We all do it. We dream about winning the lottery. Then, after we dream about winning, we dream about what we'll buy when we win. The Powerball has recently had some billion dollar winners and it's been pretty fun to imagine winning that much. With a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning a big jackpot, lottery winners are a lucky bunch.
The lottery is a massive business
According to Search Logistics, Americans spent an incredible $105.26 billion dollars on lottery tickets last year. That makes it the most popular form of gambling in the United States. And it's not slowing down. That number is expected to increase to $194.14 billion by 2025. The highest jackpot every won in lottery history is $2.04 billion dollars. It was won by ONE person from California on November 8, 2022. The highest online jackpot winner ever, won $30 million dollars. She was playing Florida Lotto online.
Fun facts about lottery winners
Although most of us couldn't imagine this happening, an unbelievable 70% of lottery winners end up entirely broke after they win! While that's unbelievable, even more so is that over $2 billion dollars in lottery winnings goes unclaimed every year in the United States.
How do people pick their numbers? I personally thought most used "quick picks" which generate the numbers for you. Well, turns out, almost 70% of people choose completely random numbers with no specific "strategy. People who do pick "special" numbers will most commonly use: their lucky number, their birthday, family member's birthdays, or other important anniversaries.
Almost 70% of people choose completely random numbers when playing with no specific “strategy” of number choosing.
Now, let's try to dive into some of the most ridiculous purchases actual lottery winners have made. These are true stories of people who've won big bucks in the lottery then went on to buy things that made their friends and family scratch their heads.
Debbie Mather set up her own fireworks factory
Debbie won $6 million back in 2005 and wanted to relive her childhood by watching the sky fill up with fireworks so she bought her own fireworks factory. She now has her own fireworks business.
Sarah Cockings bought boob jobs for her and her sisters
Sarah was 21 when she won $4 million and the first thing she did was pay for plastic surgery for she and her two sisters.
Keith Gough bought a racehorse
Keith made his fortune playing the UK lottery and paid $250,000 for a racehorse that ultimately led him to being broke
Evelyn Adams spent millions on poker
Evelyn Adams has won the lottery not once, but TWICE and has burned through about $6 million at poker tables!
David Copeland bought land on the moon
David won $1 million and spent money on land on Moon, Mars and Venus.
Roger Griffiths bought his way to the top of the charts (tried to)
Roger won $3.2 million in the lottery and spend tons of money trying to get his college band to top the music charts. Unfortunately it didn't work out and he lost it all, including his partner.
Michael Carroll built his own race track in his back yard
Michael Carroll won $18 million when he was 19 and built his own race track in his back yard to show off his luxury cars. He ended up broke too.
Greta and Tony Dodd bought brand new knees
Greta and Tony Dodd won $3.4 million and decided to buy brand new knees. The two loved to dance but were suffering from joint problems.
Peter Lavery bought a whiskey business
Peter bought his own whiskey business which has actually still brought him a profit to this day.
Colin Weir bought a soccer team
Colin won $161 million and spent $2.5 million on the Partick Thistle Football Club.
John and Linda Kutey bought a waterpark
Back in 2011, John and Linda won a $319 million jackpot and received $28.7 million to share. They used it to launch a waterpark that was created in honor of their parents.
Jonathan Vargas bought an all female wrestling production called "Wrestlicious"
Jonathan spent his lottery earnings on an all female wrestling company that failed after one season of production.
Ronnie Music Jr. trafficked meth
Ronnie spent part of his $3 million in lottery winnings on trafficking meth which led to a 21 year prison sentence.
