Most of these stories unfold conventionally. Someone buys a ticket with the number drawn, the prize is withdrawn and the person retires early, sometimes along with their next of kin.
There are other stories of winners, however, who have seen the lottery prize emerge wrapped in unforeseen circumstances, sometimes with caricature consequences which leads us to wonder if they are really true. But yes, all the stories that we present below took place at a certain point in time and we admit that many of them would make an excellent argument for a film.
How likely is it to win a lottery prize?
Before we start with the most unlikely stories about lottery winners, we want to start with something equally entertaining. No, it is not a formula to help you figure out the numbers that come out the most in the lottery and how to apply them in the next draw. This one is more factual and refers to people who were lucky enough to win a jackpot. To put it in the right perspective, if we cross the Atlantic to the United States of America, Powerball lottery it typically offers somewhere between $ 1 million and $ 292 million.
Charles Jackson was precisely one of those people whose story we will tell you next. But before we get into the intricacies involved, we want you to have a good understanding of what kind of odds we're talking about. We've researched some numbers regarding the likelihood of any of these events happening to you when chasing the next jackpot.
Event | Probability |
---|---|
Being struck by lightning | 1 in 15,000 |
Being involved in a plane crash | 1 in 188,000 |
Having Conjoined Twins | 1 in 200,000 |
Being hit by a meteorite | 1 in 700,000 |
Being attacked by a shark | 1 in 3.7 million |
Death by boiling water | 1 in 5 million |
Death by a machine Vending | 1 in 112 million |
With the previous table in mind, then imagine the amount of luck you must have to win a jackpot. You're twice as likely to lose your life to the fearsome fizzy drink machine, which leads us to a deep reflection on how this is possible. The good news is that there is no way to measure luck of each. You'll never know if you just buy a lottery ticket and wake up with immense wealth, or if you could spend thousands of dollars on tickets until you see some luck. It is precisely the rarity of the event that makes it special and at this point there is only one universal truth: without playing, you are far more unlikely to win.
Crazy stories of lottery winners
Winning in this scenario is not quite the same as in the usual one sports betting . We have not placed any specific order on the following stories. At the end of the day, we didn't even try to make a ranking between the least and the most absurd. Each of them is special in its own way and we believe that it deserves your time discovering it. These are fantastic examples that lead us to ponder whether there is such a thing as fate for the inconceivable and unbelievable way in which these moments arise.
Frane Selak-both lucky and unlucky
The Croatian national, now 90, has been as lucky as unlucky throughout his life. To such an extent that many believe that a movie just wouldn't do justice to the travails it went through throughout its run. fantastic life . According to reliable accounts and Frane's own, he succeeded escaping death on 7 separate occasions .
If you don't believe it, check carefully the adventures that Frane went through and tell us what you think of them:
- 1962. The train Frane was travelling on derailed and fell into an icy river. 17 people died, but Frane survived to tell the story.
- 1963. On a plane trip, the back door burst and he was sucked out of the plane. 19 people died, but he survived by landing on a bale of straw.
- 1966. A bus he was travelling in fell into a river. Four passengers died and he managed to swim to shore without any injuries.
- 1970. The car he was travelling in caught fire and exploded. Frane managed to cheat death once again by escaping the vehicle.
- 1973. Due to a technical fault in his car, the air ducts burst into flames and completely burned his hair. That misfortune aside, he walked away without further injury.
- 1995. While walking in Zagreb, a bus hit him and Frane escaped, again with minor injuries.
- 1996. A head-on collision with a bus in a mountainous region of Croatia has sent its car plunging 90 metres into a ravine. Frane managed to jump out of the vehicle, cling to a tree branch and watch his car catch fire.
We know what you're thinking. If this gentleman asks you for a ride or gets on any kind of public transport you are on, it may not be a bad idea to give up the trip. But with so much tragedy in this story, Why does Mr. Frane make our list? Well, after so many close encounters with death, in 2003 he won about $900,000 in the local lottery . Not only did he win, but he allegedly claims this happened to him the first time he played. With an eventful life, fortunately we did not record any more absurd events related to Frane Selak.
Michael Carroll-the short guide to how not to spend a fortune
This story begins, as for all Grand Prix winners, in the best way. Unfortunately, things soon went wrong and reflect one of those crass examples of what can happen when someone wins a fortune in the immediate . Mr Carroll won £ 9.7 million on Britain's National Lottery after spending his last £4 on a ticket.
With an award with real potential to change someone's life in radical ways, Carrol has certainly changed his, but not for the better. What followed was a decade in a downward spiral with the money being spent on drugs, prostitutes and court costs.
His pregnant wife divorced him almost immediately after their fortuitous event, largely thanks to his infidelities. From here on life became a never-ending feast washed down with high amounts of alcohol, women and drugs on silver platters. Reports insinuate that this instant millionaire consumed about £2,000 worth of cocaine daily and that his residence was already known for its eccentricities.
Destroying homes, property and cars was part of their routine. Where Will Carroll be today? It seems, and admittedly, not surprisingly, his fortune has dried up and he now makes a living delivering timber for the modest sum of £10 an hour. Despite everything, Michael does not regret it and lives a quiet life. For the vast majority of us, we would certainly find much more useful ways to spend so much money, even if it were to have fun in one of the best online casinos of New Zealand.
Carl Atwood-A Fleeting Victory
The history of this winner will not be long. After all, it had pretty much everything to go through the traditional formalities, where someone wins the prize, picks it up and does something admirable with it. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for this man after winning more than $50,000 in the Indiana State Lottery in the United States of America.
Approximately two hours after receiving the award, it was hit by a van while heading to precisely the same store where he had bought the winning ticket. Sadly, he died in hospital a few hours later. If this isn't a cruel departure from fate, we don't know what to call it.
Kevin Hatcher-the price of bad decisions
Finally, a much lighter and more entertaining story related to the lottery winners. In 1995, aged just 18, this Kent man was about to face a dilemma. On one side it was supposed to put 50 pence in the pot of one draw and on the other, he really wanted to have a beer with his friends. Beer won on Hatcher's priority list and it was his friend Paul who took his place in the draw. Incredibly, it turned out win £ 900,000 of a total prize pool of £ 2.7 million.
While the winners of this lottery pot made decisions related to the next exotic vacation destination or the color of the next luxury car, Kevin still counted pennies to drink the next beer. This is certainly one of those stories where a small decision cost a fortune .
Charles Jackson-a delicious Fortune Cookie
This goes directly into the list of success stories among lottery winners. Recently, in 2019, Charles Jackson became incredibly rich thanks to a fortune cookie. The grandfather, from North Carolina, United States, could never imagine that something like this would happen to him after his granddaughter offered him the cake.
Inside the cake was a numbered note. Charles jotted down the numbers and used them to buy a lottery ticket for the famous Powerball. Let the unbelievers be amazed, for these were the numbers drawn. Initially, he was extremely happy to think that he had won $ 50,000. In fact, he had even won the prize of $ 233 million , which would be intended for charity, to help his own family and other noble deeds. We can only imagine the feeling at the moment, but it turns out, Charles spends this money much better than Michael Carrol, whom we have already talked about in this list.
William Post-more money equals more trouble
The last name on our list is far from a success story. This is, in fact, one of the craziest stories we've come across. It all started when Mr. Post won about $ 16.2 million in the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1988.
It didn't take long to spend all that fortune, thanks in part to a series of bad decisions, but also to deep greed their families and supposed friends.
Your brother hired someone to murder you and your wife to prevent her from taking the money. His other brothers tricked him into making ruinous investments in their restaurant business, which absorbed a large portion of the profits. His landlord also cheated him and stole a portion of his money. Not completing this series of misfortunes, Post was arrested for drawing a gun and shooting a debt collector. This story is unfortunately, fraught with tragedy and portrays the principle that money does not buy everything.
What do these stories teach us about lottery winners?
Our goal was to present you with so many and varied stories about how a jackpot can be won and how it can impact someone's life. Winning is mostly derived from luck. Problems arise when we have to deal with staggering amounts of money and we're starting to run the risk of being on lists like these.
In a sort of public service for the day you join the list of instant millionaires, we've compiled a number of useful tips to ensure your prize lasts and is put to good use. Otherwise, the craziest temptations you can imagine will soon follow.
What to do if you win the lottery
- Get financial advice from a professional Spending money is tremendously easy for the vast majority of people. With an absurd amount of money, it is crucial to find someone with a solid reputation in the area of financial investments. Remember, wealth can create more wealth.
- Invest Investing in the short and long term is always a good approach that can lead you to maintain and even increase your wealth over time. However, caution is necessary and this is where our first point returns, when trusting someone experienced in the area to advise you.
- Travel The World It is said that traveling is the only thing we spend money on that enriches us. This is also a great way to gain the necessary perspective of who you are, your place in the world, and the reality that is waiting for you. With a fortune in your pocket, you don't even need to book your return.
- Open the business of your dreams. We all have a talent and while it's great to have lots of money, we often let our dreams slip through the cracks. So why not invest in your ideas and your dreams? Professional success can be as much or more rewarding than any amount in your bank account.
- Help those in need Helping to create the world we dream of may seem utopian, but in reality money can help. You can help poor families, fund the education of those less privileged, sponsor an association to support abandoned animals. The list of problems that the world faces will always be bigger than your fortune, but the spiritual return will not have any effect on you.
What not to do if you win the lottery
Imagine that tomorrow you play a few pennies in the lottery and in a flash you become a multimillionaire. Even if the goal is precisely that, the effect can easily take us on a journey to our worst side with unpredictable consequences. As such, some of the following points can and should be avoided and help you make the most of the privilege that comes with a gigantic jackpot.
- Bragging rights This is surely one of the main rules to observe. Stay anonymous and discreet as much as possible. Thus, you can avoid unwanted attention from selfish and malicious people. Few things will test your personal relationships to the limit than letting others know you've become a millionaire.
- Watch who you give money to If the stories we've told you before are anything to go by, it's that family and friends can quickly turn on you for a slice of your prize. We're not implying that you shouldn't be generous to those you love, but do it in a thoughtful way.
- Don't spend on Addictions If there's one thing we can learn from Michael Carroll, it's that in the long run addictions will get the better of you. Is it really worth destroying a fortune in a short time when it can be applied to your well-being and that of those around you? If you have a tendency to gain addictions, maybe it's best not to gamble at all.
- Don't Overspend Rich people stay rich thanks to their discipline when it comes to spending money. Between investments and eccentricities that are very well thought out, the principles that apply to a poor person also apply to a rich person. Don't get carried away with the idea that you have to impress society with extravagant objects, otherwise you will soon put your recent fortune at risk.
Frequently asked questions for future lottery winners
We are all curious to discover crazy stories that happen all over the world and in this sense, the lottery surely helps a lot. What people lend themselves to in order to earn or once they become millionaires sometimes tends to border on insanity. It can be either an epic fortune on a ticket or a few thousand in a game session on a live casino . It's no coincidence that whenever a story like this comes out, there are echoes all over the internet, newspapers and television. Finally, we left you some of the Frequently Asked Questions related to the lottery and great prizes, just in case you're about to join the club.