Who here has won a substantial amount of $$$ playing the lottery?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who here has won a substantial amount of $$$ playing the lottery? (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:06:37 PM EDT

Let me be clear, a substantial amount is anything over $1 million dollars (to me).

What did you do with the money and how has it changed your life? Do you still have any $$ left? How long did you manage to keep the winning?

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:07:52 PM EDT

[#1]

Not yet, but I keep trying.

However I do know a guy who won $1 million being paid over 20 years. He kept working and looks at the extra $50 thousand per year largely as his "nice things money". So far it's built a large garage/workshop fully outfitted with the things most guys would love to have; a lift, a welding stall, hot & cold running water, compressed air and a work pit that lets him pull an 18-wheeler inside to work on it. His family has all the toys a PA redneck could want and the kids have college funds that will allow them to avoid student debt.

Another similar situation would be the folks around here who were scraping by and then received riches from the natural gas boom. We have a family friend who was paid over $2 million for drilling rights on his 120 acre property. Another friend received over $6 million for the rights to drill his family's 640 acre farm. Such stories are common in our county now.

But the people who got that gas money are largely unchanged. It's a joke at the bank where the wife works that you can tell a gas millionaire because they have a couple of brand new King Ranch edition F-250s parked out in front of the same 150 year old farmhouse where they've lived since childhood. And a checking account with a couple of million dollars in it.

From my observations, only a couple of families have replaced the old farmhouses although most have done some renovation. I understand that it's much like the oil boom families down in Texas in the 1950s and 1960s. The living large did not start until the younger generations took over from their parents and grandparents who kept their same lifestyles after getting rich, just with a larger budget.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:08:04 PM EDT

[#2]

No one here plays the lottery. It is stupid and a waste of money.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:08:50 PM EDT

[#3]

The lottery is nothing more than a tax on people who flunked math or basic statistics.
That being said, yes...I will buy some tickets when the jackpot hits about 300-500 million dollars. I mean, what the fuck at that point, right?

Whatever the case may be; if you stand to either inherit money---or you win that kind of money....you need to do two things:

1) Find a fucking lawyer immediately.
2) Find a decent fucking financial advisor.

Stay the hell away from big purchases (other than say, paying off your house/credit card debt/vehicle payments).

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:08:51 PM EDT

[#4]

meh..the wife has won $800 twice on scratch offs, the last one was just a few weeks ago. She was yelling like crazy in the parking lot she won $800 and a car load of utes immed swung their heads around

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:09:51 PM EDT

[#5]

Persec/Opsec

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:09:51 PM EDT

[#6]

I put down $10 once a month on mega millions, I spend the days up to the drawing fantasizing about what I'd do, property in AK, houses, guns and cars. Then reality slaps me in the face when I don't win

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:11:08 PM EDT

[#7]

Sooo....where's Austrian's Guide to Winning the Lottery?

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:11:33 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
The lottery is nothing more than a tax on people who flunked math or basic statistics.
That being said, yes...I will buy some tickets when the jackpot hits about 300-500 million dollars. I mean, what the fuck at that point, right?

Whatever the case may be; if you stand to either inherit money---or you win that kind of money....you need to do two things:

1) Find a fucking lawyer immediately.
2) Find a decent fucking financial advisor.

Stay the hell away from big purchases (other than say, paying off your house/credit card debt/vehicle payments).

View Quote

First two things I should do is to give money away to lawyers and blood suckers with dollar signs in their eyes?

and then don't spend anything on myself? Awesome.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:13:34 PM EDT

[#9]

I've bought two tickets (not incl scratchers for stocking stuffers) in the past 10 years.

One was for a powerball drawing when it was like $500 mil 5 or 6 years ago. The other was for the $750 mill Mega Millions drawing a few months back (in Dec I think).

On the last one I spent $5, BUT.... I won $2.

That makes me a winner right?

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:13:45 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
meh..the wife has won $800 twice on scratch offs, the last one was just a few weeks ago. She was yelling like crazy in the parking lot she won $800 and a car load of utes immed swung their heads around

View Quote

Oh man, what did she do with that windfall? traveled the world?

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:14:40 PM EDT

[#11]

One member here said he won 2 million a number of years ago. .. and that he just invested it and still lives off his salary.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:15:55 PM EDT

[#12]

Most I've ever won was $30. I don't play very often, the odds are against me winning anything.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:16:02 PM EDT

[#13]

In college (before I wised up and realized this was luck) I went to the store and bought $100 worth of $1 scratch tickets every payday. I ALWAYS came out ahead. Some times not much, but I ALWAYS ended up with $125 or something. I bought them all off the same roll, sequential, and made sure it was a brand new roll every time. Probably a fluke, but maybe there's something to it. Haven't bought one in probably 20 years now.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:16:54 PM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:
One member here said he won 2 million a number of years ago. .. and that he just invested it and still lives off his salary.

View Quote

does he still have the original $2million or has he substantially reduced it.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:18:15 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
In college (before I wised up and realized this was luck) I went to the store and bought $100 worth of $1 scratch tickets every payday. I ALWAYS came out ahead. Some times not much, but I ALWAYS ended up with $125 or something. I bought them all of the same roll, sequential, and made sure it was a brand new roll every time. Probably a fluke, but maybe there's something to it. Haven't bought one in probably 20 years now.

View Quote

Interesting idea

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:18:23 PM EDT

[#16]

When its up i donate.... The sun shines even on a dogs ass sometimes! :)

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:24:57 PM EDT

[#17]

My brother in law's buddy hit 5 + 0 in the "Big One" a year or two back that got up to $600+ Million. The best part is that he accidentally bought two identical tickets so his prize was $250k x 2. Not shabby.

I don't know what it is now, but at the time, the 2nd prize on Mega Millions was $250k for 5 + 0 with no multiplier. $500k is nice but how would you like to be one number away from being 9 digits rich?

Good problem to have I suppose.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:26:45 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
My brother in law's buddy hit 5 + 0 in the "Big One" a year or two back that got up to $600+ Million. The best part is that he accidentally bought two identical tickets so his prize was $250k x 2. Not shabby.

I don't know what it is now, but at the time, the 2nd prize on Mega Millions was $250k for 5 + 0 with no multiplier. $500k is nice but how would you like to be one number away from being 9 digits rich?

Good problem to have I suppose.

View Quote

How is he doing now financially?

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:27:29 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:
In college (before I wised up and realized this was luck) I went to the store and bought $100 worth of $1 scratch tickets every payday. I ALWAYS came out ahead. Some times not much, but I ALWAYS ended up with $125 or something. I bought them all off the same roll, sequential, and made sure it was a brand new roll every time. Probably a fluke, but maybe there's something to it. Haven't bought one in probably 20 years now.

View Quote

That has to be dumb luck as you suggest. Scratch off tickets have a horrendous house advantage. You'd be lucky to get $50 out of $100 worth of tickets. At least most casino table games have a shred of honesty to them by comparison.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:29:23 PM EDT

[#20]

A good friend of mine won 11 million playing the lottery. That was about 12 years ago. He opted for the yearly payout for 15 years rather than the lump sum. He quit his job and started buying expensive cars every 6 months and eating out at expensive restaurants. Letting friends borrow 10s of thousands of dollars at a time. He has nothing to show for it now except for his house and cars. He owes the IRS over $200,000.00 dollars and all the friends he lent money to he no longer has because they won't pay him pack now on what they thought was a gift. Very, very sad.

ETA:He had the remainder of his winnings "bought out" by a company years ago so he won't be getting the next 3 years of guaranteed income either.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:30:24 PM EDT

[#21]

I think $2

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:30:30 PM EDT

[#22]

My wife had an instructor when she was getting her drafting training that won several million. His wife promptly divorced him and took half the winnings. He bought her out of their house with some of his winnings and invested the rest. Still an AutoCad instructor for all I now. Only person I know that won any lottery money. This was in California when the lottery out there was first really getting started. He was a pretty laid back guy and not a party animal at all.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:31:09 PM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:

How is he doing now financially?

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
My brother in law's buddy hit 5 + 0 in the "Big One" a year or two back that got up to $600+ Million. The best part is that he accidentally bought two identical tickets so his prize was $250k x 2. Not shabby.

I don't know what it is now, but at the time, the 2nd prize on Mega Millions was $250k for 5 + 0 with no multiplier. $500k is nice but how would you like to be one number away from being 9 digits rich?

Good problem to have I suppose.

How is he doing now financially?

I do not know him that well but my suspicion is that he's going to blow it all. He's in his mid 20's iirc and thought $500k (pre-tax) was a ton of money. That's usually a good sign that someone is about to be parted from their windfall shortly.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:32:15 PM EDT

[#24]

A tax on stupid people.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:32:40 PM EDT

[#25]

Most I've ever won was $40 and that was on the first scratcher that I ever bought on my 18th birthday.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:33:23 PM EDT

[#26]

Quote History

Quoted:
A good friend of mine won 11 million playing the lottery. That was about 12 years ago. He opted for the yearly payout for 15 years rather than the lump sum. He quit his job and started buying expensive cars every 6 months and eating out at expensive restaurants. Letting friends borrow 10s of thousands of dollars at a time. He has nothing to show for it now except for his house and cars. He owes the IRS over $200,000.00 dollars and all the friends he lent money to he no longer has because they won't pay him pack now on what they thought was a gift. Very, very sad.

ETA:He had the remainder of his winnings "bought out" by a company years ago so he won't be getting the next 3 years of guaranteed income either.

View Quote

Sorry, how is that exactly sad? I mean, it's his own damn fault he doesn't know anything about money management.

IF you have that much money at a point in your life, you would be STUPID not to hire a financial advisor.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:33:49 PM EDT

[#27]

If my math & luck hold out... By the time I win a "big one" I would have spent about the same on tickets as the payout.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:34:07 PM EDT

[#28]

I won $100 on a scratch-off my grandma gave me when I was, like, 6.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:36:27 PM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:
A good friend of mine won 11 million playing the lottery. That was about 12 years ago. He opted for the yearly payout for 15 years rather than the lump sum. He quit his job and started buying expensive cars every 6 months and eating out at expensive restaurants. Letting friends borrow 10s of thousands of dollars at a time. He has nothing to show for it now except for his house and cars. He owes the IRS over $200,000.00 dollars and all the friends he lent money to he no longer has because they won't pay him pack now on what they thought was a gift. Very, very sad.

ETA:He had the remainder of his winnings "bought out" by a company years ago so he won't be getting the next 3 years of guaranteed income either.

View Quote

Sounds about right. People are idiots. He could have set himself up for life with even simple investments with modest yields. $11 million less lump sum, less taxes, is JUST enough to accomplish a better than average standard of living indefinitely. It sounds like he figured it was enough to accomplish a lavish standard of living briefly instead.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:45:54 PM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:
A good friend of mine won 11 million playing the lottery. That was about 12 years ago. He opted for the yearly payout for 15 years rather than the lump sum. He quit his job and started buying expensive cars every 6 months and eating out at expensive restaurants. Letting friends borrow 10s of thousands of dollars at a time. He has nothing to show for it now except for his house and cars. He owes the IRS over $200,000.00 dollars and all the friends he lent money to he no longer has because they won't pay him pack now on what they thought was a gift. Very, very sad.

ETA:He had the remainder of his winnings "bought out" by a company years ago so he won't be getting the next 3 years of guaranteed income either.

View Quote

Damn. That sucks.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:46:37 PM EDT

[#31]

Won $1,700 on slots once. Thats the most I have ever won gambling.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:47:57 PM EDT

[#32]

I won a big ticket item off of a coke lid contest.

It was a size XXL White Satin Coca-Cola jacket with red collars and cuffs.

Yeah, you heard that right. It really changed my life, for the better obviously.

Posted: 2/19/2014 12:48:09 PM EDT

[#33]

Doubled my money once on a $2 scratcher

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:00:48 PM EDT

[#34]

I won $10 on a $1 scratcher on the day after my 16th birthday. The only winner I can remember (I've won a handful of sub $500 amounts over the years) mostly because I was underage and it was the first day the lottery opened in this state. Yep, I broke the law 20 years ago. Arrest me.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:02:14 PM EDT

[#35]

A friend of mine won 17 mil., so it does happen. Not a close enough friend to see any of that though

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:06:27 PM EDT

[#36]

A friends aunt and uncle won 6 million a while back. His uncle is back to changing tires now.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:10:43 PM EDT

[#37]

MD Lottery scratch offs made me a Thousandaire once.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:17:22 PM EDT

[#38]

Quote History

Quoted:
I put down $10 once a month on mega millions, I spend the days up to the drawing fantasizing about what I'd do, property in AK, houses, guns and cars. Then reality slaps me in the face when I don't win

View Quote

Do you add the Megaplier, or just normal tickets?

I call this my disappointment machine:

SORRY, YOUR TICKET IS NOT A WINNER.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:20:39 PM EDT

[#39]

Quote History

Quoted:
In college (before I wised up and realized this was luck) I went to the store and bought $100 worth of $1 scratch tickets every payday. I ALWAYS came out ahead. Some times not much, but I ALWAYS ended up with $125 or something. I bought them all off the same roll, sequential, and made sure it was a brand new roll every time. Probably a fluke, but maybe there's something to it. Haven't bought one in probably 20 years now.

View Quote

There is a lady who does that at a local restaurant, she does $5 or $10 tickets though, she has won $1000 more then a couple of times.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:28:23 PM EDT

[#40]

Quote History

Quoted:

Won $1,700 on slots once. Thats the most I have ever won gambling.

View Quote

I won $860 off slots over at Bossier a couple of weeks ago, the clerk at the pay-out window had to tell me to stop shaking (did not realize I was so excited). Never won more than $40 off lottery tickets.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:31:29 PM EDT

[#41]

I won 1k two separate times a few years back, on scratch-offs. Property taxes were almost due both times so I used the money to pay them. Besides, what the hell can you buy for a grand these days? A few toys that really aren't all that big of a deal.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:38:19 PM EDT

[#42]

I know somebody who's mother did. Does that count?

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:42:02 PM EDT

[#43]

I won life's lottery.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:42:14 PM EDT

[#44]

I like to think I win at the lottery every day. It's the only taxes a lot of those FSA bastards ever pay.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:48:38 PM EDT

[#45]

I could think of a hundred million things to do with the money but I just wont play it. I think you have a better chance of a plane falling out of the sky on you.

I do want to play a $100 slot in Vegas once.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:49:17 PM EDT

[#46]

I have never had to pay the stupid tax.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:53:39 PM EDT

[#47]

Quote History

Quoted:

I have never had to pay the stupid tax.

View Quote

It's only stupid if you lose.

Posted: 2/19/2014 1:56:20 PM EDT

[#48]

Never bought a ticket, but my wifes parents get us all some scratch-off ticket every year for Christmas. Most I have won is $18 off about $10 worth of tickets.

Posted: 2/19/2014 3:15:13 PM EDT

[#49]

We don't buy them regularly but my husband will buy one when the winnings are large, like now. I HATE getting in line behind people playing. I seem to get behind those with multiple tickets. Yesterday, a woman pulled out a clear bag similar to a wallet stuffed with tickets. It took all I had not to make any comments...her money. It also took all I had not to ask the cashier why they didn't have a separate line for non-ticket buyers. The gas station close to my house does this and it's much appreciated.

But, if I were to win on the rare ticket we buy, I would pay off all debt, college funds for the kids, trusts for the kids, a nice vacation since we don't have money to take them now, and invest the rest. I'd keep working. I'd want to be sure my kids were set, but with the stipulation they go to school and work and be productive. Then they would receive trust payments each year. Oh, to dream!

Posted: 2/19/2014 3:23:24 PM EDT

[#50]

I know a guy that won a little over 6 million. You would never know it.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who here has won a substantial amount of $$$ playing the lottery? (Page 1 of 2)

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