Any Big Winners Here?

RobbieB said:
Where I've played (Reno) the "bad beat" pot was distributed as follows;

50% to the loser (bad beat)
25% to the winner (along with the pot of course)
25% to the remaining players at the table
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So that's why the other players were pulling for me to have a low 4 of a kind! I was either in Reno or Tahoe.
 
I think my biggest win was probably 15 years ago at a charity golf event. I happen to get lucky and win the closest to pin on a par 3. I'm not a great golfer, usually hit mid to high '90s, but dropped the shot about one foot from the pin. Prize was a round trip airfare on Southwest airlines. However at the dinner when they were giving out the awards they couldn't find the certificate, and ended up giving me a Richard Petty ride along which I ended up giving to my father-in-law as a birthday present as he was such a big Nascar fan.
 
rodi said:
Apparently scam artists, 'investment advisors' etc come out of the woodwork to 'help you' handle your winnings. Friends and relatives might come looking for hand outs. Etc
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I remember quite a while ago, a guy in the Chicago area won $40 million in the Illinois lottery. It was the biggest payout up to that point.

I was in my car and the folks on WGN radio got him on the phone. I expected him to tell about how wonderful life was.

Instead, he told of constantly being hit on by scam artists, relatives he didn't even know he had, and people with hard luck stories asking for loans or handouts. He said he'd lost all his friends because they either resented his new wealth or were mad because he wouldn't loan them money.

He sounded like winning the lottery was the worst thing that ever happened to him!
 
Winning can be a bigger PIA than you might think.... (All this is a hypothetical example of course, as I understand the tax laws and the hidden gambling tax. :)) See a tax attorney if you really hit it big.

Let's say you are 65 years old (or older) and win 250k at a casino or in the lottery... Let's also say you made another 150k+ that year (Interest, RMD's, SS, stock trades, retirement payments, etc) and no real big deductions. So now your annual income is 400k+ on your tax return... So you pay the taxes on the 400k+ (less any deductions and in a higher tax bracket of ~35% of course) and you think I'm done and I'm still ahead. But they (the government) are not finished with you yet...

Next year when Medicare sees that you made 400k last year on your tax return, they will hit you with higher Medicare premiums. (a.k.a. IRMMA) In the case above filing jointly would put you well into tier 5. (next to the top)

Still you would be ahead in such a case but it's the gift that keeps on giving... (or should I say taking)

So you pay taxes on your initial winnings at a higher tax rate than you would normally pay, then they hit you with much higher Medicare premiums, they you get to pay more sales taxes on whatever you buy with whatever is left over....

Who really won?
 
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Not a big winner but fun experience for me: We won $500 at a slot machine on our honeymoon trip many years ago. The machine only paid out $200 in coins, then an attendant came over and asked if we wanted the remaining $300 in casino chips or coins. DW immediately said cash please. I continued playing and of course proceeded to lose all the coins. I am sure glad that DW is not a gambler that night and we went home happy with $300 cash.
 
Just remembered one of my favorite stories. When my grandfather retired in about 1961, he and his DW got in the car and fulfilled a lifelong dream of a road trip throughout the 48 states.

When they got to Las Vegas, they stopped to play the slots on their way to check in to their hotel, and after an hour or two they were up around $6,000. That would be well over $50,000 today.

Grandma was having such a wonderful time she wanted to keep at it, but Grandpa took her by the arm and steered her out to the parking lot. "Shouldn't we see if our room is ready yet?" she asked.
"No, we're getting out of this town as fast as we can and never coming back." he replied. And that's exactly what they did.

My grandfather only had about five years of grade school but he was a very smart cookie.
 
Car-Guy said:
Winning can be a bigger PIA than you might think.... (All this is a hypothetical example of course, as I understand the tax laws and the hidden gambling tax. :)) See a tax attorney if you really hit it big.

Let's say you are 65 years old (or older) and win 250k at a casino or in the lottery... Let's also say you made another 150k+ that year (Interest, RMD's, SS, stock trades, retirement payments, etc) and no real big deductions. So now your annual income is 400k+ on your tax return... So you pay the taxes on the 400k+ (less any deductions and in a higher tax bracket of ~35% of course) and you think I'm done and I'm still ahead. But they (the government) are not finished with you yet...

Next year when Medicare sees that you made 400k last year on your tax return, they will hit you with higher Medicare premiums. (a.k.a. IRMMA) In the case above filing jointly would put you well into tier 5. (next to the top)

Still you would be ahead in such a case but it's the gift that keeps on giving... (or should I say taking)

So you pay taxes on your initial winnings at a higher tax rate than you would normally pay, then they hit you with much higher Medicare premiums, they you get to pay more sales taxes on whatever you buy with whatever is left over....

Who really won?
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If you're going to put numbers out there, finish them.

Let's say all of the winnings are taxed at 35% fed and 5% state, 40% total. That's $100K gone to taxes, with $150K left over.

IRMAA, going from 1st tier to the 5th costs you all of $318/month, or $3016. $147K left over.

Who won? You still get more than half. That's pretty good. And $250K is a pretty safe amount to win, you won't have people crawling out of the woodwork after your money. I'll take that any day of the year.

$250M, now that's a headache.
 
RunningBum said:
If you're going to put numbers out there, finish them.
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Well excuse me! Not really, the points should have been more than clear enough as written for most people...



Now where is that ignore user button again! (edit - found it)
 
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Always best to work out the numbers rather than jumping to a conclusion without working through them. Not going to apologize for disproving your point.
 
Many years ago, my Dad entered a contest to win a new Volvo, and won a rolling pin. It was a running joke in the family for a long time!
 
I have always said that if I hit a big lottery (millions), I would immediately get a 900 phone number and charge people $5/minute to call and talk to me (my stand-in, really).
 
Nothing huge, but a year ago last winter on a ski trip to Nevada, I plopped $200 down on Blues to win Stanley Cup at 50-1. So a nice 10k score all while rooting for the home team.
 
How's it go?

My friend came back from Las Vegas once. He told me the slot machines are easy to win big at. He went to town in a $20,000 Nissan, left in a $160,000 Porsche.

I thought "nice, I'm going to get in on that." So I left for Vegas in my $30,000 Toyota. Came back in a $350,000 vehicle.

A Greyhound bus.
 
I had a friend that took home a check for $6.6 million after taxes. His life was a mess before the win and he committed suicide 4 years after. The money didn't make him a better person it just brought a bunch of fake friends looking for a handout. He didn't know who his real friends were anymore. I went to the funeral and it was all just the people that knew him before the win and none of the leaches. Money can be evil.
 
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Gary 1958 said:
I had a friend that took home a check for $6.6 million after taxes. His life was a mess before the win and he committed suicide 4 years after. The money didn't make him a better person it just brought a bunch of fake friends looking for a handout. He didn't know who his real friends were anymore. I went to the funeral and it was all just the people that knew him before the win and none of the leaches. Money can be evil.
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I always tell folks the same thing about moving to the Islands. You are still the same person you were when you were stuck in the snow of the UP or were scorching the skin off your hands when you got in your car in Winslow. If you were a Debbie Downer in Fargo, you'll be one in Ka'a'a'wa. YMMV
 
calmloki said:
How's it go?

I thought "nice, I'm going to get in on that." So I left for Vegas in my $30,000 Toyota. Came back in a $350,000 vehicle.

A Greyhound bus.
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If you guys only knew how many times I have been on that bus. :blush:
 
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DW always used the excuse that, because we don't gamble, she was entitled to buy SW art and jewelry whenever we visited LVNV or Reno, etc. It was her "gambling money" she was certain she would lose. Couldn't argue with the logic - plus "If Mama ain't happy..." YMMV
 
Koolau said:
DW always used the excuse that, because we don't gamble, she was entitled to buy SW art and jewelry whenever we visited LVNV or Reno, etc. It was her "gambling money" she was certain she would lose. Couldn't argue with the logic - plus "If Mama ain't happy..." YMMV
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Trust me, she's a smart lady, and now she has something to show for it.
 
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Koolau said:
I always tell folks the same thing about moving to the Islands. You are still the same person you were when you were stuck in the snow of the UP or were scorching the skin off your hands when you got in your car in Winslow. If you were a Debbie Downer in Fargo, you'll be one in Ka'a'a'wa. YMMV
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No matter where you go there you are. We all carry baggage and until we learn how to leave that behind the world will always treat us the same.
 
i have met 2 lottery winners in MA. Both in laundromats. Both had all payments completely attached by the courts. Both with fiberglass body Corvettes. And nothing else to show for it.
 
I didn't know him well, but a guy at w*rk won a special $million lottery. Forget the details, but there was some TV show involved IIFC - so he could have gotten, maybe $10K but got the $million. SO, what did he do? He kept w*rking until his pension vested (plus Megacorps conditional promise of subsidized HI upon retirement.) I recall thinking how smart he was. By then, I knew that a $millon was a nice chunk of money, but it wasn't an immediate ticket to retirement without other sources of income or, especially health insurance. YMMV
 
jazz4cash said:
I'll admit that my motivation for this thread is losing the annual Volunteer Fire Dept Classic Corvette Raffle for the 5th year in a row. I wont admit how much I lost but at least it is a worthy cause.

I agree that ER feels like winning the lottery.
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Well, I have bought tickets on the Corvette for many , many years. Never won it. I did win a car once though......not a corvette
 
DW won three days free in a hotel in Miami. We were planning to go there anyway. It turned out to be the high pressure breakfast to buy swamp land (a forerunner of timeshare). We had the continental breakfast and politely but firmly said no to the salesman and sales manager. Got our free stuff and left.

In the elevator, another couple had purchased! Unbeleivable.
 
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