The largest jackpot in the world. The biggest lottery winnings in Russia: list and interesting facts

Everyone dreams of winning the lottery, but unfortunately, the likelihood of this happening is negligible. However, there are people who, in the most incredible way, still managed to win large jackpots.
Here are 10 unusual stories about ordinary people who were lucky to win the lottery.

Christopher Kaelin

In April 2014, Christopher Kaelin from Chicago acquired lottery ticket and, to his surprise, won 25 thousand dollars. Kelin, who claims to play the lottery occasionally, decided to celebrate the occasion at a restaurant with his fiancée. After dinner, he stopped at a gas station and bought another lottery ticket. He rubbed off the protective coating and discovered that he had won again. This time the amount was $1,000.
A few days later, Kelin went to the store where he purchased his first winning lottery ticket and decided to try his luck again. He came to work, wiped off the protective coating and, to his surprise, again won $25,000. When Kelin came to cash out his lottery ticket, he realized that he had made a mistake and in fact should receive not 25,000, but 250,000 dollars.
In total, the three lottery tickets that Kaelin bought within one week brought him $276,000.

Derek Ladner

On July 11, 2007, Derek Ladner and his wife Dawn (Cornwall, England) were delighted to learn that they were one of five lucky winners to win a £2.4 million jackpot. The next week, Derek bought another lottery ticket, but it didn’t bring any winnings. When the man took out his wallet, he noticed another lottery ticket with the date July 11 in it.
It turns out that Derek forgot that he had already purchased a lottery ticket for the drawing that took place on July 11, and bought another one with the same numbers. Surprisingly, the couple actually held two of the five winning tickets, which netted them £958,284.

Walid Aborumi

For the first time, luck smiled on Walid Aboromi in 2004, when he won 500 thousand dollars in the lottery. The following year he hit the $1 million jackpot. A year later, he won $71,000 on the Virginia Pick 3 lottery using his lucky numbers. In 2007, luck brought him another 100 thousand dollars.
In May 2015, on the way to the Aborumi store, the numbers 7, 1 and 5 began to often catch my eye. It was 7:15 on the clock. The car parked in the lot had the license plate 7-1-5. Moreover, Aborumi considered these numbers to be special, since he was born on July 15 (7th month). The man took this as a sign and bought 184 lottery tickets with these three numbers.
He didn't hit the jackpot, but each lottery ticket brought him $500. In total, Aborumi won $92,000.
However, at the very last moment, luck turned against him. Somehow Aborumi managed to lose all of his lottery tickets; he had a receipt confirming their purchase, but without them he had no right to claim payment. The man never found his winning lottery tickets. He suggests that they were accidentally thrown away and have long since burned in a landfill.

Unnamed man from Glendale

In April 2012, a man who preferred to remain anonymous purchased six lottery tickets with the numbers 4, 25, 29, 34 and 43. The man did not hit the jackpot, but he was lucky enough to win about one million dollars (approximately more than 166 thousand per each lottery ticket).
He cashed in the lottery tickets within seven days and spent all the funds received during the same time. How it was possible to spend such a huge amount of money in a week, we don’t know.

Mary Woollens

In September 2006, eighty-six-year-old Mary Woollens from Ontario, Canada, had a dream about several numbers. Waking up in the morning, she immediately wrote them down on a piece of paper so as not to forget. Woollens then decided to buy a lottery ticket and cross out those numbers. The next day she purchased another lottery ticket with the same numbers.
As you probably already guessed, the elderly woman won an incredible amount of money. Each lottery ticket brought her $8 million.

Richard Lustig

The lottery is a game of luck and chance. However, Richard Lustig from Florida (USA) does not think so. He claims to have developed a whole system for winning the lottery; and it sounds completely crazy. However, Lustig can back up his claims. Specifically, he won the lottery seven times between 1993 and 2010. The total winnings are $1,052,205.58 (excluding taxes). The first two times, Lustig won travel packages worth $8,560.66. His biggest win was $842,152.91. He received this money in January 2002.
Lustig then wrote a book called "Learn How to Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery."

Seguro Ndabene

Almost all financial planners agree that investing in lottery tickets is a bad plan. If you have a financial advisor who thinks the same way, fire him immediately and buy Richard Lustig's book. Why share your millions with someone, right?
And although even common sense suggests that the lottery is not the best investment, Seguro Ndabene, who lives in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada, completely disagrees. He bought hundreds of dollars worth of lottery tickets every week, and eventually his expenses paid off. In 2004, Ndabene won a million dollars in a provincial lottery. Two years later, luck brought him another 100 thousand dollars. In 2008, he was lucky to win twice: once - 50 thousand dollars, the other - a million.
In January 2009, Ndabene hit the $17 million jackpot. After that, the lottery organizers became seriously interested in him, since it was his fifth major jackpot in the last few years. Also, a man suddenly appeared who claimed that the ticket was bought for the whole group, and Ndabene decided to take it for himself. The case reached the court. The judge who tried it said Ndabene had done nothing wrong and was the sole holder of the ticket. After this, the lottery organizers paid the man his honestly won 17 million dollars.

Joan Ginther

Joan Ginther is considered the luckiest woman in the world. She has won multimillion-dollar sums in the instant lottery four times. The first time she won $5.4 million (in 1993). Ten years later, she won two million dollars. In 2005, Joan won another three million dollars. In the spring of 2008, her luck brought her 10 million dollars.
You ask, “What are the odds of winning over $20 million in the lottery by buying just four tickets?” According to statistics, one in eighteen septillion is 18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (as many as 24 zeros).
Given this, some people have speculated that Ginther, who has a PhD in statistics from Stanford University, committed fraud. The woman purchased all four winning lottery tickets in Bishop, Texas, where she grew up but had not lived for a very long time. Ginther traveled from Las Vegas to Bishop specifically to purchase lottery tickets. She has never given an interview, so no one knows why she got so lucky.

110 Powerball winners

On March 31, 2005, 110 people who entered the Powerball lottery claimed to have won either $100,000 or $500,000 by matching five of the six winning numbers. The difference was that some people also played a bonus game, which increased their winnings several times. All of them chose the numbers 22, 28, 32, 33 and 3. The lottery organizers initially thought it was a scam.
The odds of a person winning the Powerball jackpot were 1 in 2,939,677. And the fact that 110 people were winners of the lottery at once seemed incredible. But the most surprising thing was that all the people chose the same sixth number. The results of the investigation showed that all the people found the winning numbers in the fortune cookies, which were produced by the same company.

Frayn Selak

Croatian music teacher Frain Selak is one of the luckiest or unluckiest people on the planet, depending on how you interpret the story that happened to him.
In 1962, he was one of the passengers on a train that derailed into a lake. As a result of the tragedy, 17 people died. But Selak survived. The next year he was on a plane whose door opened in the sky. Selak was pulled out by a stream of air. This incident claimed the lives of 19 passengers. Selak miraculously survived landing on a haystack.
Three years later, Selak was riding a bus that was involved in an accident. Four people died. The music teacher remained unharmed. Four years later, Selak's car caught fire. The man managed to run out of it before it exploded. This happened again three years later.
In 1995, Selak was hit by a bus, but survived. A year later, he avoided a head-on collision, but had to drive his car along the edge of a cliff. Selak jumped out of the car before it hit a tree. It saved his life.
In 2003, luck finally smiled on Selak. He won one million dollars in the lottery. He gave most of the money to relatives and friends, and spent the rest on himself.

An article about the largest lottery winnings - about jackpots in the USA, Europe and Russia. The winners themselves and the circumstances of their winnings are described.

Information is current as of early 2013. As more significant winnings appear, we will make the necessary changes. In the first part we will talk about world records. The second part is the largest lottery winnings in Russia. Here we will tell you about the lottery winners Russian lotto, Gosloto, Sprotlotto and other Russian lotteries.

Many examples given below prove that winning a fabulous amount is certainly not easy, but it is quite possible.

First, let's look at the statistics of the largest jackpots in the world. Although the vast majority of winnings came from tickets purchased directly, the number of large winnings from bets made via the Internet is growing. For more details, see the online lottery article.

The biggest win in Europe was 185 million euros and took place on July 12, 2011. The winning ticket was purchased in Scotland. Note that this was a Euromillions ticket.

The largest jackpot in Australia on November 6, 2012 was shared by four winners. The winning amount in OZ lotto was AUD 112 million.

On December 31, 2010, luck smiled on four players in the Brazilian Mega-Sena lottery, who won 195 million reais. This is the largest win to date in Latin America.

741 million pesos– that’s exactly how much the largest lottery jackpot in Asia amounted to. On November 29, 2010, it was drawn in the Philippine Grand Lotto 6/55 lottery.

Biggest winnings in the USA

It is known that the largest jackpots on the planet are played out in the USA. Below we present the largest winnings in the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries and other American lotteries:

A man named Juan Rodriguez, living in the USA. Having immigrated from Colombia, as of 2004 he had not been very successful in achieving American dream. Working as a parking lot security guard, he made little money and was on the verge of financial ruin. He bought a lottery ticket with his last dollar, and this ticket brought him one hundred forty nine million dollars to the Mega Millions lottery.

However, his story of winning the lottery remained without a happy ending. Read more.

And again megamillions. In 2006, a Virginia resident bought a lottery ticket for a challenge obtained from filling up his car. This acquisition made him richer by two hundred thirty million dollars. The gas station where the winning ticket was sold was also awarded.

On January 24, 2008, James Wilson, an eighty-four-year-old retired World War II veteran from Missouri, purchased a Powerball lottery ticket. After an hour he became richer by two hundred fifty-four million dollars. As a family man, he gave most of the money to his children.

Two hundred nine million- this is exactly the jackpot that a Massachusetts resident hit in 2004.

Andrew Jackson Whittaker, a resident of West Virginia, gained fame by winning the largest jackpot at that time in late 2002. And although Jack, as he is also called, was a wealthy man and was engaged in the construction business, he was incredibly surprised by such a gift of fate.

The winnings were almost 315 million. By choosing a lump sum and paying taxes, he ended up receiving approximately 114 million in cash.
However, in future fate presented him with many unpleasant surprises. Read about this in the article Lucky and Unlucky.

In 2005, in Oregon, members of the same family - Bob and Francis Chaney, their daughter Caroline West and her husband Steve won about three hundred forty million dollars, becoming the owners of the second largest at that time. The couples spent a total of $40 on lottery tickets. Frances Cheney, 68, bought the tickets. After winning, she admitted that she was scared by such an incredible amount. Her husband, on the contrary, was very optimistic about the huge win. Among other things, he planned to buy a yellow Hummer.

On May 9, 200, two US residents were lucky to hit the jackpot in three hundred sixty million dollars to the Big Game lottery (this is the predecessor of mega millions - the renaming occurred in 2002). Since both winners decided to receive the entire winnings, then, minus taxes, each will receive ninety million dollars. In an interview, one of them, Larry Ross, said that he was never particularly interested in lotteries. He got the winning ticket because the hot dog seller didn't have change from a hundred dollars, and Larry had to take it with lottery tickets.

The following example shows that it is not only single people who are lucky. In Lincoln, Nebraska, eight workers at a local meatpacking plant regularly purchased Powerball tickets. In 2006, luck smiled on them. One of the biggest jackpots - three hundred sixty-five million dollars they got it. In general, playing lotteries together is a fairly common phenomenon in the world. However, there are rules here too. Please read the article lottery tips. Perhaps the information contained in it will seem banal to you, but still it will not be superfluous.

Also, if we talk about playing the lottery together, we cannot help but recall the so-called lottery syndicates. In short, a syndicate is an association of players that increases the probability of winning for each participant, but the winnings are distributed among all participants. Read more in the article lottery syndicates.

One of the biggest winnings in the mega million lottery - three hundred ninety million dollars was played on the night of March 7, 2007. It must be said that at that time it was the largest jackpot in the world, which caused a huge stir. Long queues lined up in front of sales points and terminals.

As a result, we won two tickets. One of them was purchased at a grocery store in a small town in Georgia by truck driver Ed Nighbors. The second was purchased by Helen and Harold Mesner, a resident of New Jersey.

On November 28, 2012, the third largest lottery prize to date was won - $580 million. We won 2 tickets - one from Missouri and the other from Arizona. Missouri Powerball winners are Mark and Cindy Hill. IN lately This couple had financial difficulties. Cindy was an office manager but lost her job in 2010. Mark worked in a factory.

The couple has three adult children and a 6-year-old adopted daughter from China.

Third largest jackpot size five hundred ninety million dollars On May 18, 2013, it was drawn in the Powerball lottery. The winner, 84-year-old Gloria McKenzie from Florida, bought her ticket at a supermarket. “The man in front of me in line for tickets let me go ahead. Perhaps that’s why I got lucky,” Mackenzie said.
She found out that she had won their television broadcast, but did not immediately contact the lottery organizers to claim the prize; she first consulted with lawyers. Like many other lucky people, she chose to receive all the amounts at once, and received three hundred and ninety million dollars. This is the largest amount received by one person to date.

Two lucky winners, one from California and one from Georgia, shared the second-largest lottery jackpot in history - six hundred forty-eight million dollars. The MegaMillions lottery draw was held on December 17, 2013.
The lucky winner's name is Steve Tran. He often bought lottery tickets, and finally luck smiled on him. Steve is a truck driver by profession. He bought a ticket containing a winning combination - 8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and a bonus number - 7 in the city of San Jose, while on vacation there with his family. It should also be noted that in the USA there is a practice when lottery organizers also reward the distribution point - in this case, the gift shop received a million dollars.

In first place - record jackpot of $640 million. Once again, the MegaMillions lottery set a record. This happened in 2012. Won three tickets in three different cities - Red Bud, Baltimore and in one of the cities of the state.

This concludes the stories of winnings in American lotteries and now let’s talk about our biggest winnings.

The biggest lottery win in Russia

In March 2009, a resident of Kolpino (a suburb of St. Petersburg) Albert Begrakyanwon the state lottery jackpot 6 out of 45. The winning amount was approximately one hundred million rubles. And today this is the largest jackpot in the entire history of Russian lotteries.

Albert Begrakyan with his wife and children came from Armenia to Russia in 2001. Fate was not always so favorable to him. At first he got a job as a security guard, then he opened a store, and after a while he became the head of a car service center. But Albert always believed in his luck, and therefore periodically purchased lottery tickets.

He used the received amount as follows: he invested 30 million rubles in the construction of his own hotel in the Krasnodar region, purchased several apartments in St. Petersburg, as well as cars for himself and relatives. I simply spent some of it on travel and other pleasant things.
Even at the end of 2013, this is the largest jackpot in Russia.

On June 1, 2013, in the 585th draw of Gosloto 6 out of 45, two players guessed all six numbers. The first one made a detailed bet, and won according to a receipt worth 3,780 rubles 61,518,163 rubles. He bought his ticket at a cell phone store. The second, a resident of the Krasnodar Territory, also played with an expanded bet. Using a receipt purchased for 1,260 rubles, he managed to win 60,917,821 rubles.

In May 2009, the jackpot amounted to 35 million rubles was won by Muscovite Evgeniy Sidorov. The winning combination is 27,8,31,22,4,7.

Fifty-year-old Evgeniy has been playing numerical lotteries for many years, since Soviet times. He invested the winnings in agricultural business.

In 2001, Ufa resident Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova became the owner of almost twenty nine million rubles. She hit the Bingo lottery jackpot. However, this win did not make her happy. Read about her misadventures in the article Lucky Losers.

On April 7, 2013, in the 1232nd draw of Gosloto, 5 out of 36 prizes of eighteen million eight hundred fifty thousand rubles was received by the player who purchased the ticket online.

In the 1253rd draw of Gosloto 5 out of 36, which took place on May 8, 2013, a ticket purchased in Moscow won. The winning combination consisted of the following numbers: 5,7,10,17,20. Sum - fourteen million rubles.

JSC Russian Railways, a monopolist in the railway transportation market, also organized its own lottery. To participate you must pay an additional hundred rubles. And then the train ticket will also become a lottery ticket. In the summer of 2012, a prize was drawn - 11.5 million rubles. The winner was a businessman from Stavropol. And the amount he won is the largest in the history of the Russian Railways lottery. The lucky one decided not to reveal his name.

June 2, 2013 for the first time in modern history“Sportloto 6 out of 49” one of the participants in the 23113th draw won a super prize. He guessed all 6 numbers and got 10 million rubles.
Unfortunately, the winners of the Russian Lotto lottery are not presented in this article, since the authors do not have any reliable information about them.

Lottery winners are rare lucky ones, most of whom have had hard times in life. Many fortune lovers have actually been struggling for survival for a long time, and therefore the long-awaited win that will solve all their financial problems is incredible happiness and the ultimate dream. But lotteries also have their dark side. Many winners end up worse off than they were before they got their fabulous riches, getting stuck in debt, getting divorced, getting involved in dangerous adventures and, worst of all, sometimes even dying because of the coveted check. As they say, the more money, the more problems. This collection is an edifying example and a warning about how an easy win can lead to catastrophic consequences.

25. Marie Holmes

Mother of four Mary Holmes was working at Wal-Mart when "random" numbers on a lottery ticket gave her a $188 million win. The incredible amount became the 5th largest win in US lottery history. Soon, the American woman's life was ruined by a series of wrong financial decisions and courts - her boyfriend had to be pulled out of prison every now and then, and $21 million was officially spent on legal costs and bail alone. All this had a heavy impact on the girl’s emotional state and almost completely emptied her pockets. And then Mary found out that the numbers on her ticket were not random. The ticket turned out to not be hers at all. In fact, the woman's mother won the lottery, but she secretly gave her daughter a winning slip to help Mary in her difficult fate.

24. Curtis Sharp

Photo: twitter

Curtis Sharp's finest hour came in 1982, when he won $5 million. The man spent all his money in literally 5 years, spending about a million dollars a year on his family, cars, real estate and women. Today, Mr. Sharp is a minister in a church in Antioch, Tennessee, and the humble American advises other lottery winners to take a break, go somewhere for a while to clear their minds, and only then start spending their millions.

23. Michael Carrol

Photo: twitter

19-year-old Michael Carroll had already become a petty criminal at his young age and even wore a police ankle bracelet (tracking system). The guy also managed to collect $14 million from several lottery winnings, which raised suspicions among law enforcement agencies about fraud. Michael earned the nickname Lotto Lout (lottery lout or hillbilly) and became famous for buying himself an expensive mansion and other luxury items, terrorizing his neighbors, and throwing money around like trash. Soon the unemployed young man went broke and moved to live with his mother. Today, Michael barely earns $300 a week (not much in the US) at a candy factory and admits that his past lifestyle would certainly bring him to an grave in the near future.

22. Billy Bob Harrell Jr.


Photo: Pixabay.com

In 1997, Billy Bob Harrell Jr. thought his ordeal was finally over. The man won 30 million dollars and was going to live happily ever after. He quit his job, took his entire family on vacation to Hawaii, bought houses for family and friends, and donated a ton of money to his church and other charities. Unfortunately, Billy attracted the attention of bad people and made a bad deal with a lottery company that issues lump sums. From this collaboration, Mr. Harrell ended up getting less than he invested. After divorcing his wife, Billy went downhill and eventually shot himself. Before he died, he told his financial advisor that winning the lottery was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

21. Tondra Lynn Dickerson


Photo: Pixabay.com

20. Andrew Jack Whittaker


Photo: Ross Catrow / flickr

Andrew Whittaker won an incredible amount - as much as 315 million dollars, despite the fact that at the time of his luck he already had 17 million of his own funds. Even after giving a lot of money to charity, the man could not avoid problems. He was robbed several times, and in the end it completely depleted the “lucky” guy’s bank account. During this time, several members of Whittaker's family died, including his mother, granddaughter and her boyfriend. 4 years after winning, the man was completely broke and absolutely miserable.

19. Steve Granger


Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Steve Granger won $900,000, but after taxes he only had $600,000 left. The man saved most of it for retirement for himself and his wife, but the couple was constantly persecuted and bullied because of the money. At parties, people would sarcastically say, “Here come the lottery people.” Crowds of strangers offered Steve to invest his money in gold mining or other dubious business, and someone in the middle of the street was constantly trying to at least touch Mr. Granger in order to get some luck from him to win. The family was not given any peace. One can only hope that over time this glory has passed and the Grangers are still forgotten.

18. Roger and Laura Griffiths

Photo: twitter

After winning £1.8 million (approximately $2.3 million), Roger and Laura Griffiths got too carried away with the windfall. Griffiths bought new home and decided to fulfill their dream of becoming business owners. But after Laura accused Roger of cheating, the man left her, saying that they were broke and even mired in large debts.

17. Jeffrey Dampier

Photo: twitter

After an incredible $20 million lottery win, Jeffrey started his own business and founded a gourmet popcorn company. He also gave gifts to his relatives, including his sister-in-law Victoria Jackson, with whom Jeffrey had an affair. In 2005, Victoria and her boyfriend tied up and robbed Dampierre. But that wasn't enough - during the raid, Miss Jackson's boyfriend pointed a gun at her and said: "Kill him or I'll kill you." Victoria had to kill Geoffrey with a shot to the back of the head...

16. Callie Rogers


Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

At the tender age of 16, Keillie hit the big jackpot, winning £1,875,000 (approximately $2,847,000) in the lottery. At first, the girl said that she would not waste money left and right, and would simply buy a normal car and a new house. However, when emotions subsided and prudence faded, Callie spent a lot of money on cocaine and plastic surgery. Now she has barely a few thousand pounds left, the girl is raising 3 children and is studying to become a nurse.

15. Willie Hurt


Photo: Victor / flickr

In 1991, Willie Hart was a loving husband and father of 3 who won $3.1 million. But after incredible luck in the lottery, his life completely spiraled out of control - the man became addicted to cocaine and killed a man. Mr Hart's lawyer told the press that his client was left penniless and going through divorce proceedings.

14. Evelyn Adams


Photo: Chemical Heritage Foundation

Evelyn Adams was incredibly lucky when she won the lottery twice in 1985 and 1986, earning a total of about $5.4 million. But the woman did not know how to say “no” to her inner demons and other people, and so in the end she was completely ruined. 20 years later, the American woman lives in a trailer, having spent all her winnings on parties, alcohol and casinos.

13. Thomas and Denise Rossi


Photo: Pixabay.com

Denis Rossi won $1.3 million in the lottery, but she was in no hurry to share her joy with everyone, but rather kept what happened a secret. A few days later, she filed for divorce from her husband, with whom she had been married for 25 years. The woman later explained that she simply did not want to share her winnings with Thomas. However, the judge decided that Denis should give all 1.3 million to her husband because she hid the money and behaved like a malicious fraudster.

12. Willie Seeley

Photo: twitter

11. Ronnie Music Jr.


Photo: Andrew Malone / flickr

Ronnie hit the big jackpot by winning $3 million in the lottery. However, he failed to manage this amount wisely. The man invested in the methamphetamine trade, which ultimately led to his arrest, and now Ronnie faces life imprisonment.

In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won $30 million, and since then the man has been surrounded by people who have done nothing but take advantage of his wealth. Abraham gave a lot of money to charity and simply selflessly helped people. A woman named Doris “Dee Dee” Moore suggested that he write a book about how others are trying to make money at the expense of the lucky one, and Abraham agreed to creative collaboration. As a result, Doris became Shakespeare's financial advisor and gained control of all his property and money. When Abraham realized what had happened, he threatened to kill the scammer, but she beat him to it... Dee Dee shot the angry “client” several times in the chest. Ms. Moore was eventually arrested and is now serving a life sentence.

9. Joseph and Ibi Roncaioli


Photo: Public Domain Pictures

Dr. Joseph Roncioli and his wife Ibi were already living well when they won $5 million in the lottery. The neighbors always considered them a happy elderly couple. However, the old men's supposedly impeccable lifestyle changed when Joseph learned that Ibi gave 5 million to her secret son and spent the rest, which they had saved together all their lives. Joseph was so devastated that he killed his wife with a poisoned needle. The man claimed he gave Ibi injections because of her poor health, but prosecutors did not believe his lies and Mr Roncioli received a seven-year prison sentence.

8. Alex and Ronda Toth


Photo: CafeCredit.com/flickr

Alex and Rhonda Toth were struggling to make ends meet when they won the lottery in 1990. Alex received disability benefits and Rhonda worked as a nurse. They could barely feed themselves and could not buy even the cheapest car for $200, and they simply needed personal transport. One day, Alex wanted to buy a lottery ticket, and Rhonda believed that they could not afford such unreasonable expenses. The man bought that ticket anyway, leaving only $24 in the family budget. In the end, the couple won $13 million, but the blessing of fabulous wealth somehow turned into a terrible curse. Children who abandoned them immediately appeared in their lives, greedy for the easy money of their once poor parents. One of the relatives even tried to kill Alex and Rhonda. Ten years after their win, the Toths were once again in the news due to serious allegations of tax evasion. Between them, Alex and Rhonda owed the state $2 million and could have gone to prison for 24 years. The couple was broke and moved to live with their children. Before Alex could be sentenced for tax fraud, he died due to his long-standing health problems at the age of 60.

7. Urooj Khan

Photo: R. de Salis

Yuruy immigrated to the United States from India in 1989 and opened his own dry cleaner in Chicago. A few years later, he bought a winning lottery ticket and could have received $1 million, but chose a lump sum payment, which left only $424,000 of the six-figure sum after taxes. Alas, Yuruy never saw his money, because he died a day after he was given a check for the coveted winnings. A fierce struggle began over the sudden inheritance - the daughter and stepdaughter refused to divide the deceased’s money among themselves and were even planning to sue. The authorities believe that the man was poisoned with cyanide, but for 4 years the police have not jailed anyone, and the investigation into this case is still considered open.

6. Janite Lee

Photo: flickr

In 1993, Janita Lee won $18 million and chose a lump sum payment. The woman did something rather unusual with the money, distributing the bulk to charitable organizations. Ms. Lee also made large contributions to the US Democratic Party, which allowed her to dine with Bill Clinton himself and Vice President Al Gore. Janita's name appears in the reading room at the Washington University School of Law. However, within 8 years the woman had spent all her savings, and by 2001 she had only $700 in her bank account, and a debt of 2.3 million. Naturally, Janita had to declare bankruptcy.

5. Jane Park


Photo: twitter

At 17, Jane won £1 million ($1,303,600) and the first thing she did was buy herself a fancy Louis Vuitton bag. The waste did not end there, and as a result, the girl became depressed, lost the meaning of life and accused representatives of the lottery company of ruining her life. However, the corporation argues that payments on winnings were made over the long term so that Park could manage her money wisely, which means that she herself is to blame for the unreasonable waste.

4. Amanda Clayton


Photo: Pexels.com

Despite winning $737,000, Amanda Clayton continued to use food vouchers and free health insurance for the poor. When Miss Clayton was convicted of fraud, she was given a suspended sentence (9 months). In 2012, Amanda was found dead - the girl died from a drug overdose.

3. William Post


Photo: Pixabay.com

When William Post won $16 million, he thought his life would finally get better. But in fact, with the advent of money, his problems only began. After 3 months of unsuccessful investments and spending on expensive things, William not only squandered all his winnings, but also owed almost $500,000. But this is not the most unpleasant thing... Mr. Post's brother hired a killer to get rid of his suddenly rich relative and his sixth wife. But the attempt failed, and William's brother went to prison. Subsequently, Mr. Post admitted more than once that he was much happier before winning the jackpot, and in 2006 the American died of respiratory arrest at the age of 66.

2. David Lee Edwards


Photo: Pixabay.com

David Lee Edwards, an ex-con from Kentucky, won $27 million in Powerball prize money and decided he needed help from financial advisors to help him manage the incredible sum. However, instead of taking advantage of the advice of experts, the man and his wife spent all the money on luxury goods and drugs. Due to drug addiction, the couple contracted hepatitis, and 12 years later, at 58, David died in a hospice. The man's financial advisor claims that if Mr. Edwards had listened to him, he could have earned $85,000 a month through smart investments.

1. Don Cruz


Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Don Cruz won the American TV show HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes, and was one of the few winners who tried to live in the prize house. The man became a shining example of why this should not have been done. Mr. Cruz's family had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and eventually even put the ill-fated house up for auction to pay off all the debts in which the “lucky” ones were mired because of the prize mansion.

Most people dream of getting rich. They want to get a large fortune just like that, without spending much effort. And for some people, these dreams come true - they win big in the lottery. There are few such people, but their winnings are often amazing. Now you can try your luck in international and foreign lotteries by purchasing a lotto ticket online. The largest the lottery can be "crazy" prize fund, and the winnings amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. We invite you to familiarize yourself with our rating top 5 "biggest lotteries in the world."

5th place - Transnational lottery "Eurojackpot" - Total prize fund - 90 million €, largest win - 90 million €

Eurojackpot is the most dynamically developing and young game in Europe. The lottery was founded in 2012, it instantly became transnational, where the main players were players from Europe.

Over a dozen EU countries participate in the Eurojackpot lottery, including

  • Denmark,
  • Finland,
  • Estonia,
  • Hungary,
  • Germany,
  • Italy,
  • Iceland
  • Lithuania,
  • Latvia,
  • Spain,
  • Sweden,
  • Slovenia,
  • Norway,
  • Netherlands,
  • Croatia
  • and the Czech Republic.

There are a total of twelve prize levels in the lottery.

The minimum jackpot is €10 million, and its maximum growth can reach up to €90 million.

Compared to other games, EuroJackpot is designed in such a way that the main prize finds its winner much more often. As a result, the lottery jackpot does not accumulate to the same level as EuroMillions, because it is won more often. The largest Eurojackpot jackpot was won on May 15, 2015, with the winner from the Czech Republic receiving €90 million. In September 2014, the winner from Finland managed to win €61,170,752.

4th place - Lottery in Italy “SuperEnaloto” - Total prize fund - 177.8 million €, largest win - 177.8 million €

SuperEnaloto is the main one national lottery Italy. The game has been around since December 1997. Draws are held on Saturdays, Thursdays and Tuesdays at 20:00, and the jackpots of this lottery are among the largest in the world. SuperEnalotto also holds the record for the longest period of growth in the prize pool, it lasted 8 months.

The SuperEnalotto prize pool can easily increase to infinity

during an unlimited number of draws, allowing it to accumulate huge sums and players to win millions of euros. The game is also very attractive for players, because winnings are not taxed, and winners have the right to claim their winnings in annual payments or in a lump sum.

At one of the Venice festivals, SuperEnaloto tickets were purchased by Madonna and George Clooney, the former even won 120 thousand €. And the largest lottery jackpot in October 2010 reached 177.8 million €, which is equal to 247 million dollars. It became the second largest jackpot in Europe.

3rd place - Transnational lottery "EuroMillions" - Total prize fund - 190 million €, largest win - 190 million €

The EuroMillions game was launched in 2004. She quickly gained popularity. Today it is biggest game in Europe. The large jackpot prize fund, which is growing due to the transfer of the prize fund, as well as the simplicity of the game, have made it possible to expand the number of participating countries to nine from 3 in 2004. EuroMillions was originally held in Spain, the UK and France, and has now been joined by Austria, Ireland, Andorra, Belgium, Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Portugal.

Winning EuroMillions could buy you everything - a piece of diamond-studded jewelry.

The minimum lottery jackpot is €15 million, but quite often it increases to over €100 million. EuroMillions has 13 prize categories, which allows players to count on a higher probability of receiving a prize. The biggest prize won so far is the €190 million jackpot. It has been won twice: in 2014 in Portugal and in 2012 in the UK. Colin and Chris Weir won €185 million in the UK in 2011.

2nd place - Lottery in the USA "Powerball" - Total prize fund - $600 million, largest win - $600 million

The American game Powerball is the strongest and main competitor to Mega Millions. The Powerball game was founded in 1988 and today it is the most important player in this market. The initial Powerball jackpot is $40 million. It has one of the largest jackpots in the world.

This amount has reached more than $500 million several times.

The lottery has a “Power play” function for an additional fee, which allows you to increase your winnings several times if you win. Tickets can be purchased in 45 US states, while Powerball can be played by players from all over the world through a special service. Powerball drawing, as well as the presentation of prizes to lottery participants in nine prize categories, is carried out in Florida every Saturday and Wednesday at 23:00.

In May 2013, the Powerball game held a $600 million draw, which became the second-largest jackpot on record. Its sole owner was an 84-year-old retiree living in Florida.

1st place - US Lottery "Mega Millions" - Total prize fund - $1.5 billion, largest winnings - $656 million

Mega Millions is one of the largest lotteries in the United States, founded in 1996. Today, the number of departments and states in which tickets are distributed is 45, giving Mega Millions almost universal coverage in the United States. The initial jackpots for this lottery are $15 million.

They even reached one and a half billion dollars several times.

The final win in this game, thanks to the presence of an additional win multiplier called Megaplier, can be increased up to five times.

Mega Millions players are offered to win in nine different categories, with drawings taking place every week on Fridays and Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. This game has gone down in history forever, changing the idea of ​​jackpots, because in March 2012 the amount of the main winnings reached $656 million. This jackpot became the largest in the history of lotteries!

Video: How winning the lottery can change your life

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