Twenty co-workers at a Costco store in Melville, New York, have something to celebrate tonight.
According to ABC News, the group shared the winning Powerball Lottery ticket drawn last night, earning them a $201.9 Million jackpot.
But winning the lottery isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. You would think that when a person wins the lottery, they won the American dream. But apparently that doesn’t happen for everybody.
Whether these instant millionaires go bankrupt because of free-loading relatives or spending on glamorous holidays, expensive homes, cars and drugs, sometimes mo’ money really does mean mo’ problems.
Go to the next page for the lottery winner break down.
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Less than a year after winning, William Post from Pennsylvania, who won a sizeable $16.2 Million in 1988, found himself $1 Million in debt and living on Social Security payments all because of his own family.
His brother actually hired a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit some money and his other family members persuaded him to invest in two businesses that gave him zero return.
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It only took six years for UK Lottery winner, Callie Rogers to blow through her $3 Million. At the age of 16, Rogers spent her winnings on expensive holidays, house for her family, designer clothes, cars, boobs and a substantial amount on cocaine.
Today, the 22-year-old is a single mother of two, works as a maid and is living with her mother.
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Talk about luck! Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice back in 1985 and ’86 for a lump sum of $5.4 Million.
The New Jersey resident however gambled her money in Atlantic City. Twenty years later, Adams is broke and lives in a trailer.
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Back in 2002, West Virginia building contractor Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. won $315 Million ($114 Million after taxes) in the Powerball multi-state lottery.
At the time, it was the biggest amount ever won by a single ticket! So how the heck did Whittaker blow through his winnings? Although he gave money to Christian charities and personal foundation supporting low-income families, Whittaker luck ran out fast.
In two separate instances, thieves stole a total of $745,000 Whittaker left in his car, Caesars Atlantic City sued him for bouncing $1.5 million in checks, his wife divorced him and his daughter, granddaughter and granddaughter’s boyfriend all died that same year.
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Willie Hurt’s excitement when he found out that he won $3.1 million in the 1989 Michigan Lottery didn’t last long. Within two years Hurt hit rock bottom. He was broke, divorced his wife, lost custody of his kids, spent his remaining money on crack cocaine and was charged for murder.
