All for one, and $1 million for all.
Three long-time chums who made a pact to split the pot if one of them ever won the lottery got their payday last week, Georgia Lottery officials announced on Thursday.
And to top it all, the threesome's windfall was foretold by an after-dinner treat.
James Scoles, 56, was cracking a fortune cookie in his town of North Pole, Alaska, on March 15, the same day his buddy Kenneth Wilson bought a lottery ticket at a grocery in Twiggs County, Ga.
His fortune? "It said, 'You're going to win the lottery,'" Scoles told lottery officials, according to a press release put out Thursday.
Whether that prophecy influenced what happened the next day in the Peach State could not be independently confirmed by NBC News.
But on March 16, Wilson could barely believe his eyes when his numbers came up: 3-7-21-44-53. He didn't hit the Powerball number, but still managed to lock down a cool million.
Wilson will be splitting it three ways with Scoles and his cousin, Sanford Watson, who also lives in Macon.
"I was just as tickled for them as I was for myself," Wilson said. "We just had a verbal agreement and I felt like that had to be honored."
Wilson had to wait about a week before collecting his loot, however, as he waited for Scoles to fly in from Alaska.
"It was a lot of sleepless nights," said his wife Dorothy Wilson. "I never would have thought winning money would have been that stressful."
Scoles said at a press conference on Thursday that he plans to spend some of his share on a "Georgia honey baked ham, and a smoked turkey, and some good barbecue sauce." Wilson, who is retired, says his only plans right now are to pay off some bills.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Cool story, that is a true friendship, congrats to the lucky winners, may they enjoy!
A man of honor who keeps his word.
They're not making too many of those anymore.
God Bless him.
A deals, a deal. Right?
It is with me.
But increasingly nowadays it's like they say about life in Washington DC: If you want a loyal friend, get a dog.
You are right!
And I will add, that Wilson is also a man of conscience too.
Yep,
got to respect a man who keeps hes word/helps hes friends
lucky with max tax rate not kicking in to atfer 400k mark
they can just pay a much lower rate on majority of it. thx to the split 3way
Awesome story here's to true friendship
Amen
i have pals who want to have a similar deal, the only prob is they NEVER buy lottto tickets. and i mean NEVER. I finally broke down opnce and swore , stating if i win they'lll get a post card. even when the jackpot is all time highs here, like $85 mill cash. they cant be bothered buying 1 tickets.
"We just had a verbal agreement and I felt like that had to be honored."
I wish our politicians in Washington had this much integrity and honor, lol!
Congrats to the three friends.
Funny, it was my first thought that the agreement is only good if everyone keeps buying tickets each draw. Otherwise its just a con game on the part of those who don't buy any tickets.
I like my "LP pool" idea where everyone buys the same numbers. You buy a ticket, your IN the pool. lol.
Or buy a Senator? Perhaps renting one is easier on the packet book?
Thrifty on the other hand has Positive Energy Flow, so he only needs one ticket to win it all.
Right
yes you must be careful
Good story with a good ending ! The right thing to do wins over the easy way out.
Well said. Considering that the one friend is in Alaska and his flying in because his told that his part of the winning. Kinda like a friend offering a Kidney to you cause yours are wasted. They don't make them like that anymore. Long may you run guys.
dont get me wrong, i also have a pal who doesnt buy tickets, and 1 who i go halves in a lot of draws with. he deposits money in my bank ea month and i buy the tickets.
ive promised both of them a nice new aston martin if i win any international lotto for many 10's of millions, ie, euro millions or a usa powerball.
the one guy because hes a good pal, and the other because hes a good pal,, and im sure he would also look after me if he won big on his own and not in our pool together,. but yeah " if i win ill give you... " is only good if they actually buy tickets.
WHAT? They're not suing one another? This story must be fake!
Give it a few months.
The "lifetime exemption" for gifts is still $1M, right?
It will probably be okay for these 3 fellas.
No, DC81, the U.S.A.'s Federal Gifting annual limit was just raised to $14K per recipient. However the current lifetime limit is still $5.12M (total of all recipients in one's lifetime, if married filing-jointly, twice these amounts are allowed in both examples).
[Note. Our Senate may reduce or increase either of these whenever they majority agree.]
Congratulations, gentlemen, on your tidy shared, PB 2nd Prize win!
It's really nice to know that there are people out there who will value their friendship more than money. Indeed they have true treasure and that is their friends. Congratulations! :)