Ticket bought online; Lottery withholds winner's name for security reasons
BEND, Ore. — For the first known time in the Oregon Lottery's 30-year history, the ticket for a winning big jackpot has been sold through an international online lottery ticket sales site — and the $6.4 million prize goes to an Iraqi national whose ticket was bought in Bend, and whose name won't be revealed in order to protect him from danger in his homeland, officials confirmed Wednesday.
"We sell a lot of megabucks tickets, they come in with hands full of them," said Judy Bell-Putis, owner of Binky's on Southeast Third Street in Bend.
One of those tickets turned out to crack the jackpot.
"That doesn't happen very often, so it was exciting for us to be sold here," Bell-Putis said Wednesday.
On Aug. 24, theLotter.com hired someone go to Binky's, a deli and lottery ticket sales outlet, and buy a Megabucks ticket on behalf of a Website customer, who as it turned out is an Iraqi national.
No winner came forward until Dec. 1, when the man walked into the Oregon Lottery's Salem headquarters to claim his prize — and to spark a round of legal inquiry about the unique (to this point) circumstances of the big win.
"This is absolutely unprecedented for the Oregon Lottery," said Chuck Baumann, lottery spokesman.
Baumann said Wednesday that such online sales are legal in this case, though the lottery itself does not sell tickets online.
Rather than a lump-sum payment, the winner chose to take his payout over 20 years. The agency made the first payment of $256,000 last week (after withholding income taxes, as is the typical procedure). The Megabucks cash lump sum payment would have been $3.2 million — half the jackpot amount, before taxes are paid.
Lottery officials said they sought legal advice and were told the purchaser did nothing wrong and he should be paid. But the lottery's own Website notes that it's a murky issue: "Internet wagering is a complex issue involving both state and federal law, as well as a number of regulatory, technological and security challenges."
Lottery rules also state that the winning ticketholder's name is public record, but the winner in this case asked that his name be withheld.
The winner is an Iraqi Kurd living in Baghdad. After traveling from the Mideast, the man strolled into lottery headquarters in Salem on Dec. 1 with little advance notice and presented the winning ticket.
While the Oregon Lottery doesn't sell tickets online, Lottery Director Jack Roberts said he was advised that the man didn't do anything wrong and should get his winnings. The man was also able to persuade lottery officials not to release his name, although it is a public record under Oregon law.
"In this case, I made the decision based on talking to the guy," said Roberts. "I do believe that there is a personal safety risk to him and his family... I would hope that people would respect the reasons for not giving the name. It's not going to mean anything to them, but it could to someone halfway around the world."
Roberts said the man — described as being in his 40s, personable and speaking relatively good English — made a convincing case that he and his family could be at risk of being killed or kidnapped if it was known that he had come into a large sum of money. Baghdad is one of the world's most dangerous cities, and an ethnic Kurd can stand out in a city dominated by Shiites.
theLotter.com, based in Israel, allows customers to buy lottery tickets from all over the world.
According to website's FAQ page, the site has a London mailing address and The Lotter Enterprises Ltd. is registered in Belize. It says all prizes are commission-free, though it charges a hefty fee for the initial ticket purchase — $3 worth of Megabucks tickets cost $9 — and if one wins a jackpot, "theLotter will fly you to the country" where it happened, "our local office representative will hand you your winning ticket" and will tell you how to claim the prize.
With that kind of system, Oregon Lottery officials acknowledge there's no way of really knowing if it's the first jackpot won through an online site, only that it's the first they they were informed of such, and in very unusual circumstances.
While Bell-Putis and her son were hoping to have the winning ticket themselves, selling the ticket might have been the next best thing for them.
Binky's gets a "selling bonus," as the lottery's contract with retailers stipulates, of 1 percent of the prize, up to $100,000 — so in this case, the deli's bonus is $64,000, Baumann said.
"We're glad to have it," Bell-Putis said. "This is a real small store here."
This is great free publicity for THAT COMPANY . I don't care if the winner is from Iraq or Syria, so far as that money is not used to support Jihadists or any other form of terrorism.
I always wondered if those on-line lottery web sights are real or just rip offs..
Congrats to the winner
Stay safe and enjoy.
I quit playing the lottery online YESTERDAY!!!! Had a miserable morning feeling like my win may never come......and now THIS story!!!!! Thanks for the encouragement not to stop dreaming. I am a winner and that settles it!!!!
Congrats Man :-)
So, if they will let this guy stay anonymous because the win might put him in danger, why won't they extend the same courtesy to US???
VERY GOOD POINT TIALUVELOTTO
I DPNT CARE WHICH COUNTRY HE IS FROM when the citizens passed the lottery in THEIR STATE it was, I BET, it was for OREGON CITIZENS..the fact is he an IRAQI does make a difference..being that most of those people in Iraq and Syria and a host of others over there hates AMERICANS , I would say it make a very big <snip> difference...
what if it turned out to be a member of ISIS and it was a POWERBALL JACKPOT worth 200 or 300 million dollars...they could buy any amount of arms in the world with that money..
MAYBE..this will be a good thing and every lottery state passes a law saying you have to be a UNITED STATES CITIZEN from now on...!!!!!!
I think the bigger worry isn't this guy with a measly 6.4 million. It's the US govt. who has been funding and training these so called rebels to the tunes of BILLIONS!
Just sayin'
Yeah and our friggin RETARDED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT did an investigation after a little digging into the truth on the CIA for giving away 12 billion dollars...THATS RIGHT..I HEARD 12 BILLION DOLLARS during the so called investigation...those friggin idiots just gave away 12 billion dollars to those idiots over there..and I bet a large portion of that money made it to the same people to make IED'S and bought plenty of ak47's and only God knows what else was bought...do you have any idea what 12 Billion dollars could have done here at home...It could have PROBABLY got at least half the states out of financial debt and done the other half the following year...noooo they would rather give that money to a bunch friggin idiots who hate our ass...
I agree he may or maynot be in danger if his name gets out but if the rules for this game and other games, state. name and picture will be posted of winners then all should be held to these rules. betting if he was from USA would not be allowed to skirt around this rule. I'm not against anyone playing and winning but should be the rules apply to ALL that play, there were players in this country that lost lives do to lottery winnings.
Because the Government of the people, by the people, and for the people has perished...
I don't play any of the Oregon Lottery games so it doesn't matters to me what they do. In Ohio some winners are choosing to use a trust to claim their winnings which has the same results.
Good for a few kalashnikovs and belts.
They are real!
i know someone who plays!
It's BS that only he gets anonymity for "security reasons." What about the winners in actual Oregon that have to deal with security threats in the state? I heard about this on NPR news while driving this morning.
Kind of pointless because you can remain anonymous in Ohio. I guess, they are trying to guarantee it in case laws change.
Well it's good news for all of us using this site, it means they are for real and won't steal the winnings. I trust them and have played with them a couple of years from Sweden (no big winnings of course). The site is also advertised from both lotterypost (jackpot page) and usamega which is also good. I hope this also will lead to better access to US lotteries from europe. The Lotter is good but as stated in the articles the fees are really high. And the most strange thing is that it's still illegal for US citizens to play online lotteries in other countries.
I do not think letting USA lotteries played by foreign citizens of any state, but especially because it could be played by IS-IS members. Now would we want that?
Yes Is-is may have members in usa, but mostly there are few and far between, and in any case, this still makes it rife to let people in organizations with big money win the lottery, and more likely winners will not be USA citizens. That is, the lottery is US, not world, and so it should be kept in house, and probably in state, except for powerball and mega millions type format. (all states). I think these especially should be excluded for now.
I do know how to predict the lottery and have done so repeatedly this past two months, as my blog will show. But we are working as a team to share without problem by having players play their own tickets. Share fund is strictly by gentlemans agreement, but at lease we know who is playing with us.
This experience has put me off on traveling anywhere international. I will travel here the U.S.
So, is this a rule or a law which makes you go public. Each lottery playing State will have different answers.
No fees for me while using credit card to buy tickets, maybe depends on how you transfer through your bank? But tickets cost about 2.5 times more so I only play when the jackpots get high and only a few lines. 3-5 lines. And for the orher commentd above, all of us foreigners that buy tickets also contribute in raising the jackpots, why wouldn't we also be allowed to take part of the wins?
Exactly, I wonder if anyone bothered to check to see if he was on a terror watch list?
Yes it has.
Well it didn't take long for us to delve into the trump like racist comments did it. Maybe just a regular guy won. Cmon
There's not a single racist comment on this thread so far, but you had to make it political against Trump.
Your still not as clever as you think you are.
Sully is right, there is no racism discussed, and nothing about Trump. You have introduced both into this topic. Do not attempt to go further into those off-topic discussions.
Totally agree with this. There may be good reasons for allowing anonymity for this person. But Oregon (and all other states) should extend the same consideration to their own residents.
Ignoring the fact that so many are equating Iraqi to probable terrorist, ISIS is quite possibly the most well funded terrorist organization...ever. They have hundreds of millions to work with and you're all getting up in arms because an Iraqi citizen won 6.4 million. After taxes it's a drop in the bucket to what they have so let's try to keep things in perspective.
The government has enough backdoor ways of seizing or freezing someone's assets. If they can garnish winnings from someone behind in child support, they aren't going to hand over a dime if a lottery winner is on a terrorist watch list.
I had all my deposit accounts frozen without warning because I sold Iranian saffron on eBay. Nothing unfroze until I showed evidence it was purchased before the embargo. There was no option of claiming "I didn't know" or "mea culpa" or "it was a gift and I didn't need it". The only option given was "prove the date of the purchase or we keep your money". What got me is that they didn't ask for that information before they froze my assets. They're working from a "we'll assume you're doing something illegal first and sort out the facts later" angle.
So yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say congratulations to the winner because I'm 100% sure that if he isn't on the up and up, he won't be getting any of it.
Once again you hit the nail right on the head. Though to be fair, Ohio allows for anonymity regardless, but still, it would be interesting to see if a no anonymity state would give a foreign national protection. The lottery doesn't seem to care much if their publicity whoring puts an American winner in jeopardy.
Good point. It's almost worth paying the fee so know one finds out.
"So, if they will let this guy stay anonymous because the win might put him in danger, why won't they extend the same courtesy to US???"
Because the danger to "US" is mostly in your head, whereas the danger to a lottery winner living in Iraq is much more likely to be real.
In case there's any confusion, the lottery decided not to release his name because he lives in Iraq, not because he's Iraqi. I expect that if you move to Iraq (or a number of other places) before claiming a prize you could convince them not to release your name, at least if they believed it would be difficult for you to move out of Iraq.
"There's not a single racist comment on this thread so far"
You're right. When posters speculate that he might be a terrorist or wonder "if anyone bothered to check to see if he was on a terror watch list?" it's probably just because he's Iraqi.
That means it's just plain all-purpose bigotry, rather than racism.
Oh goody another one who thinks he's so clever.
The danger is in our heads? I think Abraham Shakespear might disagree, or the countless other lottery winners who have turned up dead or have been hounded for hand outs might disagree.
All purpose bigotry, Well Mr. Clever, the definition of Bigotry: Having intolerance to those with a different opinion.
Now if you said I was prejudice you might be correct, Color me a wee bit skeptical towards people in countries that constantly scream " Death to America"
But there's still no real danger here, just ask the people from the Boston Marathon, Fort Hood and the 14 who were just slaughtered in California last week.
Terror watch list, how dare me even think it.
RIP Innocent souls.
I sincerely hope that this guy uses the money to move himself and his family to a country where they can all live in peace. It must be a nightmare to never know if bombs will fall on your house, an IED will blow up your car or a stray bullet from a shoot-out will kill you when you go to buy groceries.
Since he's a US taxpayer for the next 20 years, maybe he can come here?
Congratulation to this man on his Oregon Megabuck win. The Oregon Lottery, made the right decision. This was a matter of Life & Death for this person family members. It better to be safe then sorry.
Regarding the whole ISIS debate (on the grounds of nothing but his citizenship, no less!) I think it's safe to say the captured oil fields generate many times as much revenue as these measly 6M US$.
The Tzarnaev Marathon bombers came to the US when they were what, 7 years old? The FBI recognizes that the real danger to the US is home grown terrorists , which is astonishing when you take into account the us geopolitics of the last 20 years.
Back to the topic of actual lottery playing, I wonder if <snip> buys all tickets in Orgeon? Because if they bought in Delaware or another anonymity state I might consider buying from them as I now know they are legit.
Thank you Todd for this story what a remarkable site that allows us insigt
into the world of lottery players.
I'm afraid you don't understand what "bigotry" means. LOL You can't be a "bigot" by judging a person based on what country they are from.
Bigotry has to do with an intolerance against someone based on what their opinions are -- which is closer to what YOU have posted!
I will say this much...I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the comments on this thread for sure..I think it shows how different people feel about the same circumstance...
As for me...the fact that he is an Iraqi was all I needed to here...because ,sure..the first thing I thought of is he is probably a Terrorist..and second...how in the hec did he win all the way In Iraq...I still think the U.S. lottery system should be for U.S. citizens only...
Lets not forget that our country got caught with its pants down on September 11th, 2001...and oh yeah..the big one...December 7th, 1941...oh yeah..we sure hated the Japanese back then didnt we..it seems like every time the United States relaxes it self somebody is ready to attack us and kill thousands of people in the process...I am beginning to think the entire world actually hates us mostly because of our Government..which seems to stick its nose in way to many places it shouldnt be as if the United States is suppose to run the world or something..
Now the only country them people hate more than Americans is Israelis...do you Honestly think them people care one single bit about who our founding fathers were.. ,what our country has gone through to remain free...they are NOT coming here to be AMERICANS...they are coming here to be Muslims...and one thing is for sure...RELIGION OUT RANKS ANY CITIZENSHIP..Now if you dont believe that..ask FRANCE...so later on down the road if there is Muslim uprising...they will get involved some how or another...you can bet on that...
I do believe with MOST OF THE STATES SAYING THEY DONT WANT THEM HERE,WAS CLEAR ENOUGH to those retards running our country....
It's a highly personal situation, so I understand feelings on both sides.
Personally, I have no problem with it. In order to win a jackpot the person would have to pay into it, and frankly they've probably put a good deal more into other jackpots before winning this one. So whoever won those other jackpots was receiving money from this guy, as well as the thousands of other foreigners who have played in the same manner.
Plus, he's most certainly not the first non-US citizen to win a US jackpot. I have reported on a few myself in the past, and there have most definitely been others. I guess this is the first time I've heard of someone from Iraq winning a US jackpot, but I don't think that makes him a bad person by definition.
The danger is in our heads? I think Abraham Shakespear might disagree, or the countless other lottery winners who have turned up dead
What countless lottery winners who turned up dead
I literally counted 3 off the top of my head, who are the others your
referring to?
William and Brenda Evans Detroit
Arthur Neal Detroit
Urooj Khan Illinois
Abraham Shakespear Florida
When a american citizen who wins a huge jackpot,wants to remain anonymous,its also for security reasons.
That's it
So you just added two more so my total is now 5, well 6 (for the couple).
You used the word "countless" like there were so many winners being killed you couldn't
even count them (because that's what the word countless means) thought I missed a whole lot of stories
here on LP.
Okey, dokey! So overall lottery winners are safe!
Many stories don't make national headlines, not all lottery murders are over millions, but some are as low as 500 hundred dollars.
In Detroit you can die just for taking the last chicken wing, true story.
I'm sorry but why else would you or anyone else mention terrorism, watch list or anything else in the like? What does someone winning the lottery have to do with terrorism?
Not to mention the number of attempted murders, or the "almost hired, murderer-for-hire, in order to get rid of some lottery winner, so a relative or some "friend" can get their grubby hands on it. Winning the lottery is NOT the safest thing that can happen to you. The lottery has a huge downside that most people that win find out about all to well. But most get through it ok. The biggest problem is that there is no "prior experience" for someone that has won the lottery for the first time, so they are most at risk. I think most lotteries actually do offer advice to new lottery winners, but listening to, and/or using that advice are two very different things. Still, I'd love to win. I'd keep a low profile, I'm getting old, so I can leave my ego out of it at this point in my life. I won't feel that I would need to yell to the world that I won big. Just my 2 cents.
Do you know anything about the lottery?? Do you know anything about lottery winners in the US? I would say no you don't know anything at all! There are countless stories of lottery winners in the US that are assaulted or killed over lottery winnings not to mention lottery thefts! I automatically think of the man in Florida that was killed and buried by a real estate agent/broker for his lottery winnings! Please think and research and think again before you post!
I for one am happy for this Iraqi Kurd. Shiites would no doubt kill him and his family if his name was released. I could care less what origin of country a winner comes from, doesn't affect me in the least. I do hope he gets his family out of that hell hole of a country.
My question is with the IRS; how will he get a refund since he is not a citizen? Tax laws aren't my speciality and maybe the stronghold of the IRS doesn't care where you are...you've got to pay. BTW he has a tax liability of 20 years!
Since he is not a resident of the US will he be required to pay US Federal and Oregon State taxes on his lottery winnings? I would be curious to know if anyone has any answers or insight on this topic.
My thoughts exactly.
According to the story:
"Rather than a lump-sum payment, the winner chose to take his payout over 20 years. The agency made the first payment of $256,000 last week (after withholding income taxes, as is the typical procedure). The Megabucks cash lump sum payment would have been $3.2 million — half the jackpot amount, before taxes are paid."
Rather than a lump-sum payment, the winner chose to take his payout over 20 years. The agency made the first payment of $256,000 last week (after withholding income taxes, as is the typical procedure).
Interesting. Prior to October 4th, the annuity for this game was 25 years. Now it is 30 years. Where does the 20 years come from?
Please see this article: http://www.ktvz.com/news/lottery-still-waiting-to-hear-from-bends-big-jackpot-winner/34917810
I'm pretty sure you're much smarter than sully, but you've still got a narrow and incomplete understanding of what bigotry means. Even so, that limited definition doesn't change anything. The response of some posters isn't simply because he's Iraqi, but because they're making assumptions about his opinions based on his being Iraqi.
As for my post, the fact that somebody recognizes bigotry doesn't mean they're a bigot themselves. That said, I guess I too am a bigot, since I have some level of intolerance for the views of those who actually are terrorists. Even when they're US citizens.
The number of winners who have been harmed, besides being a tiny fraction of winners, is only part of the story. Maybe sully is being deliberately misleading, or perhaps she's just not able to understand the complete story, but most victims are their own worst enemies. That's especially true of her list.
The first couple hadn't presented the ticket to the lottery, so it's very obvious to anyone with a room temperature IQ that the lottery's policies on anonymity had nothing to do with it. Then there's the limited "evidence" that it was related to the lottery at all. The cops believe the house was connected to the drug market. If they believe that it's entirely possible hat the killers believed it, even if it's not true. Either way, the couple apparently made it well know that they won the lottery. Arthur Neal's story is about the same, minus the drug angle. The family says he won the lottery, but he never claimed a prize. The family says his house was ransacked, but the police said "the house didn’t look like it had been ransacked.” In both cases the family claims the murders were a result of winning the lottery, but there's no proof that any of them actually won. What is absolutely certain is that there were no press conferences, so having their names released by the lottery very clearly wasn't a factor.
Khan almost certainly was killed for his lottery winnings. He was poisoned with cyanide just hours after the press conference. His wife reportedly tried to cash the check within the next few days. The money, along with the rest of his estate, went to his wife and daughter.
Shakespeare is the only one who was clearly targeted by a stranger. Shakespeare gave his convicted killer legal authority over at least some of his money. The murder was apparently an attempt to cover her theft.
The only other one I know of off the top of my head is William "Bud" Post. Somebody tried to have him killed, but was unsuccessful. That person was his brother.
So instead of "countless" winners turning up dead we've got 5 (I'll assume sully can count that high), only two of which were definitely lottery winners, plus one guy who somebody tried to kill. Of those 5 only one can possibly be because the lottery didn't let them remain anonymous. That's not a real danger. It's a tiny risk that disproportionately effects those who are ignorant, uneducated, or stupid. The people who post here routinely claim that they're capable of successfully managing a lottery win, so where's the problem?
I used to play on thelotter awhile ago but stop because of all the uncertainty with the online gambling bill congress passed and the fact that I didn't really know that I'd get my money. I think this is huge and will be a big boon for thelotter, since they've proven that they do as they say and you will get your money.
Sheesh, can't you just say you exaggerated when you said "I think Abraham Shakespear might disagree, or the countless other lottery winners who have turned up dead"?
How many have to be dead for you?
I don't care that he won, If the State of Oregon is going to give him special treatment, they need to extend that same treatment to anyone who wins in Oregon.
I don't care how dangerous his homeland is, Dangerous to live here also.
Virginia lottery winner who uses wheelchair robbed after cashing ticket.
NC- Lottery winners house robbed by four masked men.
Canada - lottery winner robbed ,Lottery post.com/news/222046
Jack Whittaker , car robbed of cash while he sat in strip club drinking.
Charlotte- Caught on tape , lottery winner robbed.
Ohio man wins lottery, beaten and robbed Lotterypost.com/news/267029
Sorry the bodies aren't stacked up to the ceiling, but the simple fact, lottery winners are targets and all these people are victims.
You did say "countless" so it's too many to be counted. Does "countless" mean counted on one hand to you?
I was thinking of Jackpot winners since that's what this thread is about.
"Jeffrey Dampier Jr. (March 24, 1966 – July 26, 2005) was the winner of an Illinois Lottery jackpot worth US $20 million in 1996. He was murdered by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend in 2005"
I counted Jeffery, Khan and Abraham off the top of my head as three Jackpot winners who were killed.
I showed more, I could do research all day.
We both know your 's, ky's, and b2b petty attacks are payback about Ridge.
You are all smart enough to know, lottery winners are targets.
It's humorous that you believe the definition of bigotry can be changed to suit your whims. But it's sad that you believe you can measure how "smart" people here are. That attitude betrays your snobbish and elitist character. People who think they are better than others are typically overcompensating for their own weaknesses.
You would be much better off if you would debate ideas rather than feeling the need to try to hurt other people by personally attacking them.
The LOtter only allows customers to buy if they ARE NOT from the USA. If you try to register from the states you will not able to get pass log in. I don't know why Lottery Post even put their banner to support them if it's only for foreigners and not for disable citizens or someone who want the internet convenience - sounds very fishy to me. If someone from Iraq could buy a ticket online, I feel I should have that right to purchase tickets online and have the same opportunity as a customers like all the customers from the foreign countries especially since I am from this country! LOTTER --- SOME KIND OF FOREIGN MONEY LAUNDERING BUSINESS- VERY VERY VERY FISHY !!! I'm not a hater but I think business both online or offline should expand the same rights to all customers. I hope someone will start a petition to ban them. If other countries citizens can buy from the US, we should be able to buy from them as well wouldn't you think?
You are very far off the mark.
US law forbids the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet, some states like Illinois allow it. TheLotter does not sell lottery ticets, what you pay for is money for a ticket + a purchase fee for somebody to actually go to a store in the US and buy a physical ticket. If you want to be able to play directly over the internet you should take it up with your politicians.
ALWAYS CHECK YOUR FACTS BEFORE POSTING. The info you posted is absolutely misleading{very wrong}. You can join theLotter in less than a few minutes depending on how fast you can type. People in the USA used to be able to play with their credit cards, but the politicians with the help of the banks, managed to screw it up. Right now if you want to play, you have to use bank transfers to send money.............theLotter. I can post the INSTRUCTIONS here but it might get zapped by Admin. If you are in the USA and you can execute bank transfers from YOUR BANK, to........theLotter, copies of your ticket will be in your inbox soon if you purchase the tickets of your choice, played anywhere in the world. It's that simple. YOU CAN DO IT TOO.
You can pretend the word "countess" doesn't mean "an amount to large to count" all day, but that doesn't change the real meaning or the fact you said it.
"We both know your 's, ky's, and b2b petty attacks are payback about Ridge. "
My pointing out you were exaggerating the number of murdered lottery jackpot winners by using the word "countless" was not meant (by me) to be a petty attack. If anything I was suggesting you were continuing to make a silly argument.
I won't speak for the others, but apparently in the past you said something to me or about me and expected "paybacks".
"You are all smart enough to know, lottery winners are targets. "
As a "lottery winner" I was never a kidnapping or any other type of target and neither were three of the multi-million jackpot winners I personally know. Are you speaking as a lottery winner who was some type of a target or just exaggerating again?
Currently state online ticket sales are restricted to state residence or players physically inside the state. The Mass Lottery offers up to yearly subscriptions for some of their games.
Really? whohoo!
Thanks for clearing that up!
I did ask that question about US players but no one answered so I deleted it. I'm so glad USA players can play with TheLotter
Hey everybody, Stack is a huge lottery winner, has big connections.
Maybe if you bug him enough he will share his secret.
We're still waiting for at least a link to a website showing where a "countless" number of jackpot winners were murdered.
For those who play lottery games with odds of 1:275M almost anything is "countable".
People were murdered over lottery tickets and others destroyed themselves after winning a jackpot and most of them thought they were in the right place at the right time, but were really in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I'm guessing he has friends or family in Oregon. Why would he play there instead of another state where the jackpots are larger.
Haven't looked up the odds, maybe they are much better?
Or he was in Vegas and thought it was connected to the machines.
Personally I would have chosen CAs Superlotto Plus, attractive odds, high jackpots, less attention than multistate MM & PB.