep something like this a secret. Plus, they always publicize big wins in the UK, so they didn't really have a choice.

At the time of their win in July of 2011, Colin was 64-years-old and Chris was 55-years-old. The couple had been married for 30 years and lived in Largs, Scotland.

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Match & Win Scratch Off Lotto Winner James Dilworth

James Dilworth (Pictured here on the left) won $1 million in June of 2011 playing the Match & Win scratch off lotto game from New York Lottery.

The day that James Dilworth won, he didn't tell his wife, Rose (Pictured here, third from the left). He just waited for her on their front porch. He waited for her to come home from work to tell her the good news. She finally came home at 11 pm. That's when James said, "Honey, our dreams came true!" Then he told her about his big lotto win (Don't you wish you could get news like that when you come home from work?)

James and Rose had rented a house in White Plains, New York for the past thirty years. They always dreamed of owning their own home, and now they will. With the big win, they plan on buying a new house.

How often do you play the lottery? Some people buy the occasional ticket, while others buy a lot. James Dilworth said that he plays every day. Some people that hardly ever play, win, while James won with persistence.

James Dilworth won his million dollars playing a game from New York Lottery called Match & Win. Match & Win is a $5 scratch off ticket that offers a top prize of $1 million, along with other smaller prizes.

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Elderly Lottery Winners Donate 98% Of Money To Charity

Why do you play the lottery? Probably because you want to be rich.

When you win, though, will you be donating any of your money to charity? A lot of people would, at least a little. But can you imagine donating 98% of your winnings to charity? That's just unimaginable. However, there is one elderly couple from Canada that won the lottery and actually did just that - They donated 98% of their winnings to charity.

Pictured here are Allen and Violet Large, an elderly couple from Nova Scotia, Canada. About a year ago, in July of 2010, they won $11,255,272 playing Lotto 649. Now, they were of the opinion that money doesn't buy happiness. So they didn't want it. They thought that it would make them happy to give the money away to worthy charities. So that's what they did. They gave to to hospitals, fire departments, cemeteries, churches, and more, until 98% of it was gone. And, each and every time they gave away money, it put smiles on their faces and made them happy.

See, this couple has bigger worries than being rich. Violet Large had cancer at the time of their lottery win and she knew that life was more precious than being rich. She didn't want the headaches that money brought with it and, so, that was a big reason for giving it away. You can't argue with that reasoning!

At the time of their win, Allen and Violet Large were living in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. Allen was 75-years-old and Violet was 78-years-old. They lived in a house that was 147-years-old. They had no cars. There weren't even any big TVs in the house. With the lotto win, they could have lived lavishly. But they didn't. And they won't. The money's gone and they say that they don't even need it.

Update (July 20, 2011): Unfortunately, Violet has passed away. May she rest in peace.

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Alastair Cameron Hits Thunderball Lottery Numbers

In March of 2011, long time lottery player Alastair Cameron, won £500,000 ($796,510 USD) when all of his numbers hit in the Thunderball lottery game.

Thunderball is a game offered by UK's National Lottery. The game is played three times a week and offers a top prize of £500,000. To play the game, you must choose 5 numbers, from 1-to-39, plus a Thunderball number. To win the top prize all of your five numbers, plus the Thunderball number, need to hit. The odds of winning the £500,000 jackpot are approximately 1-in-8-million.

Most people nowadays tend to check their lotto numbers online or at the self-check scanner at the retailer. But Alastair Cameron watches the live draw on TV. On this occasion, he and his wife, Isobel, were watching the live draw together. One-by-one, each of their numbers matched and that's when they found out that they were big winners. It was Isobel that was holding the ticket during the draw and, when the draw was complete, she began jumping around and screaming that they'd won. Alastair didn't believe it until he looked at the ticket and saw for himself that they had won.

Alastair and Isobel say that they had been playing the lottery since 1994. They have had numerous small wins, but this was their first big win.

At the time of their win, Alastair was 53-years-old and Isobel was 56-years-old. The couple lived in a town called Wick, which is in England, just outside of Bristol. Alastair has been a train driver with First ScotRail for 31 years, while Isobel was a self-employed driver for kids with special needs. Alastair plans to keep working, while Isobel plans to retire.

The couple plan to use their Thunderball winnings to treat their family, pay off their mortgage, buy a new Audi, and take a trip to Las Vegas.

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Math Wiz Wins The Lottery Despite Bad Odds

Pictured here is Kendall Warren. He's a smart guy. So smart, in fact, that he is an aerospace engineer. Being an aerospace engineer also makes him a math wiz. Actually, he's a math wiz that won the lottery!

Have you heard the old saying, "The lottery is a tax on the dumb"? Well, I guess it was just proven wrong, since Kendall Warren buys tickets.

Kendall Warren won $27 million in May of 2011 playing Mega Millions. Being the math wiz that he is, he knew that the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot, at approximately 1-in-176-million, are bad. Actually, not just bad, but really bad because it's virtually impossible to win. Still, knowing the odds, Kendall bought a ticket. You can't win if you don't play. And he won!

At the time of his win, Kendall Warren was 61-years-old, working as an aerospace engineer, a math wiz, and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He said that, even with the big win, he plans to continue working. His co-workers, though, are betting against him sticking around for very long.

Kendall found out about his big win while at work. He said that he was so stunned that he couldn't even call his wife, Sue, to tell her. So he got a co-worker to call her. The co-worker left her a message, saying that it's an emergency and that she should call her husband right away. Sue, thinking the worst, called immediately, only to find out that the emergency was that her husband beat some bad odds to win a lottery jackpot!

Kendall Warren plans to use the money to take care of family, make some investments, do some traveling, and just enjoy.

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Lottery Fail - Winner Gets Arrested For Dealing Drugs

This post is all about LOTTERY FAIL. It's about Daniel "Dano" Henry, who won $100,000 from the Arkansas Lottery in September of 2010. He's pictured here holding a big ceremonial check (He's the one on the right). But really, he didn't even need the $100,000. That's because he had a good income dealing drugs.

Dano lived a flashy lifestyle. He stood out like a sore thumb in his little Arkansas town that he lived in. The town had a population of just 2000 people, you know, the type where everybody knows every body else. And, people knew Dano - He had flashy cars. He had a Yellow H2 Hummer, a flashy corvette, a Chevy Tahoe, and more. That's way more than the average person could afford with a $100,000 lottery win. He had to have had some other income to be able to afford all of that flash. And he did.

Daniel Henry was the target of a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) investigation that started in 2006, way before he even won the lottery. He was finally arrested in June of 2011 and charged with being the head of an organization that dealt 5 to 10 pounds of crystal meth per week. That's worth a lot of money and it's how Dano was able to live the life that he did.

Dano was arrested, along with his wife, when a SWAT team raided his house. When they brought them out of the house, his neighbors had all already gathered around and were cheering and clapping. They all knew that Dano was a drug dealer and were glad to rid him from the community.

So, that's the definition of FAIL - Showing off with flashy cars bought with illicit drug money and such and sticking out like a sore thumb. Ya, like that won't get the attention of the DEA!

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Shirley Tomczak Gets High Blood Pressure From Big Lotto Win

There was a day in June of 2011 that Shirley Tomczak had really high blood pressure. But it was a good thing. She won $250,000 in the lotto. She said that when she found out that she won, her blood pressure started to increase. That's what happens when you win big money in the lottery!

Shirley Tomczak won $250,000 from a scratch n' win game called Crossword Supreme from Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC).

Shirley was actually on her way to work one morning, when she stopped at the gas station to buy some scratch n' win tickets. She took them to work and scratched them while on her coffee break.

"While I was scratching, I thought to myself, 'Gee, I think I already have seven to eight words,'" she said. 'I thought, 'It couldn't be, I've won $10,000!'" Winning that much money really is a great feeling! Then she went to a lottery retailer to check the ticket. "When I looked up and saw $250,000 I was so excited, my blood pressure went up and I started to bawl, "I thought it must be wrong!" It wasn't wrong.

Shirley went back to work after checking her ticket. When she got home that evening, her husband was cutting the grass as she pulled up to her house. She hadn't even told him yet. "Here my husband was cutting the grass and I'd won a quarter of a million dollars!"

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Johnnie Pacifico Wins $1 Million Jackpot On Father's Day

Father's Day 2011 was an awesome day for Johnnie Pacifico, a man from Circleville, New York.

On father's day, Johnnie got a card from his son with some scratch-off lottery tickets in it. He won $17 with those tickets. He cashed in his $17, kept $7 for himself, and bought another $10 worth of tickets. Then he won $25. He was on a roll! He kept $20 for himself and bought another $5 scratch-off ticket called Big Bills

Big Bills is a scratch-off game from New York Lottery that offers a top prize of $1 million. So guess what happened next... You guessed it, Johnnie Pacifico won $1 million. Didn't I tell you that Johnnie had an awesome Father's Day?

"I'm in the [Lukoil] store pretty regularly so at first, I thought the guys were playing a trick on me," Johnnie said about the moment he found out that he was a big winner. "I really thought it was a joke. I must have looked at it 30 times and I still wasn't sure."

Johnnie Pacifico atributes his big win to his mother-in-law. Ever since she died two years ago, he had been praying for her help. The money will really help his family as he has three kids that go to college at the University at Buffalo, Syracuse University, and Boston University.

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London Dream Lottery Grand Prize Winner Lisa MacKay

In Canada, they allow hospitals to hold lotteries as a means of raising money. Usually, the hospital lottery tickets cost about $100 each. That's quite expensive, but the lotteries are popular because the money goes straight into helping the hospitals buy such things as specialized equipment and helping them to fund research. The tickets also have better odds then the regular lottery does.

Lisa MacKay, pictured here with her family, husband Josh, and kids Caitlin, Natan, and Rachel is one recent grand prize winner of a hospital lottery in Canada. She won the grand prize in the London Dream Lottery. London is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 3 hours west of Toronto.

The London Dream Lottery offered the grand prize winner 5 different choices as to the prize that they wanted to choose:

1. A beach home in Grand Bend, plus a Chevrolet Equinox, plus $100,000 cash (Total value: $1,077,670)
2. A home in Sunningdale West, plus a Mercedes GLK350, plus $200,000 cash (Total value: $1,070,046)
3. A house in Talbot Village, plus a Toyota Camry, plus $500,000 cash (total value:$1,071,025)
4. A Porsche Boxster, a Porsche Panamera, a trip to St Lucia, a trip to New Zealand, two diamond rings, plus $500,000 cash (Total value: $1,048,086)
5. $1 million cash.

Lisa MacKay chose option number 5, $1 million!

Lisa's husband Josh was playing golf on the golf course when he thought that he heard Lisa's name on the radio, announced as the winner of London's Dream Lottery. It turned out that his hearing was accurate, his wife really did win!

Josh said that he had recently sold his boat to raise money to buy a bigger house and, now, with Lisa's big win, they could buy a house and another boat.

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The Secret And Positive Thinking - The Key To Nathan Rowley's Lottery Win

Have you read the book, The Secret? You know, the one that Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey endorsed and then went on to be a major best-seller. If not, to make a long story short, the book teaches people how to get whatever they want, simply by envisioning it and believing it; it teaches that anybody can create the life of their dreams and it all starts with thinking positively.

A man named Nathan Rowley read the book and he took it to heart. He envisioned himself winning the lottery. You see, he wasn't even a regular lottery player. He only played the lottery just a handfull of times in his life. But that didn't stop him from believing that he would win. So he bought a ticket and envisioned himself winning for an entire week. It was a week of positive thinking. Guess what happened next - He won!

Nathan Rowley attributes the key to his win to the secret. This is what he had to say: "This was only the fifth time I'd ever played the lottery. I made a point to have an amazing attitude all week. I visualized winning all week. When I saw the numbers match I wasn't that surprised."

Nathan won $200,000 playing Powerball. At the time of his win, he was 22-years-old and living in Tacoma, Washington. Nathan plans to use his winnings to buy two cars. The first one will be either an Audi or a Subaru and the second one will be a muscle car that he can fix up. He also plans to take his girlfriend out to a nice dinner.

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Pray To God For Lottery Win - Jimmy Freeman's Powerball Strategy

Jimmy Freeman had a unique Powerball strategy - Pray to God for a lottery win. OK, so maybe that's not a unique strategy - I'm sure there are thousands, if not millions, of people around the world that pray to God every day to win the lottery, with negative results. The only difference is that it worked for Jimmy Freeman!

Jimmy Freeman won $25,600,000 in the June 8, 2011 Powerball draw. Jimmy, a man that bought lottery tickets every day, mostly Quic Pics, said that he always prayed and dreamed that he would win. His dreams came true.

At the time of his win, Jimmy lived in Fall River, Massachusetts, which is about 20 miles south of Providence, Rhode Island. Powerball has only been offered for play in the state of Massachusetts for about a year and a half and this was the first time a resident of the state has won the jackpot in the game.

The morning after the draw, word spread around that the winning Powerball ticket was purchased in Fall River. So Jimmy's friend, Russ Gamson, called him that morning to tell him to check his tickets. That's when Jimmy checked his tickets and said to his friend, "Oh my God Russ, it's me – I won the jackpot."

What does Jimmy Freeman plan to do now that he's a millionaire? He says he wants to buy a brand new Hyundai Elantra with a remote starter. I find that quite disappointing - A Hyundai Elantra? He could do better than that!

So, are you gonna pray to God that you win the lottery tonight?

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Brian Fells Can't Save House From Foreclosure After Winning Lottery

Brian Wells, a man from Richmond, Virginia, was living well a few years ago. He had a good job as a supervisor for Direct TV. So he bought a house. He added his own personal touch to the home, including painting it. Home sweet home.

But then he lost his job. Suddenly, like many other cash-strapped Americans, he couldn't pay for the mortgage. The house went into foreclosure. Life wasn't looking so good.

But, of course, better times are always ahead, as it was for Brian. He ended up winning $1 million on a scratcher game from Virginia Lottery called $70 Million Payout Spectacular. Suddenly, all of his problems were solved... Or were they?

When he got his winnings, he thought that he'd just be able to pay for the house. That seems logical. But when he tried to talk to the people involved to make the payment - Realtors, court officials, lawyers - He got the runaround. Nobody was listening to him. That went on for about nine months. Then on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2011, he got a knock on the door. It was the Sheriff's Department serving him an eviction notice. He had to be out of his house within nine days.

So Brian's house was in foreclosure, he won the lottery, tried to pay for it, but couldn't. That's just ridiculous. The system is broken when a man like Brian Fells gets evicted from his house.

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

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