Mega-Millions "Woooooohoooo, it's real!!!"

 
NJ Couple Says 'Guardian Angel' Helped Them Win Mega-Millions
http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-mega-millions-winner-tristate-story,0,1520588.story

Lotto Winners: Woman Keeps Waitressing, Man Buys Nascar Teams

If you think these two don't have much in common, think again. Both are lottery winners and, despite their very different choices, both say they are happy.

Joe Denette owns two Nascar teams. Alexandra Char is a waitress making about $400 a week.
Denette's story is your classic tale of a man down on his luck who hit it big ...and then spent big too.

Watch the full story on "20/20: Lotto Frenzy" TONIGHT at 10 p.m. ET.
The Virginia man was laid off from his job in the construction business in January 2009. Life was rough, he said, but it would get better -- much better -- in May 2009.
That was when when Denette stopped at 7-11 convenience store and bought $23 worth of Mega Millions tickets. He didn't think twice about spending the scant cash he had on the lotto.
"Gotta take a chance," he said. "If you win, you don't work anymore."
Taking the chance paid off: One of his tickets was a winner, yielding a jackpot of more than $75 million.
In the next three years, Joe quickly spent $20 million of his winnings on charitable donations, a four-carat diamond for his wife, six houses and a collection of grown-up toys most men can only dream of: eight cars, a fleet of ATVs, jet skis, a boat, and two tour buses.

But the biggest thing he bought was his Nascar teams. Long before he won a cent, Denette was a passionate Nascar fan.
His Nascar investment has cost him $1.5 million and counting.

"I was scared, at first," said his wife, Megan. "but I knew that he's always loved Nascar and that's what he wanted to do."
Megan Denette, meanwhile, hasn't lost her pre-lotto frugality. She still clips coupons despite the couple's millions and says she still worries about money.

"I just want to make sure that we're okay and our kids are okay," she said.
But Joe Denette said he feels secure.
Winning the lottery, he said, didn't buy him happiness -- at least, not directly.
"It makes me financially independent. And with all of that comes happiness," he said. "It's nice to be able to get up in the mornin' and say, I don't have to go to work."
Unlike Denette, Alexandra Char wants to work -- so much so that after she learned she won $1 million from a scratch-off ticket, the 21-year-old waitress gave herself just one day off before heading back to her job at a Mexican restaurant.
"It's my little home away from home," the Clearwater, Fla. woman said of the restaurant. "They've become my little family so it's more than just work."
It's not just her work life that's stayed the same: Char hung on to her pre-lotto living arrangements. She shares an apartment with her four roommates, her boyfriend and her dog Murphy.
Char has made some changes thanks to her winnings, however: She's using the money to pay for her college tuition, as well as a couple of splurges: a new car and a camera.
"I ask myself why is it me that won the lottery, the million dollars," Char said. "Why me, when I'm happy working all the time and supporting myself? I believe it was given to me because I'm gonna do something great with it. I just feel like this is the opportunity to start a new chapter."

tickets share lottery jackpot

The spokesman for the Illinois lottery says three tickets have split the record $640 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Mike Lang says the winning tickets were in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

He says the Illinois winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis. The Maryland lottery announced earlier its winner was from Baltimore County. No details have been released on the winning ticket in Kansas.

Lang says each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Maryland lottery officials announced early Saturday that their state sold what could become the world's largest lottery payout of all-time, but it wasn't immediately clear if that ticket holder would get sole possession of the $640 million jackpot or have to split it with other winners.

Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at a retailer in Baltimore County. She said it's too early to know any other information about the lucky ticket holder or whether others were sold elsewhere in the nation.

The winning numbers were 02-04-23-38-46, and the Mega Ball 23.

National lottery officials were expecting to list early Saturday on their website how many winning tickets were sold and from what states, but Maryland sent out its news release and called media organizations hours before the scheduled announcement. The headline of its news release said the winning sale was "one of several nationwide," but Everett told The Associated Press she couldn't immediately confirm any others.

Everett said the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was 2008 when a ticket sold for $24 million.

"We're thrilled," she said. "We're due and excited."

The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey.

Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for a chance to hit the jackpot, which amounts to a $462 million lump sum and around $347 million after federal tax withholding. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes.

From coast to coast, people stood in line at retail stores Friday for one last chance at striking it rich.

Maribeth Ptak, 31, of Milwaukee, only buys Mega Millions when the jackpot is really big and she bought one on Friday at a Milwaukee grocery store. She said she'd use the money to pay off bills, including school loans, and then she'd donate a good portion to charity.

"I know the odds are really not in my favor, but why not," she said.

Sawnya Castro, 31, of Dallas, bought $50 worth of tickets at a 7-Eleven. She figured she'd use the money to create a rescue society for Great Danes, fix up her grandmother's house, and perhaps even buy a bigger one for herself.

"Not too big - I don't want that. Too much house to keep with," she said.

Willie Richards, who works for the U.S. Marshals Service at a federal courthouse in Atlanta, figured if there ever was a time to confront astronomical odds, it was when $640 million was at stake. He bought five tickets.

"When it gets as big as it is now, you'd be nuts not to play," he said. "You have to take a chance on Lady Luck."

---

Associated Press Writers Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee, Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Andrew Jackson "Jack" Whittaker Jr - West Virginia Powerball Winner

Andrew Jackson "Jack" Whittaker Jr is a West Virginia businessman that won $315 million on December 25, 2002 in the Powerball Lottery, which was the biggest lottery jackpot ever, at that time. Whittaker purchased the winning ticket in a supermarket in Hurricane, West Virginia.

What does the single biggest lottery winner ever do with his money? Well, there were some good deeds like giving 10% of his winnings to a Christian charity, giving the woman that sold him the winning ticket a house and car, and setting up a setting up a charity that provides food and clothing to the needy. But, aside from that, Whittaker blew it all on things such as casinos and strip clubs. Last we heard, he was now broke with mounting legal bills.

Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. was an accomplished business person prior to winning the Powerball jackpot. We're sure he was, or will be, able to land back on his feet.

Lottery win could easily be followed by big loss

The perception is once you win the lottery, you are set — you're in great shape. But in reality the battle has just begun," says Andrew Stoltmann, an attorney who has represented lottery winners who have hit financial troubles.

"Often lottery winners do not have much experience with managing money and lack basic investing skills," he says. In turn, they can easily make bad investments, fritter their money away on big-ticket purchases and fall prey to scam artists.

Tales of lottery winners who blew their riches abound. One of the most infamous is Curtis Sharp, an air conditioning technician from Newark, N.J., who won $5 million in the New York Lotto drawing in 1982.

Known for his dapper attire and flashy personality, he became an icon for making it big through lottery luck. A three-piece-suit-clad Sharp even starred in a Lotto ad that showed him cruising in the back of a limousine.

But his funds dissipated.

"The money's gone," Sharp, then 71, told the New York Daily News in 2009. "I bought into a lot of things that went bad."

Wisconsin-resident Andrew Cicero also struggled to maintain his lottery windfall. He lost most of the $5.5 million he won in 1995 to bad investments.

Cicero lived on a pension and Social Security income before he was successfully able to gain some of the money back in lawsuits against his investment and advisory firms that were settled. Stoltmann handled Cicero's case but declined to comment.

Winners who lack financial savvy barely have time to Google "investing tips" before they are deluged with offers from financial planners, scam artists, friends and family. So it's easy for a lottery victor to quickly feel overwhelmed and make poor decisions, Stoltmann says.

For the lucky winner of tonight's Mega Millions — or anyone who lands a large, unexpected windfall — financial advisers offer this initial advice: Keep the news quiet.

"Don't go to Facebook and say you've just won the Mega Millions lottery," says attorney Richard Craig, whose firm has represented past lottery winners.

Sure, it's fine to share the news with close, trustworthy friends and families, he says. But those who widely brag about their newfound fortunes open themselves up to a swarm of legitimate and illegitimate money requests, as well as to potential predatory lawsuits from those who want to get their hands on the riches.

"In this litigious society, you don't want to be a target — so don't purposely draw attention to yourself," Craig says. "You want to do your best to minimize your visibility on the radar screen."

Other tips on how to manage any Mega Millions — or other lottery — windfalls.

Keep that winning ticket safe: Powerball champ Louise White — who won a $336 million jackpot in February — hid the ticket in her Bible. Financial advisers say that's not the best way to go. Instead, those with winning tickets should sign them and tuck them into a safe or safety deposit box, Craig says. He advocates making a few copies of the winning ticket and storing those papers in a separate location.

Create a trusted advisory team: Ask friends, family and professional contacts for suggestions on credible tax experts, lawyers, financial planners and insurance providers. "Few lottery winners have the infrastructure in place to manage a lottery windfall," Stoltmann says. Craig suggests winners create an "advisory board" that can include business-savvy friends, as well as professional advisers. Among its benefits: The board can serve as "a buffer" against friends and family who ask for handouts. This way, a winner doesn't have to solely take blame for turning down a solicitation from a family or friend.

Sit tight for six months: "Don't make any major commitments or financial obligations for six months," Craig says. Instead, just let the win settle in. "It's tempting for a lottery winner to quit his or her job or immediately splurge on a mansion or other large purchase. Don't," Stoltmann says. "The worst decisions made by lottery winners are usually the first few decisions."

Don't rely on the familiar when investing: For the financially uneducated, there is a tendency to invest in a tangible assets — such as a restaurant or car wash — rather than put the money into more liquid, and easily traded, investments such as stocks or bonds, says Ed Butowsky, managing partner at Chapwood Capital Investment Management. "They typically will invest in things they are familiar with and that they can touch and feel because, generally speaking, they don't have the knowledge of investment instruments," he says. Although it's easy to put money into a private investment, such as a restaurant, "it's hard to get the money out." Winners should instead consider public securities over these private investments, he says.

Donate wisely: Don't dole out money indiscriminately to charities, Craig says. Instead, those who want to contribute to a cause should speak with a financial adviser about tax benefits, as well as the possibility of setting up a foundation.

Have fun: It's OK to buy that dream boat or new wardrobe — if it's planned out. "Take some of this, and let it be mad money," Craig says.

Record Mega Millions numbers: 2-4-23-38-46, MB 23

Across the country, Americans plunked down an estimated $1.5 billion on the longest of long shots: an infinitesimally small chance to win what could end up being the single biggest lottery payout the world has ever seen.

The numbers drawn Friday night in Atlanta were 2-4-23-38-46, Mega Ball 23. Lottery officials expected to release details about possible winners a couple of hours after the 11 p.m. Eastern drawing.

Forget about how the $640 million Mega Millions jackpot could change the life of the winner. It’s a collective wager that could fund a presidential campaign several times over, make a dent in struggling state budgets or take away the gas worries and grocery bills for thousands of middle-class citizens.

And it’s a cheap investment for the chance of a big reward, no matter how long the odds — 1 in 176 million.

“Twenty to thirty dollars won’t hurt,’’ said Elvira Bakken of Las Vegas. “I think it just gives us a chance of maybe winning our dream.’’

So what exactly would happen if the country spent that $1.5 billion on something other than a distant dream?

For starters, it could cure the everyday worries of hundreds of thousands of American families hit by the Great Recession. It costs an average of $6,129 to feed the typical family for a year — meaning the cash spent on tickets could fill up the plates of 238,000 households.

As gas prices climb faster than stations can change the numbers on the signs, the money spent on tickets could fill the tanks of 685,000 households annually.

Or it could play politics. So far in this campaign, Republicans and President Barack Obama have spent $348.5 million. The amount spent on Mega Millions tickets could cover that tab four times over.

Could the money dig governments out of debt? That’s a problem that even staggering ticket sales can’t solve. It could trim this year’s expected $1.3 trillion federal deficit by just over a tenth of 1 percent. In Illinois, the money would disappear just as fast into that state’s $8 billion deficit.

On a personal level, that much money staggers. Giving $1.46 billion to a broker could purchase 2.4 million shares of Apple stock. (It would also be enough to buy about 2.4 million iPads at the starting price of $499. That’s almost as many as the 3 million new iPads that Apple has already sold.)

Or consider the whimsical: A family of up to 12 could live for more than a century at Musha Cay, magician David Copperfield’s $37,000-a-night private island resort in the Exuma Cays of the Caribbean.

Ryan Leaf’s Statement After His Arrest

The former Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has battled an addiction to prescription drugs but who had appeared to right his life recently, was arrested Friday in his hometown in Montana, Great Falls, on burglary and drug possession charges, the police said. He later released a statement:

“I’ve made some mistakes, and have no excuses. I am using the tools I’ve learned to move forward rather than backwards, and will be open to talking about the details in the days to come. I am confident that there will be further understanding when the facts are revealed, and feel very blessed for all of the support, especially from my friends and family.”

Leaf, the No. 2 pick in the 1998 draft, had surgery last June to remove a benign brain tumor. He had written a book about his career at Washington State and was promoting it.
The Associated Press:

Friday’s arrest also raises the question of whether  the 10-year probation plea agreement he negotiated with Texas prosecutors stemming from drug and burglary charges in 2009 will be revoked. In 2008, when Leaf was a quarterbacks coach for Division II West Texas A&M, he was accused of burglarizing a player’s home. An investigation turned up that Leaf had obtained nearly 1,000 pain pills from area pharmacies in an eight-month span.

Jon Kasper, a former high school teammate of Leaf’s, said in The Great Falls Tribune:

“I want Ryan Leaf to be happy and at peace. I was really proud to see how he has done on the book tour. I read his book and thought it was great and I was happy to see him doing a lot of media interviews.
“I’ve been sitting here for an hour, and I’m sick for him. Addiction is so powerful and I don’t think people that haven’t dealt with that understand that. People deal with it all their lives and have relapses.”

The New York Times By Toni Moncovic