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Lottery Loosers
Old 08-15-2006, 04:37 PM   #1
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Lottery Loosers

Here's another story on the woes of a Lottery Winner.

"Juan Rodriguez wanted nothing more than to be one of the guys in rural South Texas where he was raised. And he was — until six years ago, when he had the misfortune to acquire almost $9 million in the Texas Lottery.

Today, he's lost his anonymity, his buddies, whatever girlfriends he once had and most of his family, whose members he no longer trusts. He rarely ventures outside the trailer here where he lives alone. Booze and the four dogs he keeps chained outside are his main companions.

"To tell you the truth, I wish I didn't win," he said from his living room one recent evening, nursing the first of nine Michelob Ultras he would drink by 10 p.m."


--------

He was convicted last month of assaulting a bar manager, and in May he settled with a woman who also accused him of assault.

Two casinos are suing him for allegedly bouncing checks in excess of $1.5 million, and the father of a teen who died of a drug overdose on his property in 2004 is suing him for wrongful death.

His beloved 17-year-old granddaughter also died in 2004 of a drug overdose, prompting his wife to remark to USA Today while the girl still was missing that had she known what lay ahead, "I would've torn up that ticket."



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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-15-2006, 04:52 PM   #2
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Which is exactly why I deserve to win---I would make you proud of me oh Great Lottery God*
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-15-2006, 04:53 PM   #3
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Re: Lottery Loosers

To quote another couple of paragraphs from that article:

Quote:
Once Rodriguez got a lot of money, he lost track of it. He still has almost no idea how much is invested, how much he's spent — or how much he has left.
Quote:
His memory is a little faulty now; Rodriguez can't say who exactly got what, just that hardly anyone paid him back.
I suppose it's as easy to be confused about your finances when you have $10,000,000 as it is when you have $10,000
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-15-2006, 05:19 PM   #4
 
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Re: Lottery Loosers

I see a lot of these folks on reality TV being interviewed. They answer questions like 'what are you going to do with the 1 Million Dollars if you win?' They answer that they are going to set up a foundation and buy their parents a house!

- He said a Million not a Billion! Then there are the taxes on that Million.

Richard Hatch (The first Survivor Winner) is currently sitting in jail for tax evasion! I'm not sure he's glad he won anymore!

If people have trouble with money, they have even more trouble the more they get!
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-15-2006, 07:38 PM   #5
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Re: Lottery Loosers

I always say that those who win don't deserve it! I've started playing the lotto again. I too would like a chance to screw up my big opportunity!
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-16-2006, 04:08 AM   #6
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Money does not change stupid...
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Old 08-16-2006, 06:58 AM   #7
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Re: Lottery Loosers

I am a planning maniac. When we lived in a state that had the lottery, me and the DW had decided exactly what was going to be given to whom, exactly how much was going to be placed in "blow" accounts, and how much was going into "living" accounts. The way we figured it is if was didn't plan it out we would probably be stuck in the, "oh crap, what do we do with all of this money" phase for a few years and wind up blowing it all. Like most disaster response plans we were never able to see if our plan would work. Oh well, I guess we'll have to retire the old fashioned way, saving our butts off.
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-16-2006, 09:20 AM   #8
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Another thing on the subject...

If he won "$9 million", then most likely it was only $4.5.... but even then it would produce a good $180k to $200k per year.. since he was probably in the $20k to $30k in wages this would be a great increase... but, most people think that a millionaire can buy anything at anytime... NOT
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Old 08-16-2006, 09:40 AM   #9
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Re: Lottery Loosers

An old boss of mine once called lotteries a "tax on the stupid".
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-16-2006, 09:56 AM   #10
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Re: Lottery Loosers

From a follow-up on the “Lottery Loser” story by a local columnist.

His story is so common it's become a cliché. Billie Bob Harrell Jr. won a Lotto Texas jackpot of $31 million in 1997. Two years later, he shot himself dead.

"Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me," he reportedly told his financial adviser.

Ricky Wilson won a Lotto Texas prize of $16.3 million in 1993. Over the next decade, he wound up divorced, in debt and in jail.

Sudden wealth crushes many winners. Check the Internet. Lots of lottery millionaires go bankrupt. Many get sued. Others battle ex-spouses and relatives who want a cut of their prize money.

But once in a great while the lottery turns up a success story, a prudent winner, if you will. Meet Nick and Lori Jackson, pseudonyms for a South Texas couple collecting about $1.4 million a year from a 1998 jackpot.

After realizing he had a winning ticket, Nick made a rare first phone call. An accountant, Nick recalls, lined up attorneys and put him and his wife on a budget.

Then 45 years old, Nick bristled at the budget. No money for toys was included. But eight years later, he's glad he followed the financial counsel.

Most lottery winners are working class. Many have little education. Nick and Lori do not fit the profile. He was a company vice president who managed a budget of several million dollars. She was a school administrator.”



Noting that even someone apparently not "stupid" bristled at having to follow a budget after hitting the jackpot, is it any wonder lottery winners who have little eductation usually end up at the bottom of a financial crater?

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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-16-2006, 10:04 AM   #11
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Quote:
An old boss of mine once called lotteries a "tax on the stupid".*
I would probably agree with this since I never have played....but several in my family do...one sibling of mine is also reading a book on trading stocks to get rich....which I am trying to nip in the bud....
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Re: Lottery Loosers
Old 08-16-2006, 10:27 AM   #12
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Re: Lottery Loosers

I never considered anyone who played the lottery as being “stupid”, just “mathematically impaired”.
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Old 08-16-2006, 10:35 AM   #13
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Re: Lottery Loosers

My uncle will play the lottery every once in a great while. Same with one of my roommates. Sure, it still amounts to pissing money away, but most people I know only play a little. So instead of a big piss it's more of a little tinkle.
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Old 08-16-2006, 11:11 AM   #14
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Re: Lottery Loosers

I buy a ticket every once in awhile... when they get over about $50 or so mill.. and I do not think I am stupid..

One year I even broke even... this year I think I have spent $9...
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Old 08-16-2006, 11:12 AM   #15
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Re: Lottery Loosers

As long as you play it with your eyes open, there is no harm. *DW and I play every couple of months when the pot gets big and chat about what we would do with the money. *$1 for entertainment value. *It's sad to see those who can least afford it blow $20-40 a week on the lotto.
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Old 08-16-2006, 07:45 PM   #16
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurence
As long as you play it with your eyes open, there is no harm. DW and I play every couple of months when the pot gets big and chat about what we would do with the money. $1 for entertainment value. It's sad to see those who can least afford it blow $20-40 a week on the lotto.
Exactly it is entertainment. I've played it off and on, (more off than on) but it is a short lived entertainment that allows me to dream of walking into work and saying adios!
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Old 08-17-2006, 06:21 AM   #17
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Re: Lottery Loosers

The only time I'd play it is when the pot was large and then it was only a dollar. The way I figured it whether I spent 1 dollar or 40 dollars my chances of winning were virtually nil so why waste the other 39 bucks, when 1 dollar will get me in the game.
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Old 08-17-2006, 10:32 AM   #18
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Re: Lottery Loosers

More likely to be struck by a meteorite while being eaten by a shark... :P
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Old 08-17-2006, 10:37 AM   #19
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Aren't the odds better when the pot is smaller?
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Old 08-17-2006, 12:14 PM   #20
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Re: Lottery Loosers

Quote:
Originally Posted by astromeria
Aren't the odds better when the pot is smaller?
the odds are the same no matter if it is large or small....

But, from a NPV (yea... I know....) the large pots are the only one that are positive...

If you played all small pots... you are spending a lot of money without winning... when you do the large pots, you are spending a small amount without winning... but you 'what would I do if I win' is so much more fun!!!
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