Jack's back with more heartbreak
Firefighters from all over Bland County converged on Deer Run Estates in Rocky Gap, West Virginia, on Friday morning to battle a blaze at lottery winner Jack Whittaker's house.
Whittaker said he was on his way to Ghent, West Virginia, to work when his wife, who was inside the brick structure, called him about the fire.
Fire crews got the call at 6:59 a.m. and the house was already engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Whittaker's wife smelled smoke and was able to escape unharmed with the family dog, but a cat died in the blaze, he said.
As firefighters fought the flames on Friday morning, small explosions — apparently from small propane tanks — could be heard coming from the residence. At one point, an Appalachian Power Co. transformer near the house also exploded.
Whittaker said he wasn't sure how the fire started.
"(There) won't be much to haul away — a bunch of bricks, that's it," he said.
He said that he didn't have insurance and would probably move to another building in front of the burned residence.
It was in December 14 years ago that Whittaker dropped $100 at a convenience store counter — $2 on a hot dog and $98 on Powerball tickets — and won a more than $300 million lottery jackpot. At the time it was the largest lottery jackpot ever awarded to a single winning ticket.
Lottery Post has chronicled a long list of woes for Whittaker since that first day of happiness when he won the jackpot.
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Not having insurance and just moving into another house would be nice
He's still in West Virginia? I went looking for updates on him a few weeks ago and a site said he's living quietly in LA Cal.
Anyway, the unluckest lucky man gets another round of unluckiness. He really should think about moving somewhere else, might help him get some of his luck back.
No home insurance? This guy is dumber than what people even give him credit for. He can't blame it on having no funds since his home was paid in full which btw is the only legal way he can opt out of getting insurance. Most ordinary folks who take out a mortgage are obligated to have home insurance to satisfy the lenders requirements.
Going to work??? Isn't he as old as dirt now? Perhaps he kept his business going all these years.
So his house is paid for...good. But no home insurance?...that's just plain.......stupid.
Mr & Mrs Whittaker I'm Sorry to hear about your Cat.
By the looks of things, everything is on fire. Some jackpot winners dissappear never to be heard of again.Jack is not one of them. I hope his Phoenix will rise.
I hope his Phoenix will rise.
It probably does when he goes to strip clubs.
he may have wizened up since he first got lucky and initial tragedies marred his then lifestyle
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but I somehow doubt it
RIP kitty cat.
That was funny mike- but l * think him frequenting those joints are behind him. Did he not give one of those places a "bad" reputation when he accused its customers or the joint of stealing over K100 from him, only for his briefcase to be found by cops behind a dumpster where he probably stashed it while taking a leak?
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I'm truly sorry about that too.
Y'know, I really don't remember anything about that other than he took several thousand bucks in a briefcase to a strip club. I tend to skip over the bad luck lottery stories and instead enjoy reading the ones about the people who did something good with the money, be it to better their own lives or those of others or simply just enjoyed their new wealth.
I've only been to a strip club a few times, a couple of times for buddy's bachelor parties, but the last time I went to a strip club was in the early 90's; I was going back to school at the time and me 'n some of the guys in my program went to go see Morganna the Kissing Bandit. (and her snake)
I guess when the guy loses everything he ever got since winning, that's when people will think he finally got what
he deserves and then go back to their own sorry, miserable lives and finally leave him alone. Personally, I hope he
wins again. Not so he can make the same mistakes but just so the people that hate people like this so much have
something to keep them going.
Insurance is one way to cover the risk of loss, destruction, or injury.
Tennessee has suffered greatly with their fire.
truly sorry to read of this recent incident. This gent has endured such family loss. That this latest fire. Makes me understand the human heart. He deserves compassion not ill will. Lose a grand child ..no money can heal that.
Wow, was it really 14 years ago? lol
Dang, time goes by fast !
He was already a millionaire before he won the 300 million, so he didn't care about expenses. I'm pretty sure over 80% of the time, insurance is never used with homes, unless you live in areas that are known for natural disasters.
Strange you write Phoenix rising out of the ashes Dr65. When I was in the Navy in the early 80's, specifically in this story, about 1983, my Navy squadron's logo kind of looked like a bird, that's the picture you see on the tail, and the first car I ever bought was in Key west Florida, where I was stationed. It just happened to be a 1977 Pontiac Phoenix.
We were called the Firebirds. I was a hydraulic mechanic on the A-3, also called the "Whale", cause it seated like 12 people and bigger than other planes.
I was the plane Captain on this exact plane, 103. I had to pass a test held by a Board of Officers to be a Plane captain. Only then was I allowed to launch planes onto their missions.
I'm sorry for the Whittaker's losses!
When did Jack undertake this second marriage?
OMG Mike you are toooo funny. LOL....
Arson or potential suicide attempt?
. Who knows ...
I'm sure it rises all the time in his mind but in reality it's only just a limp biscuit.
The house that burned is in Virginia, not WV. He can afford to have several houses, but I've got no idea whether he's still has one in WV or if he has any in other places.
Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like a relatively modest house. Certainly not anywhere near as big and expensive as some of the things some people here say they'd buy. Figuring that he's already got the liability protection squared away he may well have figured that the risk didn't really require him to have a homeowner policy. Its not as if 200k to rebuild is going to limit his lifestyle.
He did win again. After making the rounds on every single network, bemoaning how cursed the lottery is and how he wished he'd torn up the ticket or never played, he was still playing and won an additional $10,000.
So must not have thought all his bad luck was really that bad after all. Or he's just a lying hypocrite.
Nobody hates Jack or that he won. They hate his deliberate stupidity. They hate that an intelligent person can make so so so many stupid decisions and they hate that he blames the lottery for all his bad decisions instead of accepting he's responsible for them.
Case in point, perhaps he should have used that additionally won $10,000 and bought insurance. Just a thought.
Does it make any sense to be driving around in luxury SUVs but not bother to budget enough for home insurance?
Hi Bleudog101!
Yep, he still works....he was already a millionaire when he won several years ago.
In spite of his ups and downs in life, I do want the best for this man, and his family.
Good to see that everyone made it out alive. (Except for that poor cat
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I thought she was referring to Harry Potter, Dumbledore's Phoenix saves Harry while he is fighting the Serpent and help to rescue him from the Chamber of Secrets. Jenny Weasley lived, yay!
Sorry this guy's house burned down hate to see that happen and glad no one was hurt.
RIP Cat.
I'll agree he handled it very badly.
You can't say no one hates him. There will always be people who hate just because someone else got what they don't
have or think a particular person doesn't deserve what they have.
It's easy to say he should have this and he should have that...all those things aside, which by the way some of the
people who can't stand someone has something are the first to say what they should have done with it..but anyway,
he's out a house, too many family members and associations and to him he must feel fully cursed, continue to play
or not. I'm thinking he's cursed and there are lots of posters here who thought the same.
A lot of things people who won and didn't plan for don't make sense but neither does the way some people feel that lottery
winners are all arrogant, selfish, stupid people that deserve every bad thing that happens to them.
Here too sully. Well, at least some brain child can't plant the seed he did it for the insurance money.
He won 300 million 14 years ago and has to go to work now?
seems like this guy finds the worst situations to wind up in.
maybe everything will work out for him. maybe...just maybe
he can disapear and live his life in peace and quiet.
Amber123. I was a final checker.
thank you for your service.
if you remember he had a construction buisiness.
it wasn't doing that well, and he was going to have to
lay his workers off. he said when he won, "he was going
to hire them back"
I figure he lost some of his winnings investing in a failing buisiness.
bankers stole some of his money...
he left like 400,000 in an unlocked truck, that got stolen..
forgot what else..
now this fire.
this guy is a walking bad luck magnet.
Well, he's probably a better fisherman than you, so he's got THAT goin' for him.
Some people just enjoy working. Look at al the old timers in our government that are in their 80's and still working. This guy was a millionaire and had a construction business before he even won his $315 million jackpot ( I think he netted about $110 million after taxes). Insuring a home especially in the middle of nowhere can't be that expensive so I have no idea why he skimped out on that, he was probably looking at $1,500 a year max to insure that house.
I bet most millionaires who own fully paid for homes still fork out for insurance.
I feel bad for the cat that didn't make it.
" I feel bad for the cat that didn't make it.".. Really?
Sorry, but nearly all of the issues that he's faced are largely due to his own doing. Carrying $550k in a suit case and getting robbed, having $200k in his car and getting robbed. DUI in 2005. Enabling his granddaughter and her friends' drug addictions. Checks bouncing for his gambling debts.
All these, some of you claim he's had "bad luck." At some point, people need to take responsibility for their decisions.
I feel so sorry for this man and his wife. They've had a lot of tragedies.
I wonder, what is the net worth of Jack Whittaker? and/or his ex wife?
Like I said before he was doomed before winning the lottery like Hillary Clinton losing to trump because at the last moment I decided not to do voodoo for trump and also finding a live Goat in America to kill for trump voodoo was hard to find so trump ended up winning. Now back to Jack Whitaker like I said b4 his first name is Jack but I won't be saying a lot about that at this moment he lost his cat. But his last name is Whitaker meaning "Winner Takes All" . Am not surprise he ended this way but I can tell you something had he worn white from head to toe like the guy in Jurassic park movie he would have done better but instead he wow black. Only black people can make black look good. Positive plus negative is negative. :) basic laws of nature.
"He was doomed before winning? " What are you, a soothsayer?
All l got to say is" You know Jack. "
Only black people can make black look good.
You're kidding, right? If not, I would beg to differ...and again.
Seems like this guy can't get away from tragedies. Glad to hear his wife and dog got out but sorry to hear about his cat. In terms of not having insurance the blame lies solely with him.
He can't get away. He has a very dark shadow that follows him around like in the movie death becomes her. You can't out run your dark shadow but you can first acknowledge them and reduce its power by changing your dark clothing to white. The power of darkness is working against you Jack listen to me am here to help you run like free willy movie :)
Maybe you can send him some New clothes he might need them since his just got burn up in the Fire.
No way . He gave $10million to each of his local church the least they can do is give him Jesus white robe with holy water and a powerful prayer may the power of God repent you lol
I don't think so either with that so much darkness aura still around him , his county will vote for him to leave and move on bro like Brexit :)
I am aware that West Virginia does not allow winners to remain anonymous. But imagine if Whittaker had simply avoided the news conference when he claimed the prize. Maybe his granddaughter would still be alive today. Maybe he would still have a great percentage of the prize money.
You are absolutely right things would be different in a fantasy life. This is like telling trump to stop using Twitter or grabbing what ever he likes. This guy is the real thing he was more busy thinking of all those cute babes at the strip club so what is the point. Look at him. When he walks into any club he wants the DJ to announce BlackJack in the house say hoho :)
I understand what you are saying. Most people have character flaws that would only be magnified after they end up with such a large amount of money. But my point is that any lottery winner can avoid all this just by not holding a news conference, avoiding the press, and keeping quiet.
THANK YOU! Very well said!
I say his Ex-wife, he was married too when he Won Is probably still very well off Financially, she wasn't Stupid like him!
If he had kept his head (the 1 on his shoulders) about himself, a lot of things could have been different for him. He could have had enough money to be self-Insured among many other things.
I find it funny that the end of last month someone had mentioned him on HERE and how nothing had been said about him in awhile, well now IT HAS!! Wonder If he reads LP? WHO CARES............
Not sure about the man .
lol@you !
In my own opinion ....Don't hate the man , actually don't know him .
Remember when he were on ALL national media stations talking about
his $$$$ ,etcccc . What he shouldn't done , forget the media , just kept it
quiet until he had all his financial decisions figured out . No rushing !!
Don't tell the world .
I can think of many winners who took their time and did the right thing with
their $$$$$$ , like one winner , started a business and know he has many
businesses throughout USA.
Three other winners , they were quiet and did the right thing .
There's many positive winners , it's up to that person to do the right thing with
that $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ...Common sense , level headed , live with in your means
just not above ( that's where you end up losing everything ) .
Many years ago a lady who the lottery in this area , she end up moving into a nicer
town and home $$$$$$$$ , she felt uncomfortable , she need up moving back into
the same ole town , she started from ....She's living below her means , not that she
has too !!!!
When I say no one hates Jack Whittaker, I mean, no sane, mature, rational, above-a-double-digit IQ individual who doesn't suffer from an emotional and/or mental impairment will hate a stranger because he won a lot of money. Didn't think I would have needed to add that disclaimer
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Jack is not Hurley from LOST. His lottery money wasn't cursed. A curse is misfortune you have no control over.
You can't give thousands of dollars per month in cash and assets to an unemployed, unsupervised, drug addicted teenager and expect a positive outcome. You can't leave $100K in an unlocked vehicle at a strip club and not foresee the possibility that it might get stolen. TWICE. The second time being after the police chief told you not to do that again. That isn't a curse. That's idiocy.
He made a series of incredibly stupid decisions with foreseeable negative results.
I don't give stupidity a free pass by dressing it up as a curse. I leave that to others.
p.s. I worked at an insurance company for 2 years straight out of college. I've seen my share of Jack Whittakers who rationalize that insurance isn't necessary then would come the crocodile tears when they were robbed, or flooded, or had a fire. My favorite one was an uninsured driver who drove straight through the living room of an uninsured house.
When I left insurance, I went into healthcare. Saw my share of drug addicts while working in the ER. So when I tell you that I would never, will never, can't ever make the same mistakes Jack did, you can take that to the bank.
There are bad decisions with unforeseeable consequences, and then there are bad decisions with very obvious, very foreseeable consequences. Investing with Madoff would fall under bad decision with unforeseeable negative outcome. Not insuring my home and simply hoping for the best, bad decision with foreseeable consequences. I will never engage myself to a known drug dealer. I will never enable a drug addict. I will never leave piles of cash in an unlocked vehicle at a questionable venue.
If you know yourself, then you should have no problem saying what you will or won't do. I'm sure I'll make mistakes, but I know that they won't be any of the ones above.
Those who don't care about expenses, are usually the ones who end up bankrupt
Living in a place where natural disasters are slim to none isn't a reason to skip insurance. I'm guessing your thinking is the reason I've seen so many uninsured homeowners in dire situations.
They, like you, think natural disasters but fail to take into account that a cookie-selling girl scout can trip on their front steps. Or that lightning can hit their home in a thunderstorm. Or that a sinkhole can appear in their driveway. Or that even safe neighborhoods can have robberies. Or that their tree can fall over and damage their neighbor's property. Or a drunk driver can misjudge a turn and plough into their living room. Not understanding the full ramifications of being uninsured is how you end up like Jack. The proud owner of a burned down house where anything that needs to be replaced will be an out of pocket expense.
He is his own self created bad luck...
This guy can't get a break. Much of what happened to him is his own fault, mainly having the attitude that he can do whatever he wants since he has all that money. The fire may not have been his fault that we know of, but not carrying insurance just isn't a smart thing to do.