Why Winning The Lottery Is The Worst Thing That Can Happen To You?
No doubt you’ve all had the conversation with your friends about, what do you do if you won the lottery. How much you’d give away to family and friends? How many problems might that cause? Would you just keep spending and live a life of selfish luxury?
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According to CNN Money, the biggest lottery win ever was $1.586 billion, but it was divided between three people. A year later in 2017, one woman scooped $758.7 million. She decided to take the lump sum of $480.5 million. (You could take your win divided over a number of years or all winnings at once with one lump sum.) Sounds great. You may have already seen the documentaries in which lottery winners find themselves surrounded by cunning relatives and friends, suddenly emerging from the past, all wanting a piece of the pie. You’ll know how it can tear families apart, which often sounds like a tale of biblical greed. These are sad stories for sure. The last one might even bring a tear to your eye.
Let’s have a closer look at the list of 10 the worst things which might happen to you when you win the lottery.
10: Return of the killer lover [01:05]
Aged 42, Doris Murray picked up $5 million after winning the Georgia lottery in 2007. She might have thought she was the luckiest woman alive. It’s said, her plan was to start a trust fund for her grandchildren. But Murray only got to live with her winnings one year. Her ex-boyfriend came back on the scene, begging. She wasn’t interested in getting back with him or sharing cash with him. So, he stabbed her to death. He was arrested soon after. A lose-lose situation, which we see is often the case with lottery greed.
9: A murderer in the family [01:37]
A guy called Jeffrey Dampier had a similar fate, except this time, it was family with blood on their hands. 39-year-old Dampier won $20 million in 1996. He was over the moon. It’s reported that he wasn’t stingy either. He treated family and friends with his cash. His sister-in-law and her boyfriend got the idea to take his winnings. They kidnapped him together, and then shot him in the head. The pair were soon arrested. Dampier’s widow was later asked what winning a lottery had done for her husband. ‘’I think it’s a curse,’’ she replied.
8: Don’t trust anyone [02:11]
In 2009, a man with a great name, Abraham Shakespeare, 42 years old, won $30 million in the Florida lottery. The former laborer didn’t spend big at first, buying just a Nissan Altima and a Rolex watch. According to reports, he was constantly harassed by people who wanted some of his cash. He once told his brother, ’I’d have been better off broke. I thought all these people were my friends, but then I realized, all they want is just money.’ It got worse. He went missing and was later found buried under someone’s backyard. The killer was a woman he’d befriended, who had told him she’d help him with his too much money problems. Her name was Dorice Dee Dee Moore. She’s currently serving a long prison sentence for first degree murder.
7: Drinking alkohol to the grave [02:56]
It’s happened numerous times when winners have been murdered for their money. All the reports of this happening were in the USA. But self-destruction, well, that’s universal. Take the case of Brit, Keith Gow, who won £9 million, about $12 million at today’s rates. In 2005, Gow got straight down to the business of spending, betting big on soccer, horse racing and apparently drinking himself to oblivion. He wasn’t the brightest of lucky people. He got scammed for $1 million after giving it to some shady guy to invest. He ended up selling everything he had bought. Including, race horses, a top of the line BMW, his executive box at Aston Villa football club, and a large country villa. Also, he got into money troubles. He died of a heart attack. Financial problems and alcohol were to blame. His friends said, the lottery virtually killed him. ’Winning the money was the worst thing that happened to him. It’s very sad,’ said one old friend.
6: Taking your own life [03:53]
Billy Bob Harrell won $31 million in the Texan lottery in 1997. He was followed around, by people with their hands out looking for part of his winnings. He didn’t hide the fact that he was rich though. It got so much for the poor guy that he moved and changed his phone number. He also made some terrible financial decisions. Things got worse when he got divorced. It seems it all got too much. Two years after he won, still with money in the bank, he put a gun to his own head. Prior to taking his own life, he said, ’Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me.’
5: Losing everything you need [04:29]
Another case was the curse of Jack Whittaker, a West Virginian. He won a staggering $315 million in 2002. He wasn’t too careful with his cash. Almost half a million was stolen from his car, where he kept the money loaded suitcase. He later had another $200000 stolen in a similar way. Then, he was hit by grief after losing his granddaughter to a drug overdose. Then her mother, his daughter died two years later from a drug overdose. They’d both been spending his fortune for him. ’My granddaughter is dead because of the money. She was the shining star of my life. She was what it was all about for me,’ he told the press. Incredibly, years later, he said, he had nothing left. He even lost his daughter and a granddaughter. ’I wish that we tore that lottery winning ticket,’ he said in an interview.
4: Too much, for too young lottery winner. [05:16]
Over in Scotland, a wee lad of 17, called Stuart Donnelly, won the lottery in 1997. Not a good year for lottery winners, it seems. He talked about the pressure of being rich. He once told the newspaper that he was scared to leave the house. ‘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 was found dead in his luxury home when he was 29. It’s thought he died of natural causes, but the press speculates the lottery win played a part in his demise.
3: Back to living in the trailer. [05:49]
Here’s another story of rags to riches, and back to rags. Evelyn Basehore won $3.9 million back in 1985. She had a taste for gambling. In 2000, she was back in a trailer park, saying, she’d gambled all her money away. ‘I won the American dream, but I lost it too. It was a very hard fall. It’s called complete bottom,’ she said.
2: Life of Thug. [06:13]
Back in the UK, there’s a man by the name Michael Carroll called a ‘’Lottery Lout’’ by the press. It means lottery thug. He even called himself ‘’King of Chavs’’. What is a Chav? That’s a long story, but we guess you could say, a Chav is a young hoodlum, but more of a white trash type. Anyway, this young delinquent won a massive £9.7 million in the UK lottery in 2002. At the time of his win, he was just 19. He was working as a bin man or trash collector. He was still wearing an electronic tag, so the cops could keep an eye on him.
Winning didn’t stop him from getting in trouble with the police. 10 years later, and all the money was gone. He said, it was gone on tons of drugs, lots of gambling, and thousands of prostitutes. We’re not sure how he or his poor lungs and brain managed it, but he said, he had a $2300 a day crack cocaine habit. What did he have to say about his rise and fall? ‘The party is ended and it’s back to reality. I haven’t got two pennies to rub together, and that’s the way I like it. I find it easier to live off £42 dole than a million.’ Dole means unemployment benefits. He couldn’t get away from crime or criminals either. As his money was running out, some blackmailers slit the throats of five of his dogs. Basically, ran him out of town, but not before he paid them over $150 thousand dollars.
1. What is number one the worst thing, that can happen after winning the lottery? A mortal loss [07:33]
We’ll leave you with the story of all stories, even though we’re not sure you can call it a curse. In Thailand, the lottery is serious business for many. It’s a way out of poverty for some who don’t have many options in life. People make merit at temples and pray for the winning numbers. Superstitious folks get exploited by seers who sell the right numbers. People see winning numbers in dreams. Or if someone has say, a strange looking fruit growing in their garden, people will queue to pray to it and hope it gives them lottery luck. The numbers might even appear on the license plates of crashed vehicles. A ghost may even whisper the winning numbers in someone’s ear.
So yes, it’s serious. So serious, that in 2018, a man called Jirawut Pongphan was absolutely delighted when he found out he had the winning numbers for the lottery. He was about to collect $1.8 million. The 42-year-old threw a party and got really drunk, only to wake up and not be able to find his winning tickets. It’s said, he became very depressed after that. He wasn’t even able to work. He then shot himself in the head. His suicide note read, ’I’m really sorry. Please don’t bully my family. I did win the lottery prize.’ Apparently, the tickets were never found, and no one claimed the prize.
