Includes video report
OLYMPIA, Wash. — No, Carolyn, it's not a heart attack. It's a fortune.
The man who bought one of two winning tickets in the $380 million Mega Millions lottery frightened his wife when he woke her Tuesday night to share the life-changing news.
"I was pale, shaking. She thought I was having a heart attack," retiree Jim McCullar recalled.
When his wife, Carolyn, asked if he was OK, he replied: "I'm perfect."
On Thursday, the couple and their adult children stepped forward to publicly claim one half of the second-largest lottery jackpot in history. Whoever is holding the other winning ticket, purchased in neighboring Idaho, remained a mystery.
At a news conference in Washington's capital city, the McCullars took hold of the oversized check, marveling at all the zeros in $190 million. Jim McCullar, 68, then promptly handed it over to his wife, 63.
"We've been married 41 years," he said. "I know what to do with this check."
In Washington, no state taxes would apply. The lump sum payment would be $90 million after the 25 percent federal tax. The McCullars said they hadn't decided how to take the payment.
In Idaho, the lucky winner has the option of taking a nearly $81 million lump sum payment after state and federal taxes are withheld, state lottery officials said.
Jim McCullar, a retired Boeing Co. worker, bought his ticket at a supermarket in Ephrata in eastern Washington, about 125 miles from Post Falls, Idaho, a suburb of Spokane, Wash., where the other ticket was sold.
The winners had to match five numbers plus the "Mega ball." The numbers were 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, and 42 as the Mega ball.
The McCullars have played some combination of those numbers for years because they're based on the couple's birthdays. It has worked before: Jim McCullar said he won about $18,000 several years ago playing similar numbers on a keno game in Oregon.
The prospect of winning the enormous jackpot drew huge interest across the country as thousands of people lined up to buy tickets in the 41 states and Washington, D.C., where the lottery is held.
In March 2007, two winners, in Georgia and New Jersey, shared the richest prize — a $390 million Mega Millions jackpot.
Jim McCullar said he had rough plans to give some donations to charities, though he declined to name which ones. He has already given his notice at the real estate company where he was working.
The couple has been house hunting, and knows they can afford a larger place — but not too big, he said. An RV might be in their future to visit friends and family around the country, and to "hide out" for a while.
McCullar said the money will, of course, help his large extended family: six children, including two from an earlier marriage; 23 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
"The legacy is going to go generation after generation after generation," he said. "We're not going to blow this."
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My congratulations to the McCullar family!! May they not be beseiged with phony scam artists!!
wow nice big family, Congrats to the McCullars.
Well, it is nice and generous he wants to take care of his kids from a previous marriage -- since we do not know their ages. Wait a minute, they are most likely under 18. He gave a press conference (I do not know if it is required) and he wants to lay low for awhile. Is that really possible since he gave that conference? Anyway, the best to his wife and may they enjoy their new found wealth in peace.
*Kids from a previous marriage and he has been in this marriage 41 years would make them at least 40.
Didn't win but nice to see my money went to great folks. Congratulations!
Most of your money went to your state and local winners. Only 30¢ of your dollar went toward the jackpot and he only won half of that.
On abc news radio they said the odds of buying the 2 sets with the $150 winner and the Jackpot winner were "2.7 trillion to one" - which is completely wrong! First of all, if you play your own #s and you had 2 different tickets your odds for the Jackpot are half of 175 million to one, and if the tickets share 4 common numbers then if you win one you AUTOMATICALLY win the other $150, so the odds are not 2.7T to 1 but 87.5 million to one.
Also I see that he followed Richard Lustig's prime directive of "never change your numbers".
I also noticed something about the winning set of numbers (other than the connection to the LOST show which I hate) - but, I cannot tell you what that is...but I am using that idea for the next drawing.
I also noticed something about the winning set of numbers (other than the connection to the LOST show which I hate) - but, I cannot tell you what that is...
I noticed he didn't elaborate much about his numbers other than to say they were just some birthdays. This guy was retired and probably spent some time picking his numbers and if he had a special way of combining them then he's probably not sharing that.
I need this next Powerball jackpot!!!
six children, including two from an earlier marriage; 23 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
this guy is a bunny rabbit and so are hes offspring , he had 6, then they go out and create 23 more kids, and now the grand kids are just starting to making tiny little great-grandchildren, geez
if i ever won the lotto, i guest i need to get busy and create a empire of offspring, as i could afford it then LOL
besides
glad to see him win thro, you know where the money going, to hes insane large family , with that many off spring under your belt you can keep busy visiting them all, let alone making that many millions work for you to help your great grand kids, he may even live to see hes great grand kids have great-great grandkids LOL
He has a lot of children and grandchildren so we don't know whose ages or birthdays he used, and, I wonder what the other numbers were exactly.. to win $150 only (and not $10000 or $250000) he had to either change 1 WB and the BB, or 2 WB with ??. One story said he "switched the 5th number" (with the BB?) so maybe the 2 higher numbers being reversed (WB and BB) gave a 4+0 win. Switching 2 WB out would indicate he used an algorithm (and that the report was incorrect abut the 5th number) but switching the WB and BB you normally don't want to do that! Figure also that some % of players use systems, and even if it's 1 in 50 sooner or later pure luck comes to a system player and it will SEEM like their system won. The real proof of a system is in backtesting, show that over several drawings it would have at least did better than QP.
His ticket probably looked like:
04 08 15 25 47 BB 42 (match 5+1)
04 08 15 25 42 BB 47 (match 4+0)
In my own system, one of my weaker algorithms (QP RNG) matched 2 WB and the BB.
the guy didn't have any magic formula, he said he used "birthday numbers".
birthday numbers, even switching a couple around here or there to accomodate several family members, is still for a lack of better way to state it - "brainless".
there is no "system" in using already in place family birthdays.
you can bet your life he didn't spend countless hours arranging them or rotating them because they were "due", etc.
he was married before, which at most he had more than the intial required number field to insert, so he naturally rotated a couple of them on a couple of other tickets (unless he states otherwise)
it isn't a system, yet systems players will attempt to make it into one.
i wish i had a dollar for everyone that played the lottery that night on their birthday numbers and lost.
there isn't any wisdom in sticking with the same numbers for years. millions of people do that and lose.
tiggs95 said it correctly .......it's luck (unless you believe in assigned fate...)
that is the one inherent component of the lottery, that it can breed desperation, and desperation makes a person think they can orchaestrate something they can't, which is why there will still be people that play "birthday numbers" now, and remain "panicked" if they "abandon" numbers they have had all these years.
buy a ticket and walk away.
if you are meant to, you will...
VISIONthevoiceofnondesperationDUDE
His way may be brainless, but he still won millions and you are still trying. I wouldn't knock the way he plays.
In fact, he is not the first one to win playing the same numbers for a long time.
after reading your response, i realize my post might have come across as dismissive / condescending, and i can assure you that was not my motive.
by "brainless", i purely meant it didn't take some long dragged out effort to obtain his numerical goal.
the gist of my post = was that i was simply making the point that there is no 'magic fast track' to a lottery jackpot win.
it's all fate or luck.
you know me (mr 1QP), even i know 'birthday numbers" are equally valid as 1QP, as are "systems", or any other methodology someone manufactures.
every method has an equal chance pre draw.
my goal in here is always the same........to provide common sense to a game that arrests logic from people at a record pace based on desperation.
i always hope that people like the Mcullars are blessed, and wish them nothing but a good future with their windfall
VISION
Congrats to them! It's always fun to hear how winners picked their numbers.
....now that I think of it, I think Jim might be my long lost cousin..thrice removed!
Rule number #1 never go show yourself to the public that fast. these are the kind of people that get wasted so fast. that's really stupid thing to do. the other player is smart by not moving forward so quick to claim his prize. damm it...How come it always old people who win this <snip>. the people who need the most can't win it. this is bull<snip>.
They showed the press conference on the news and the winner from Washington said, "The one in Idaho would have won a lot more if I didn't flub the last two numbers."
By him saying that I'm thinking he didn't even play all the numbers he intended, he "flubbed" the last two.
Divine Intervention? Luck? Fate?
Whatever it was, it sure wasn't a system.
last tiem i checked 42 and 47 dont match birthdates unless its the year, maybe he didnt play 42/47 regul;ar just the date and year or something, last 2 he floubbed
Remember the female prison guard in New York this past summer who won a jackpot, meaning to play one of the 5 + 1 games and mistakenly playing the other one?
The odds of winning the jackpot (5/5+1/49) = 1 : 175,711,536
The odds of matching (4/5+0/49) for $150 = 1 : 15,313
The odd of getting both at the same time equals
1 : 15,313 X 1 : 175,711,536 = 1 : 2,690,670,750,768 *
*I think having more than one ticket should reduce those odds by the number of chances on those tickets.
The above is how the abc news radio calculated the odds... But
Since for that to happen a player would need at least 2 tickets, I would figure the odds this way
The odds of winning the jackpot (5/5+1/49) = 2 : 175,711,536
The odds of matching (4/5+0/49) for $150 = 2 : 15,313
The odd of getting both at the same time equals
2 : 15,313 X 2 : 175,711,536 = 4 : 2,690,670,750,768 or 1 : 672,667,687,692 *
* Which would be even less if the player had more than 2 chances.
Congrats to him what a wonderful year and years he and his family is going to have, wishing him the best
Congrats to the McCullar's!
I would claim my jackpot right away, but no news conference & definitely no pictures. Name & town only!
Find a place to rent right away, anddrop my land-line phone.
spaconbe2, I am sorry you feel that 65 is old. What if the winner were 85 or 95, heaven's forbid -- your wrath would know no bounds? If you should live long enough to reach 65, count your blessings. As far as the people who need the money, I am going to assume you are talking about younger people. Of course, he deserves it more, hello, he is retired: he does not have the working productivity years you have.
Playing the lottery is no guarantee you will win; we all play for fun with the hopes of winning, one day. However, no one can predict what year or day that winning will occur. You may be fated to win at 65 -- who knows -- at least you would have won. Anyway, most older people play the lottery, usually, consistently. The younger group usually plays when there is a large amount, i.e., $200 million or more. I guess younger people can not live off $20 million or even $50 million, how sad!
Finally, be glad for him and his family because when you win, you will perhaps want the same congratulations from the younger ones and the older ones.
VISION I like your logic. Many have won mega millions, powerball, state lotto and other games jackpots by playing $1 QUICK PICK, $2 QUICK PICKS, $3 QUICK PICKS, $4 QUICK PICKS, $5 QUICK PICKS AND $10 QUICK PICKS. IT'S ALL ABOUT LUCK AND CHANCE.
Hey, I resent that, I play whenever i have the money too and I'm young and i'd be happy to win a $12,000,000 jackpot granted it be much much nicer to win more then that but who needs that much money?
If you're like most lottery players then you would be happy just to win back what you spent on tickets.
i would like to just say CONGRADULATIONS to you and your family.....It don't matter how or why they won they did...rather you would do a news report or not doesn't matter they did and i'm proud of them and for them I wish them and there family the best and have fun....