How Sweet it is to be Loved by Him

What a sweet start for this Missouri bride and groom to be. He gave his finance a lottery scratch ticket that brought home $250,000 in lottery winnings. The couple is going to pay off their home. Not a bad way to start of a marriage - mortgage free! Here's the story from Walletpop.com:

Groom gives bride-to-be $250,000 lottery ticket

Nothing says love like giving your future spouse a winning $250,000 lottery ticket.

That's what happened in Ballwin, Mo., where Robert Russell, 33, surprised his future wife, 30-year-old Tracie Rogers, with the "$250,000 Payout" scratcher, purchased at a QuikTrip in St. Louis.

"I thought it was a fake!" Rogers told the Missouri Lottery. "I was just shocked. You always hear about people winning big money on the Lottery, but you never meet anybody."

The Missouri Lottery says the couple plan to use their winnings to pay off a house. Not a bad way to start off a marriage, especially since around 14 million Americans, or 19 percent of all homeowners, owe more than $100,000 on their mortgages. Read the whole story...

$28 too $258,000,000

This is a great story. The Missouri man only had $28 before he won the Powerball lottery jackpot. He purchased the winning lottery ticket from the gas station he worked at. Check out the video from ABC News.

Lottery Winner Will Re-new Vows with Hubby

The 46 year old British mum will re-new her vows with her husband. This time no wedding gifts as she won £1.25m lottery jackpot in 2008. She's a full-time caregiver at her home to her two sisters and brother who suffer from learning disabilities. Here's a LottoGopher cheers to you two! Story reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Mirfield lottery winner's wedding re-run

LOTTERY winner Susan Crossland is planning a re-run of her wedding – but this time presents won't be required.

The 46-year-old mum, who won £1.25m in 2008, lives in Mirfield and is full-time carer to two sisters and a brother, who have learning difficulties.

She paid for a home for them and also works voluntarily for Hollybank School, for severely disabled children.

And when she once more makes her wedding vows to husband Michael, guests will be asked to boost her fund-raising activities.

She said: "We have been saying we would renew our wedding vows for years but now we have finally got round to it we obviously don't need any money for gifts. Instead, we are asking people to make a donation to the school. Read the whole story...

A Lucky Lady - 4 Time Lottery Winner

The lucky lady of Texas has won a total of over $20,000,000 on four lottery wins. In a combination of drawing game jackpots and scratchers the lottery has treated her very well since 1993 - especially in the last five years. For now, she's laying low. Here's the story reported by Online Casino Reports.

Four Time Lottery Winner Lies Low

In the sleepy, rural town of Bishop, Texas lady luck has shone upon one rapturous resident not once, not twice, not even three times. Jammy Joan Ginther has notched up a phenomenal four lottery wins.

Ginther, known for her reclusive nature, had her first win in the form of a shared $11 million lottery draw jackpot back in 1993. She followed this up with scratch card wins to a tidy $2 million in 2006 and a thrilling $3 million just two years later.

Her latest win came from a $50 scratch card and netted her a cool $10 million. The 63 year old hails from a small community of 3,300 and is known to be a very private person.

Pilgrimage to Times Market

The mysterious millionaire bought two of her winning tickets at Times Market, a highway gas station, which, understandably, is becoming a place of pilgrimage for those chasing some lottery loot.

Sue Bae, who owns the Time Market remembers selling Ginther her winning tickets and describes her as "generous" and having "helped so many people". Bae recalls her buying a car for someone down on their luck, getting a van for the local church and donating her old home to charity. Read the whole story...

4 Co-workers Sue Lottery Pool for Not Sharing 207M Lottery Jackpot

Tisk, tisk, tisk. An Ohio lottery pool of 19 that had been pooling money for 5 years won't share $207,000,000 lottery jackpot they won while 4 of the people were out of the office. With LottoGopher, we collect your prize and divvy up the winnings for you and it's all online, so no one in your lottery pool or lottery syndicate will ever miss a drawing. Here's the article from wowowow.com and video from CNN. Sounds like most agree, what do you think?

Co-Workers Sue Over $207M Lottery Win

Four city workers — who had been polling their money in the office pot for nearly five years under the verbal agreement that they’d all share the winnings — were out of the office and unavailable to contribute to the office pool for a drawing last month that resulted in a $207 million payoff.

The four planitiffs are suing 15 co-workers who are keeping the $207 million Mega Millions lottery winnings all to themselves. Read the whole article...

Really a sword?

This story is a bit strange. I also don't like it when I don't win the lottery, but I don't conceal weapons and threaten people. Here it is reported by Mercury News.

Watsonville man arrested for concealed sword after he complains his lottery tickets aren't winners

WATSONVILLE — A man arguing with a store clerk over lottery tickets was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon Tuesday morning after he showed an officer a sword concealed in his trench coat, Watsonville police reported.

Watsonville resident Laurence Roscoe Gregory, 65, was fighting with the clerk because he believed his tickets were winners, when in fact they were not, according to Sgt. Saul Gonzalez. The officer talked with Gregory outside the store, located on the 100 block of East Lake Avenue, around 8 a.m. and explained that Gregory hadn't won.

Then the officer asked Gregory, who was wearing "bulky" clothing, if he had any weapons on him and Gregory revealed the 3- to 4-foot-long sword under his coat. He told the officer the sword was part of his attire, Gonzalez said. Read the whole story...

Virginia State Lottery Releases Redskins Scratch Tickets

Scratch the logo off DC's favorite (or most hated in Dallas) team, The Redskins. Today the Virginia lottery released Redskins scratch tickets. Scratch and win a lottery prize... hopefully! Here's the story from DC sports blog.

Redskins lottery tickets go nostalgia

So, what would they call their new Virginia Lottery scratcher? "Redskins Legacy," naturally, featuring little old-timey helmet logos right at the top. Pretty soon, they can just scrap the games altogether and show old glory-days highlights on the massive new HD screens. Or at last scrap the preseason games. Bet fans wouldn't mind. Read the whole story...

Retired Press Worker Scratches for $1,000,000

A man whom worked for 40 years in a Berlin, CT manufacturing firm retired pack to his native Puerto Rico. At a family reunion back in Connecticut he swung through the local gas station for a cup of joe and a scratcher - a scratcher worth A MILLION BUCKS! Congrats to the newest Connecticut scratch ticket lottery winning millionaire. Here's the story reported by the New Britain Herald.

Retired Press Operator Wins Lottery

When Wilman Bravo showed up at his son, Robert’s home in Plainville Wednesday afternoon the younger Bravo was concerned. His father was crying.

“These are good tears,” Bravo assured his son. “These are tears of joy.”

After working more than 40 years as a press operator for a Berlin manufacturing firm, former New Britain resident Wilman Bravo, 66, retired last year.

He returned to his native Sabana Hoyos, Puerto Rico. Then Wednesday, while back in New Britain for his annual family visit, Bravo stopped at a local convenience store to buy a cup of coffee and lottery tickets.

On a whim he peeled off an Andrew Jackson for two, “$100,000,000 Diamond Mine” instant games.

In moments Bravo was no longer simply a “retired factory worker;” he had donned a new mantle, “Connecticut’s Newest Lottery Millionaire.”

Revealing a matching pair of 16s, Bravo discovered he had won the $1,000,000 prize — a sum that far exceeded his expectations.

“I did a double take,” he told lottery officials and laughed. “I took off my glasses, turned the winning ticket around in my hand, cleaned my glasses, then took another look.”

Unable to reach his son by cell phone to share the news, clutching the ticket, he got back in his car and drove to his son’s house.

“I was in disbelief,” said Robert Bravo about his father’s good fortune.

However, father and son managed to drive to CT Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill to verify the ticket and claim the elder Bravo’s $1,000,000 top prize. Read the full story...

Florida Woman is out $5,000 in Lottery Scam

This poor trusting woman was approached by a pregnant woman and her friend claiming they had a winning Mega Millions lottery ticket that they could not cash. They told the woman that if she gave them $5,000 they would find someone to cash it and give her $30,000 in return. Instead of the money she got newspapers and rocks. Although I don't think the victim was smart in trusting strangers, I still feel badly that she got swindled out of $5,000. Here's the story reported by WFTV.

Victim Scammed Of $5K By Pregnant Woman

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police told WFTV they're seeing new cases of one of the oldest tricks in the book: lottery scams. WFTV talked to one victim who said she was swindled by a pregnant woman.

"I feel ashamed of myself, I’m sorry," victim Genoveva Rosario said.

Genoveva Rosario lost $5,000 to a lottery scam. She was shopping at K-mart Wednesday when a pregnant woman and her friend approached her saying they had a winning Mega Millions ticket but couldn't cash it because they were illegal.

"I tried to help them, they asked me for help, especially the pregnant one," Rosario said.

The women told Rosairo if she gave them $5,000, they would pay someone to cash the ticket. They would split the winnings and give her $30,000. They convinced her to go to her bank and withdraw the cash.

The suspects told Rosairo to meet them at a shopping plaza so she could sign some papers,but when she got there she realized something wasn't right and asked for her money back. Instead, she got paper and rocks. The thieves put rocks and newspaper in the shape of money in a Fed Ex bag and took off.

“Why did you take them to your bank and take that money out?” WFTV reporter Vanessa Welch asked Rosario.

"It's stupid, stupid. I don’t trust my instincts, just stupid," she answered. Read the full story...

$48.5m Winning Powerball Ticket Ripped Up!

A pair of co-workers and friends in Montana have been purchasing lottery tickets together for a few years. After purchasing 1 or 2 $96.9m Powerball jackpot winning lottery tickets she checked the website for the winning numbers and ripped the ticket into four thinking she didn't win. But she checked the winning website before it was updated, the next day when she heard that the tickets were purchased at the same pub, she went back and found her winning Powerball ticket in four. The pair got to claim their lottery jackpot, turning into a story with a great ending. Here it is reported by The Lottery Post.

After ripping up lottery ticket, Montana pair claim $48.5M share of Powerball jackpot

Six lucky numbers turned into a life-changing, eight-figure payout for a pair of Helenans who Thursday discovered their share of a Powerball lotto jackpot will be some $48.5 million.

Kim Claassen, 55, and 23-year-old Joe Lamport Jr. have worked together at North West Home Health Care for several years, and over that time have intermittently purchased lottery tickets together with the understanding that they would split any winnings. Wednesday night, Claassen stopped at the Town Pump on North Montana Avenue, just up the street from the Montana Lottery headquarters, and bought $10 worth of tickets, including what turned out to be the winning combination, for that night's $96.9 million Powerball drawing.

The two are splitting the jackpot with the holder of another winning ticket sold in Ohio. It's the biggest single lotto payout in Montana history, eclipsing a $47 million Lotto America winner sold in Havre in 1991.

Claassen, who also works part time in distribution services for the Independent Record, said she slept just and hour-and-a-half between jobs Thursday morning, and was still in a state of shock Thursday afternoon.

"Mostly I've just got to let it sink in and let it feel real," she said. "It's going to have a huge impact on a lot of people's lives."

At a news event at the convenience store where the winning ticket was sold, Lamport said he wasn't sure what he'd do with his share of the winnings.

"I just want to go fishing," he laughed. "I'm not going to Disney World!"

Claassen very nearly let the winning ticket get away. She said she checked the lottery website Wednesday night, and believing her numbers were not winners, tore the ticket into four pieces and threw it away, and sent Lamport a text message saying, "We're not millionaires yet." Read the full story...

Detroit Chrysler Plant Lottery Pool Wins $96.9m Powerball Jackpot

The lottery group of 14 from the Detroit based Chrysler plant whom make Dodge Vipers for a living are taking home $1,200,000 each. The only Ohioan purchased their pool's lucky Powerball ticket from a shop just outside Toledo, OH. Here's the story reported by WFMJ.

Michigan auto workers claim Powerball jackpot

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A group of Michigan auto workers has claimed 1 of 2 winning tickets in last week's $96.9 million Powerball lottery.

The Ohio Lottery says that most of the 14 winners all work together in the paint shop at a Detroit Chrysler plant that makes the Dodge Viper.

The winners claimed their prize Tuesday in Toledo. The lone Ohioan in the group bought the ticket at a carryout just outside Toledo.

All of the others are from the Detroit area.

The lottery says each of the 14 winners will get a lump-sum payment of $1.2 million. Read the whole story...