It's what dreams are made of: buy anything you want and more. But for some, winning the lottery is not all champagne, limousines and mansions, and brings only misery and regret.
The sudden influx of cash can lead down a dark road to drugs, bankruptcy and even death. Why does blissful prosperity rarely ensue? Are those who win big truly destined for doom?
Uncovering the stories behind 10 real-life lucky ticket holders, E! sits with lottery winners, their friends and family, as well as financial planners and lottery experts, to find out why some who score jackpot rise to the top, while others fall rock bottom.
The two-hour special episode "THS Investigates: The Curse of the Lottery" premieres Sunday, September 24 at 8pm et/pt.
The lottery is a multi-billion dollar business that is fueled by the fantasy that one ticket can mean instant fortune and happiness. For lottery winners Jack Whittaker, William "Bud" Post, Victoria Zell and Billie Bob Harrell Jr., the dream of winning big-time bucks came true, but what they ended up losing as a result was tragic.
Jack Whittaker of West Virginia won the largest Powerball jackpot in history, only to be robbed, confronted with serious legal issues and eventually have his family torn apart by alcohol and drug abuse.
Lottery winner Bud Post of Pennsylvania was almost murdered for his money when his own brother hired a hit-man to kill him in an attempt to rake in his cash.
Victoria Zell struck lottery gold in Minnesota but landed in jail after being found guilty on multiple counts of vehicular homicide.
And Texan lottery winner Billie Bob Harrell sadly ended his own life after out-of-control spending sprees and an affair left him deeply in debt and divorced.
All you hear are the B A D stories Please Tell some of the Good ones.
We've all seen stories like this on TV and in the newspaper. I guess they're becoming more popular these days. I was watching Deal or No Deal the other night and a contestant's wife was screaming at him because he kept turning down a lot of money. I joined her! Finally he accepted $675,000 and it turned out he actually did have $2 million in his case. But if he had taken the risk and ended up with only a dollar, it would have been much, much worse. After taxes $675K is a lot more than he started with and a record for that show but, from the look on that guy's face, I don't think he was too happy. Sometimes when I see those couples, I wonder what happened on the way home. To the best of my knowledge, no cases of spousal homicide have been reported following a game show.
Getting back to this particular story, I think I will take my chances and continue to play the Lottery.
Michael Begin, certified financial planner — "If you're miserable with 10 dollars, you'll be miserable with a million dollars."
On a spiritual level, this statement is true. Same goes for moving to a new location or changing jobs or anything else in life. However, if the reason you're unhappy is because you live in a bad neighborhood and can't afford the rent or you're working 60 hours and your boss is always yelling at you, or you can't get rid of that toothache because a dentist wants $500 for a root canal, then I disagree with it wholeheartedly. My version of the above statement is "it's a heck of a lot better to be rich and miserable than poor and miserable. At least if you are rich and miserable you can take a long vacation and be miserable sipping margaritas on your boat."
Good stories are too boring, and there are far more good than bad. However the media likes to focus on the negative ones, as that is what human nature is typically attracted to. Misery loves company. Of course a sudden windfall is not going to buy intelligence and wisdom. But I think they are taking the most extreme cases to show what can "possibly" happen but actually rarely ever does.
Most of the winners already had messed up lives to begin with, and was ill-prepared to handle such money. Most are not like the players here, like myself, who have spent many years planning for a windfall and are tailor-made for it when it happens. But that is a story that is far too perfect and positive to publish.
The majority of the miserable population wants to hear that those who won more money than they will ever have, somehow lost it all and became worse than they originally were. Flukes can happen, but for the most part those cases occurred from pure stupidity and overall lack preparedness. I have already been through the worst, so bring on the lottery curse. Please.
I saw that show too... He actually had $ 3 Million in his case...he correctly picked his case from among , what is it, 25 ?
He turned down $600K , then accepted $675K, but had he went on...
He would have been offered $1.1 Million...
I bet he sure would have taken that and walked !!!!
DD
I concur whole heartedly with Sirbrads comments! Bring on the curse, and I will gladly bless it with wonderous results!
As to the tv drama, its A-typical for the meida to spruce up the negative. Thus why reading a good book and sipping sweet southern tea is a dream come true no matter what income ya have :)
DD, I wasn't sure. $3 million. Ouch! That makes it even worse. I think he was going for that one extra shot and his wife was going crazy and he was sweating so much that he caved in, but that must have really hurt! Still, I'd love to win $675,000 but walking away knowing you actually had the $3 million in your case.... You're right - it was #25, which I think was his wedding anniversary or some special date. Still, I probably would have walked away sooner, so I think he was very lucky. I wonder how many people would actually go for it when there was still a $1 case?
People are as happy as they want to be; after they have the basics of living. Most people don't need more.
All lottery winners have the chore of saying no and the crazies who chase their money. Keep the secret and find your joy.
JXP, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but he was dead-on right .
How many people are that lucky to nail the right case ?
Anyway, he should be ( and I'm sure he is ) happy to get the $675K, and yes, he was sweating like a ( well...you know )....____ in church...
DD
Regarding the original story here, just let me win a PB or MM jackpot and I will show everyone that it is NOT a curse.
They can choose to portray the "losers" if they like because after all, it's ratings they are after and sad stories sell....
I would bust their little bubble..
DD
All I can say is......
Touche.
Don't forget though guys, statistics say that three out of five lottery winners are bankrupt within five years, and has been pointed out in this thread, that's what makes news!
I'm going to try and watch this, hoping that a couple of heavy players I know watch it.
Me to the lotto winners:
"Awwww, I'm so gosh awful sorry that you guys won the lotto. What a curse."
Me to God:
"Dear Lord, will you please curse me to win the PB lottery today. Amen."
A person is as happy as they allow themselves to be...
It doesn't take Money to make one happy...
It's something how virtually every negative story about Lottery winners mentions Jack Whittaker. (I could not find the slot machine he supposedly invented at Caesars)
Often a Lottery win became a curse because of events and situations leading up to the day of the win. The more ex-lovers and the more a person depended on others plus their intelligence and their caring or not caring what others think of them, the more these situations are magnified after a win. I always say that whoever was there for me in the past, I would be there for them in the future. I wouldn't care the least if someone stopped liking me because I didn't give them money.
These are basically the same 4 or 5 stories that have been blown up for years.......................................So out of these people that have had bad luck, you trying to tell me that the rest of the unnamed lotto winners are having bad luck too? Somebody has to be happy! If you think about it, most people's lives were already like this when they won, they just did not get sound advice about it. Me, I am very happy with $10.00. People are going to hound you to no end though. I would have to research anything that has to be with a "blind trust" because I don't trust anybody to have that kind of control over my money but Jesus Christ!
I already know what I would struggle with, unless I won so much money it wouldn't matter. I know one family member who is high on my list and needs financial assistance, but if he slipped and told other family members, then that's where the problems would begin. I don't have anything now yet I ran into this when preparing my will.
i thought about trying to get on this show but they do casting calls. the last one was in new york city. i am a long way from there.
Exactly.
When I hear of drug/alcohol problems, I think those are problems that lottery winners had BEFORE they won the money. I know two different people who were lottery winners. One guy went to trade school with me and we never saw him back at school after he won. This guy wound up in jail so I don't even think he got to spend the money. This was in 1986 when the only option of payments was installments and not cash out. The 2nd person was a wife who's husband bought the ticket. When she was hired, she told ppl about the winnings. They blew that money big time. He got a Corvette, a BMW was repossed, they had this big house built, they were having marriage problems and they both like cocaine. It would be nice to hear some happy stories about lottery winners and I can't wait until I win to show ppl that we can be happy. If I won, I would pay off MY financial obligations to include my Jeep. Start with a clean slate. For one month, I would not buy ANYTHING. That one month is used to really think about how NOT to blow all of this money and what I am going to do with that money to make it work for me and to give back to the community. Notice I haven't quit my job? I want to stay under the radar as long as I can instead of going out buying a house/car right away. I have a new car I purchased two years ago, so I have transportation. I have a cheap 1BR in So Cal so I'm not homeless. I got plenty of time to buy a house when the time is right. Maybe cause I'm a little older, not into partying as much anymore and have seen a couple of examples of ppl who didn't take time to think about their new wealth.
They told me that I will also be on the show... I am the guy from Camarillo tha the clerk switched tickets with and tried to claim my $530,000 winnings.... He just pled guilty the other day and is looking at 5 1/2 years in prison... I have a problem with the sentence..I will get to that later...
I still have all of my winnings... Put in a 6 month CD so I could think about how to invest it.... I think the problem with winners who wasted all their money comes down to one fact... They have never had money so they have no clue as to how fast it can disappear... Think of it this way.... How fast can you spend a thousand dollars? pretty fast.... A million dollars is one thousand... thousand dollar bills..... they want a new car.... they don't shop for price as they would have done before... they get all the options..... there goes 50 thousand dolar bills....950 left..... buy a house..... 500 thousand dollar bills (or more) they have 450 left.... furnish the house..you have to have new furnature in a new house.....theater room etc.... 100 thousand dollar bills.... you have 350 left.... Party for the friends.... 10 thousand dollar bills.... 340 left.... Vacation.... 25 thousand dollar bills.... 315 left... and so on till its all gone....
I feel sorry for them but I am sure that they were given advice and did not pay any attention to it....
As far as the 5 1/2 years in prison....I am troubled with the sentence.... Our system allows me as the "Victim" to make a statement at the sentencing hearing; it sounds easy doesn't it? Many questions go through your mind; it’s not as easy as…. He did it. Lock him up. I find myself wondering if it is right to send a first time NON VIOLENT offender to prison. We all know from watching investigative reports and documentaries that the first thing he will need to learn upon entering our prison system is how to be VIOLENT so he can SURVIVE? This is in fact true... Yet we as a society justify it by claiming they are getting what they deserve. We speak for today, forgetting that someday this person, now DAMAGED by the time he spent in prison, who has learned to settle disputes with VIOLENCE, will someday be released and move back into our community; is that what we really want? How do you balance the need to punish with the true goal of rehabilitation? Will 5 ½ years in prison work any better than a year in jail and an extended period of time on formal probation? I have no clue… but I do have reservations about sending him to prison. My statement to the Court might not carry any weight… his fate may be sealed by law… I could remain silent and let the chips lay where they fall… living with my feelings that it is wrong. I am torn… Tomorrow everyone will forget this man and what happened to him, but I will always remember him…. What do I do?There are a lot of people who join this site and post that they are someone from a news article. Sometimes we see 2 or 3 new names with one post and then they disappear into the dust. Assuming you are really Robert Sehested, I am sure you've received advice from the State Prosecutor's office. I was the victim of a crime and I certainly didn't go to an internet board to spill my guts and ask for advice. Anyway, as Tenaj suggested, just let your conscience be your guide and tell the truth.
Now, if you really want my opinion...5 years is a pretty reasonable sentence for grand larceny. After all, if someone broke into your home and robbed you and stole your car, I doubt if it would add up to 1/2 million bucks. He could have gotten away with it too. A couple of people on LP who accuse me of being a "liberal" might find it ironic that I say string the son-of-a *B* up and let him swing! He certainly didn't have much of a conscience when ripping you off, did he?
I guess it was easy for me to say since it didn't happen to me. If it had happened to me, I'll probably be saying "hang'em high"LOL That is a lot of money to be out of. The blow of being out of it would have been like a violent crime.
If someone stole my car I'd just laugh. Of course they would have to start it first.
I think loosing 500k that you won in a lottery would be far less tramatic then many violent crimes.
I find it hard to feel sorry for anybody that tried to fraud anyone.
What if the shoe was on the other foot ?
What if he got away with it ?
Where does it stop ?
Who else has he done it to and gotten away with, even if it's a low-dollar ticket ?
I agree, 5 1/2 years is a bit much, but it's the dollar amount - what if your financial manager squandered all of your winnings and left you with nothing ? Would you feel any different towards him/her ? It happens all the time, go ask Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, his 'accountant' lost almost every penny he (Kareem) had - 38 million IIRC. (If I Recall).
Therein lies the problem - setting a precedent - if everyone else that has committed fraud prior to this has received a 5 1/2 year sentence, then he has to get it also. If he didn't, you'd see the appeals court fill up in one day - 'why me and not him ?'.
IRONBELLE - has it right - don't buy anything for a month, think about it. It's funny, but I have had that plan in place for 9 years now - if there is any item I WANT but don't NEED - like if I walk through a store and see a big-screen TV or something, yeah, I can afford it, but I go home and sleep on it. If I still want it 2 days later, I go back. 95% of the time I don't go back. That has saved me from buying a ton of junk I don't need.
If you e-mail jack.nicholson@cox.net you can get me, but I'm not Jack Nicholson... not doubting you, but anyone can take a name if it's available, and even you have to admit it's odd that you won the mini-lottery in February, and today is your very first posting on here - in coincidence with a TV show......
A final thought - what if you won 'the big one', a clerk checked your ticket, saw it was the winner, and handed it back to you. Now let's say he follows you out the door and shoots you in your car and takes it ? I know that's a worst-case scenario, but what if ?
Did you watch the show.... remember what I look like..... That is why I offered to send a picture..... or maybe I followed him to San Diego and and went on a two day tuna fishing trip with him just to get his picture????