20/20 Special Lotto Frenzy: Be Careful What You Wish For

Reply #45

Jill34786 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:46:07 GMT

After watching the clip several times, I did not see any dollar bills. Just the single tickets that she gave to each men.

Reply #44

Jill34786 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:40:18 GMT

I believe that if you were to purchase a winning ticket in a nearby state that offered you the option to be anonymous, you could adhere to that statute even though you reside in a different state. I had purchased tickets in Maryland and had I been the fortunate ticket holder, the state would have been there to take 7.25% for non-residents...but I would have been granted my privacy.

Reply #43

NJJim — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:46:04 GMT

Yes, Win$500Quick, the doubling the PB price was sheer greed. They may have to reset it to $1 again. They could have easily made the extra dollar count for a two bet minimum and left the odds alone, and still rake in huge profits. But that's the thing when money is too easy to come by - they get to feel there is always more that can be squeezed out of the suckers willing to face such steep odds. They figure we are not really expecting to win anyway.

Reply #42

sully16 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:35:13 GMT

Wow, so sad. I'll stick with the 3 digit, slow and steady.

Reply #41

sully16 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:33:33 GMT

Yep,they thought they had the gravy train wrapped up.

Reply #40

Nikkicute — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:44:16 GMT

The mother of his grandchild (his daughter) is also dead. She died of an overdose I believe.

Grandaughter boyfriend died in their house of an overdose (lawsuit settlement)

Grandaughter died, his daughter died, wife couldn't take it anymore and left, so that's half of the

money gone in the divorce.

As soon as he won business partners and people he contracted with started to sue, so he had to

defend himself to the tune of I think he said $3,000,000 to lawyers.

Just bad... [ More ]

Reply #39

Simba774 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:58:59 GMT

He was. He was a MILLIONAIRE before his big win.

Reply #38

Simba774 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:57:12 GMT

Yesterday on The View Babara said they had their highest ratings in 2 years. What was the point of showing that lady Jack Whittaker's story? You can lock me in a room with his story on repeat and I would still say, What does that have to with me? In other words, just because he made dumb decisions doesn't mean I'm going to make dumb decisions. Though, I still think what happened to his granddaughter was a horrible tragedy. Any hardcore Country fans know the name of those two songs... [ More ]

Reply #37

Brcebrce — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:38:44 GMT

Yes he gets no sympathy from me. I've seen a few interviews from winners like him. I feel bad that his granddaughter died cause it wasn't her fault. But him he deserved to lose it all. didn't he lose over half a mil in cash at a strip club? Strange thing is I think he was the owner of a profitable concrete ompany before he won.

Reply #36

savagegoose — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:46:29 GMT

heheh upon reading this thread, i dont get 20/20 here, its like a reders digest condensed version of this place, i feel i already know all the characteras, and love and hate them.... well maily hate, because theyre morons, and display traits i despise; or fear displaying, in myself. nobody likes looking in a mirror without make up on.

i gotta watch this 20 20 , my sister says she gets it and records it, so im gonna go watch when this appears.

Reply #35

lottogenie — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:43:25 GMT

well im already broke so if i could be rich for awhile..ill take the risk of going broke later..

Reply #34

Coin Toss — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:40:23 GMT

Red Bud was on ABC's Nightline tonight.

They interviewed one guy who has been getting phone calls and texts congratulating him on being the winner and he said he didn't even buy a ticket.

If it was a local person that won it has to be driving them crazy knowing they've got a ticket worth that much in their hand and a news crew just waiting for them to show up.

Nightline also mentioned that in Kansas they don't evn reveal the name and location of the store where the winners are sold.... [ More ]

Reply #33

dallascowboyfan — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 02:35:40 GMT

There are news crews in the town of Red Bud (Population 3,500) waiting for the winner to show up. that's crazy CT....

Reply #32

Coin Toss — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 23:19:03 GMT

According to tonight's news, only the Illiois winner has to come forward, not the case in Maryland or Kansas.

There are news crews in the town of Red Bud (Population 3,500) waiting for the winner to show up.

Reply #31

CDanaT — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:47:46 GMT

Amen CT................Wouldn't that have been great to have one of those anon states produce a winner ??....that would have wound up a few folks

Reply #30

Coin Toss — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:30:08 GMT

Whitaker was asking for it going to strip clubs and keeping hundreds of thousands dollars in the trunk of his car.

I though the 20/20 special was pretty interesting, especially showing it with the record setting jackpot drawing coming up and a countdown clock until the drawing.

People need to realize what other people are capable of if you hit a jackpot.

The program really made me wish I lived in an anonymous state, should I ever hit.

Reply #29

Artist77 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:58:14 GMT

My question about Whitaker is was he doing crazy things before he won the lottery? He claims the lottery caused his misery but was he going to strip clubs, etc. before the win? I find it hard to believe that if you are that age and don't do those things, you will afterwards if you win the lottery (if you are/were happily married).

And where was the mother of his grandchild

Reply #28

maximumfun — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:49:19 GMT

Ridge - what a wonderful thoughtful person you are! (sorry - had to take a break from typing to finish chuckling) Her personality shifts might prove to be a tad encumbering though... even for a thoughful consoling fella such as you

Reply #27

CDanaT — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:46:44 GMT

ahhhhhhhhhhhh yes, if she could only have only gone back in time and never made her 1st million so public that she was recognized....We learn by our mistakes.....as well as watching and learning from those of others.............No publicity for me...thanks....I will always take the 5th......NO Rdge, that refers to remaining silent as opposed to alcohol consumption.

Reply #26

Artist77 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:44:08 GMT

lol lol I think she might end up asking you for money. The program made some remark about her range of emotions during her 2 hour interview.

Reply #25

NoShame — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:41:32 GMT

My feelings exactly on Jack Whittaker. I've heard similar stories on past lottery winners and to me, a curse is a scapegoat for failing to take personal responsibility for your spending habits. You wanna know a real lottery curse, turn to Hurley from Lost.

Reply #24

rdgrnr — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:22:49 GMT

I think I could help her if I could meet her privately to console her.

Does she still have that million? (Not that that's important at all, just wondering).

Reply #23

diamondpalace — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:33:19 GMT

Learn from these lottery fools. Lottery fame is never good attracts unwanted intentions.

I hope she never gets her money. It is his now. Cannot claim it was lost or stolen when clearly shows it was given to.

Also the clerk was eye witness and said she gave them away. I see no dollar bills stick to the tickets and clearly shows she handed each a ticket fresh from the machine...The reason why she wanted back so badly was like any other lottery fools, they gave/spend most of their previous wi... [ More ]

Reply #22

diamondpalace — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:26:40 GMT

20/20 Special Lotto Frenzy

Reply #21

maximumfun — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:20:45 GMT

All those stories make my head spin. It is such a mixed bag of tragedy and comedy. Much better than 'reality t.v.

Reply #20

PlayTwoWin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:12:37 GMT

I missed the show. Someone said you can watch it on YouTube!? What key words should I use to find it? Anyone have a link?

Thanks

Reply #19

Win$500Quick — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:39:00 GMT

There was so many great stories on the special I forgot to mention the lottery pool from California Elementary school who won twice. I also could not believe the lady who found a winning scratch-off in the trash worth $1 million dollars. Then she was sued by the manager of the store who took pictures with her holding the check and was also quoted in the newspaper saying They are really good people, they deserved it . Now her bank account has been frozen. There was an undocumentedl immigrant work... [ More ]

Reply #18

Artist77 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:41:09 GMT

I was originally sympathetic to that woman who claimed she accidently gave away a winning lottery ticket. But I saw the video and she handed two tickets to two guys...I did not even see any 100 bills in her hands. She also did not act right ...like she was on medication or something. I had previously pictured some little old lady.

Reply #17

PoeticJustice32 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:36:15 GMT

Completely agree with you guys. I was shocked when they said he had burned through $20 million in 3 years. THREE YEARS!!! Other than the Nascar team (which I doubt is generating much money) I didn't hear him talk about any other businesses he was investing in. I said its a good thing his wife still likes to clip coupons because in a few years, that's exactly what they'll need to be doing to stay afloat.

That girl who was crying over the ticket she had given away didn't really do anything for... [ More ]

Reply #16

dallascowboyfan — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:36:49 GMT

The Nascar guy will be broke in 5 years DH said the same thing last night when we were watching it...

Reply #15

LottoGuyBC — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:34:09 GMT

couldn't find it on youtube

don't mind watching it again

kinda fell asleep during the middle

Reply #14

WesternRedDoug — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:27:59 GMT

I enjoyed the 20/20 special. It was like watching the pages of LotteryPost come to life. Sort of like when a book you like gets made into a movie and you can't wait to see who is cast in what roles.

Reply #13

GYM RICE — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:13:22 GMT

Looked pretty obvious on camera that she bought the tickets and handed them to the people behind her. I've seen this done so many times where people buy a couple tickets for the people in line. And the icing on the cake is the store owner/worker saying she's lying. I bet she's done many times. Probably buys the clerks tickets all the time.

Reply #12

GYM RICE — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:10:56 GMT

The Nascar guy will be broke in 5 years. He sounds like he is in total denial about his spending. You could tell that B. Walters was looking at him like dude, your about to go broke ...

Reply #11

diamondpalace — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 04:59:23 GMT

Watching it on youtube atm.

Reply #10

Win$500Quick — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:00:33 GMT

20/20 did a good job putting together a great special at the last minute. I was not shock when I saw Joe the Nascar millionaire has already blown through half of his winnings in less than three years. I don't know what to think about the lady who gave away a winning ticket worth $260,000 to a stranger on camera. Good luck everyone on tonight's drawing.

Reply #9

dallascowboyfan — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:08:11 GMT

watching it now......

Reply #8

Nikkicute — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:53:03 GMT

8 minutes till showtime!! lol

Reply #7

NoShame — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:26:56 GMT

I'm bumping this up as a reminder, though I probably won't be checking my tickets till tomorrow. It'll be a long day of sorting out the few bucks I won from the couple hundred I'll be losing. Oh well.

Reply #6

time*treat — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:53:33 GMT

I bet the lottery officials who run the Powerball are regretting they raised the price to $2.

Really? http://www.musl.com/musl_games.html

Reply #5

Stormiela — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:41:15 GMT

Sweet, I will definitley tune in.

Thanks for the info, last time there was a special I missed it.

Reply #4

LottoGuyBC — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:35:29 GMT

will have to remember to watch tonite...thx WIN

Reply #3

GYM RICE — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:59:41 GMT

I agree that Powerball might just be second guessing the price raise to $2...However, if there is ever a game that could go to 1 Billion, it just might be Powerball.

Reply #2

dallascowboyfan — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:48:03 GMT

Thanks for the info Win....

Reply #1

mrsinful — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:22:59 GMT

Hey win500quick thank you so much for the info.

I will watch it and dvr it. This is history you know.

I also want to wish the best of luck to all tonight

on the big drawing. I hope someone from LP gets

it.

20/20 Special Lotto Frenzy: Be Careful What You Wish For

Win$500Quick — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:53:19 GMT

Tonight on ABC there be a special about the largest jacpot in history. Mega Millions mania one of the largest jackpots in history now estimated at a staggering half a billion dollars is up for grabs on Friday night. But does winning all of that money really buy happiness? Right before the live lotto drawing at 11 pm on Friday, 20/20″ looks at past lottery winners and losers, as well as the scammers and swindlers who vie for a slice of the winner s pie. Why do so many lottery winners end up broke... [ More ]