Cautionary tales of lottery losers
Most lottery players spend their entire lives chasing that big jackpot and in the vast majority of cases they only get to settle for lower tier prizes. Those who are lucky enough to match all but one number shouldn’t think twice and celebrate, instead of wondering what their lives would’ve been had they matched all the winning numbers. On the other hand, there are those who got so lucky that they won the jackpot but bad luck and poor decisions lead them to utter bankruptcy and worse.
From financial security into debt
The story of John McGuiness who won a jackpot worth £10million in 1997 only to become one of the biggest lottery losers in history is well known. After spending a lot of money on a lavish wedding ceremony and investing massively in a local football club, he went broke and he is now £2million in debt. The bank seized all his assets and he now struggles to stay afloat, but at least he got to donate a six digit number to charity and this helps him sleep better at night.
The same can’t be said about Michael Antonucci who won £2.8million in 1998 but proved to be so reckless that in a matter of months he went broke. He married a topless model that was much younger than him and bought pretty much anything that money can buy, including expensive cars, eccentric holidays and yachts. Now he is divorced, has no money to his name and after participating in a bar fight he is scheduled to appear in front of a court. He had it all, but being reckless proved to be his undoing and he is now sitting at the top of the list of lottery losers.
Money doesn’t buy happiness
This is a popular quote, but even though virtually everybody knows it, there are just a handful who can confirm that it is true. The problem is that money itself is not the problem, but poor money management and a certain degree of stupidity that allows it to go down the drain. The story of Callie Rogers who won £2million in 2003 when she was just 16 and spent it all on drugs, alcohol and pricey items is the best cautionary tale about lottery losers. The good news is that after hitting rock bottom, she understood that something needed to be done and she is now happier even though struggling financially.
While there are plenty who feel sorry for Callie and even understand her because she was young and inexperienced, nobody is sorry for Michael Carroll. He squandered millions of pounds on drugs, alcohol and prostitutes, eventually returning to his natural status of being broke and a nuisance to those who knew him. He is one of the few lottery losers that people have no sympathy for and there were plenty who celebrated when hearing the news of his demise.
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