# Would you tell anyone if you won the lottery?



## R. Zimm

I've wondered about this. Would I tell anyone, or even quit my job if I won, say 30 mil? I sure would not want salespeople dropping off boats, motor homes and BMW's just on my signature. That would get very annoying very fast.

I also would not want my friends to think different of me. I bet winning a large sum really brings out the "best" in people.


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## Ozarkgal

Would I tell anyone?  Not only no, but hell no!!....Would I quit my job (if I were still working)? Not only yes, but hell yes. 
If I won the lottery I would make sure my flaky family was provided for with the understanding, when it's gone, it's gone, don't come a knockin', then I would buy myself a big old ranch and live pretty much like I live now, only with more space.

As for friends, you'd find out in a quick hurry who they really were, and you would probably have more than you ever knew you had.


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## SifuPhil

That's an interesting question, because you often hear about how lottery winners hit the skids after a short while - not always due to salesmen calling, either.

But yeah, the first thing I would do is have my lips sewn shut. No good could happen by telling other people. 

What I've never understood is how a multi-million dollar winner can sit on the winning ticket until a day before it expires. What madness is THAT?!?!


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## SeaBreeze

I might contact a lawyer before making any announcements.  If I was still working, I'd quit my job for sure...I worked all my life, but it was only to pay the bills and be self sufficient, I never liked to work just for the halibut. layful:  I'd probably take a lump sum too, and get all the tax stuff out of the way.


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## rkunsaw

I wouldn't want to tell anyone but you know you'd be on the local news before you could get to the bank with the money.


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## SifuPhil

rkunsaw said:


> I wouldn't want to tell anyone but you know you'd be on the local news before you could get to the bank with the money.



Yeah, but how would that work? The lottery commission can't give out your name without your permission, can they? Or do you GIVE that permission when you sign the ticket? 

And I suppose that even if THEIR lips were sealed, the place you bought it might be able to figure it out somehow - at least narrow it down to when they sold it, and if you're a familiar face there that suddenly disappears they might get onto you. 

I'd hire little Charlie, the kid who won the last Golden Ticket to WonkaLand, to cash in my ticket. _He_ would keep his mouth shut.


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## rkunsaw

The lottery commission is required to release the names of the winners in this state. As soon as the location of the winning ticket is announced the news media is waiting at the door to see who shows up with the winning ticket.


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## That Guy

Anonymous, please.  I'll just take the money and run...


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## SeaBreeze

I think some people use lawyers to cash in the ticket for a cut of the money, so they can remain anonymous. :anonymous:


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## SifuPhil

rkunsaw said:


> The lottery commission is required to release the names of the winners in this state. As soon as the location of the winning ticket is announced the news media is waiting at the door to see who shows up with the winning ticket.



That's probably what they do here in PA as well.

... just one of the reasons I don't play ...



			
				That Guy said:
			
		

> Anonymous, please.  I'll just take the money and run...



The only way I've ever managed to do that was back when I was an escort -


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## That Guy

SifuPhil said:


> The only way I've ever managed to do that was back when I was an escort -



Business must have been good . . . ?


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## SifuPhil

That Guy said:


> Business must have been good . . . ?



The wenches didn't complain. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Of course, being chased through the town streets at 4 in the AM by an irate husband, while wearing nothing but my bleedin' bloomers, was a different story altogether ...


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## Pricklypear

I don't think there's any way to keep something like that secret.  Even if there was some way to evade the news media, there's no way to avoid my neighbors.


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## That Guy

I'm sure we've all heard the sad horror stories of people who lost everything, some even their lives, after winning the lotto.  Then, there are those like you and I . . . who would be smart about it and share and enjoy the riches.  Be nice to have the chance...

Here's something fun to do with your friends and family!  Let's play the Home Game version of The LOTTO!  Ask your player to hand you $1.  Then, with great flair, wad it up and toss if over your shoulder....


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## Pricklypear

LOL! Your home game is about right.  I used to sell Powerball tickets.  I've seen people come in an buy $100 worth of tickets when the winnings ran up.  Crazy.


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## That Guy

I always say I just gonna but one ticket whenever the pot gets huge.  Then, I forget...


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## SifuPhil

That Guy said:


> I always say I just gonna but one ticket whenever the pot gets huge.  Then, I forget...



I always have to laugh at the people - urged on by the State, no doubt - who go tripping around, chirping "You've got to be IN it to WIN it!"

It's been proven that for the large jackpots you'd have a statistically greater chance of being struck by one of Saturn's rings while engaging in primitive Indonesian religious rituals with a bus-load of one-armed paper-hangers.


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## SeaBreeze

The most I've won on a Lotto scratch ticket was $42, and that was many years ago, but I must say that I rarely buy lottery tickets.  When I do buy one, and my hubby rolls his eyes, I always say 'you can't win if you don't play'.  Those people who win BIG more than once, just drive me crazy, lol.


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## Ozarkgal

Wheee...I won $5.00 on the last mega millions powerball..you know the one that the guy in Jersey won, who has been in this country 19 years and still doesn't speak English..and the state had a warrant for him for back child support.

That $5.00 should buy me enough gas to get back to the store to buy another mega millions ticket when the pot get big again...a fool and her money are soon parted!


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## That Guy

Mega-power-ball-wonderfulness-give-us-your-hard-earned-cash begins today in California.  $2 a shot.  Be prepared for lines of dreamers wherever tickets are being sold.  If I remember . . . I'll throw my money away, too.  All for the chance to gets me a private island...


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## TICA

The way I look at is that for $2.00 I get a lot of entertainment by daydreaming what I would do with it.  Cheapest entertainment around.   I have very close friends who one 1/2 million about 20 years ago.  They invested well, helped family and still doing fine.  I don't begrudge the $$ spent on Lotteries here.  The majority of it goes back into the communities.  Not sure what happens in the US to the profits.


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## That Guy

TICA said:


> Not sure what happens in the US to the profits.



Cynically (What?  Me?? Never!...), I have to say it goes into somebody's pocket.  They sold us the LOTTO in California with . . . "And our schools win."  Well, a few pennies do go toward education but that just replaced what was taken away.  Schools in California and the nation are NOT winning!


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## Ozarkgal

Surprise..Surprise!!!!  She thought she won $40,000, but she actually won......http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...t-was-40-million-happy-dance-time?ft=1&f=1001


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## SifuPhil

Ozarkgal said:


> Surprise..Surprise!!!!  She thought she won $40,000, but she actually won......http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...t-was-40-million-happy-dance-time?ft=1&f=1001



Watching her dancing I wondered if anyone ever had a heart attack when they got the news? 

I Googled a bit and found *this poor guy* in Boston - 37 years old, wins $3.6 million and dies a few weeks later, the only thing he bought being a puppy for his kid. 

Supposedly he already had a medical condition, and the people hounding him after his win caused a deterioration in his health.


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## TWHRider

SifuPhil said:


> Watching her dancing I wondered if anyone ever had a heart attack when they got the news?



Mr. TWH is a Lucky Duck when it comes to lottery tickets but not lucky enough that we would have to keep quiet and move.  

He once won $300 and for whatever reason, thought it said $300,000.  Yes, he collapsed across the counter - the gal he always bought his tickets from took it from his hand and said "get up, it's only $300" ---------------

I was never lucky at any sort of numbers games.  I lost $20 at bingo many years ago, when $20 was a lot of money - two full brown bags of groceries or a full tank of gas and one bag of groceries.  I said next time I lose $20, I'll be sitting at the bar with a Jack n coke in my hand, then another, and another and another---------------------


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## R. Zimm

I recall hearing that in Florida you can specify that your name not be made public, or atleast announced. I suppose that the records are searchable but perhaps not braodcasting it would be worth a try.

I thought it was a puzzling question too because most of the time you see questions like "What would you buy or put money on if you won the lottery?" so I thought this would be a different take on the topic.

I play it so infrequently that I doubt I'll ever win but you know that when Florida first opened up their lottery it was a scratch off then (if the ticket indicated) mail in drawing. The first Florida lottery winner found his ticket on the ground, scratched it off, mailed it in and won the first drawing for $1 millon. The really funny thing is that he voted against having the lottery in Florida.


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## rkunsaw

I always buy lottery tickets. As TICA said you get a lot of entertainment for a few dollars. I'm very practical with my money in most ways, but everyone needs to have a dream. 
I can afford the tickets so I buy them. I came real close to winning the jackpot once. I only needed five more numbers.layful:


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## SifuPhil

rkunsaw said:


> I can afford the tickets so I buy them.



See, that's one of the things I have against the lottery.

If you can afford it, all fine and dandy. But the lottery commission brainwashes the masses, especially the _poor_ masses, that they have a chance of winning and being on East Street. That's a false dream, or at least a dream so unlikely to happen that it might as well be fantasy.

Meanwhile, the poor are pumping their few dollars into buying blocks of tickets, because the State said they have a chance. It's legalized gambling addiction. In fact, there have been studies that have shown that children that receive scratch-off lotteries as gifts are more likely to grow up developing gambling addictions.

I personally see people that I KNOW eat cat food buying dozens of tickets when the jackpot really gets up there - which, in turn, seems to be a more frequently-occurring event. 




> I came real close to winning the jackpot once. I only needed five more numbers.layful:



I think that should qualify as a finalist in the _*Optimist of the Year*_ contest!


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## That Guy

SifuPhil said:


> . . . the lottery commission brainwashes the masses, especially the _poor_ masses, that they have a chance of winning and being on East Street.  It's legalized gambling addiction.



Pure evil.


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## athomson9

They say people change toward you when you come into money. It's a difficult situation, as only telling a few people will mean it eventually gets out.


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## SeaSparkle

SifuPhil said:


> That's probably what they do here in PA as well.
> 
> ... just one of the reasons I don't play ...
> 
> 
> 
> The only way I've ever managed to do that was back when I was an escort -




I've deleted the first 15 thoughts typed out layful:
Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to have a Scottish outfit in your closet, wouldya?


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## SifuPhil

seasparkle said:


> i've deleted the first 15 thoughts typed out layful:
> Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to have a scottish outfit in your closet, wouldya?





:d


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## SeaSparkle

SifuPhil said:


> View attachment 537
> 
> :d




:love_heart: *fans my face* I do declare, I've caught the vapors..  cold shower, cold shower *runs off*


If there's two people who understand the depth of just how much you made my day it's Seabreeze & Knightofalbion .


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## Happyflowerlady

I have been reading my way through this thread, and contemplating as I read, what I would actually do if I were to win. Alabama does not have a lottery, so this is just conjecture, of course. 
I would certainly not want the world at large to know that I was suddenly loaded with money.  As was mentioned, some winners have ended up dead, and I would not want to even have  to worry that this might happen to me. 

What I would do, is set up funds to take care of my children, first of all.   Well, not quite the first thing..... The FIRST thing I would do is get a better vehicle, one that I can actually drive somewhere with out spending the whole trip thinking  that this will be the day it finally gives up, and leaves me stranded somewhere.  Anyway, that done, then I would help my kids, pay off the credit cards, and whatever, and set them up with a permanent fund, not a lot, but enough that they can live comfortably.
Then, I would help out some of the other relatives ( I think everyone in this family is poor), and then the Rescue Missions, and food banks. Not the big ones that the directors drive Caddys, but the little ones, that simply want to help people.

After that, I would have to think about the rest, but at least enough extra in my budget that I don't have to skrimp for everything. Maybe move, and buy my own little place, instead of caretaking. 
Never going to happen, but it was a great thread' and fun to fantasize about.


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## That Guy

Hey!  Happyflowerlady!!  It's me!!!  Your long lost relative.  I heard you won the LOTTO . . .


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## Lyn

My train of thought derailed.  






I think kilts just made the list!  

As to the question that went into the ether -- Absolutely Not!


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## SifuPhil

Now I wonder what would happen if you played the lottery, won something like mega-millions of dollars, but YOU HAD NO IDENTIFICATION? 

For example, a homeless person who had lost their ID long ago ... how would they collect? The State couldn't just refuse them, would they? Or would they be the bad guys by enforcing the fine-print rules on the back of the ticket, stating the ID requirement?


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## TICA

Just letting everyone know........ I won $10.00 on the lottery last night!   Guess that means I would tell if I won.   layful:


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## That Guy

Say, TICA, could I borrow $20.00???


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## TICA

That Guy said:


> Say, TICA, could I borrow $20.00???



Hey, I broke even so I'm happy!   Wait til I win the big one and I'll lend you that $20.00!


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## That Guy

I'm reminded of being a lowly and low-paid serviceman.  We were always borrowing money from each other and it was a popular trick every payday to walk up to somebody and say, "Hey, you got that $20 I loaned you?"  Most guys had borrowed so much from so many that they were often ready to hand it over without question.


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## Anne

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, so here goes....Florida woman wins $590M lottery:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/210262331.html

I sure hope they respect her privacy now, but.....


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## That Guy

Anne said:


> I sure hope they respect her privacy now, but.....



Sorry, Mrs. MacKenzie but I do believe the cat's outta the bag...


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## Michael.

(Anne  
Senior Member

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, so here goes....Florida woman wins $590M lottery:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/210262331.html

I sure hope they respect her privacy now, but...) 

__________________________________________






*Powerball jackpot won by 84 year old Florida woman


Click Here
http://tinyurl.com/kbjbsmh*


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## Anne

Imagine - the scammers; phone calls, (can she keep the media away from her property)??  UGH.  I'm happy for her, but...........

Note:  If ever winning the lottery, have a good lawyer, first of all!!!!!    Yup, she does, apparently....


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## Ozarkgal

I can't say what I would do with the money for sure, except indulge and pamper  my hardworking self for a while. 

 There is a house we pass by on the way to Mountain Home that is a manufactured home. The owner has done a fairly nice job of adding porches and metal roof and vinyl siding on it.  It looks pretty nice, except for the front corner of the house that still has the Treyvek insulation showing with no siding to cover it.  

I don't know why, but this bugs the hell out of me.  It's been this way ever since we moved here, and I can't imagine that the owner can't afford to buy a few feet of siding to finish the project.  I keep telling my hubby everytime we pass by that if I ever win the lottery I am sending a crew to finish the siding on that house. 

 I'm going to pass by it again today...so maybe I'll stop on the way and buy a lottery ticket.  If I win I can put my anal fixation on that house to rest...LOL!


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## TICA

To win a million dollars is one thing but when you see the 500 million lottos, I'll pass.  That is too much money for me to even comprehend and I'd be terrified someone would kidnap a loved one and hold them for ransom or something.   Two mil would be plenty to get myself and my family set up and give some to those who need it.  More than enough....  Any more than that and I'd be worried my kids would become lazy, which they certainly aren't now.  Like I said earlier, the $2.00 I spend is considered cheap entertainment dreaming on what I'd do.  After I did a happy dance.


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## That Guy




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## MercyL

R. Zimm said:


> I've wondered about this. Would I tell anyone, or even quit my job if I won, say 30 mil? I sure would not want salespeople dropping off boats, motor homes and BMW's just on my signature. That would get very annoying very fast.
> 
> I also would not want my friends to think different of me. I bet winning a large sum really brings out the "best" in people.



I do not think I would tell anyone until they saw me with the check, on television.

If I won, I would first contact a good attorney and set up a trust fund, then change the phone number, hide the van -because I don't want anyone seeing the license plate number when we went to pick up the check. We would rent a car, then pick up the check. Most of that check would go into the trust fund, after paying off bills, and we'd live on the dividends. Travel, plastic surgery, and other luxuries would be paid for using the dividends.

I think I would keep my job, though. I'd be a thorn in their sides over some of the things I see happening in schools. I would stay about two steps from being fired, all the time, by being outspoken!


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## Anne

What would you change in schools, MercyL????


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## R. Zimm

If it was a LOT of money I would be tempted to take the check and fly to Switzerland.


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