Six huge mistakes made by lottery winners that led to them losing everything

04 November 2023 , 07:00

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Tonda Dickerson, pictured with her husband, won $10million in the lottery but was sued by her co-workers (Image: Mike Kittrell)

From overspending your cash to trusting a family member with your ticket, and even accepting a lottery ticket as a tip - it is easy to get a post-lottery win very wrong. Here are the dos and don'ts for any future winners.

1. Jack Whittaker: Don't flounce the cash

Jack Whittaker’s colossal $315million Powerball win in 2002 is what many can only dream of. But it was the beginning of this man's 17 years of misery. A series of tragedies included the death of his granddaughter, the theft of £500,000 of his money at a strip club, people attempting to spike him and a fire in his home.

Whittaker was notorious in his local area in West Virginia for gambling, bar fights and unwanted sexual propositions. But his greatest mistake was at Pink Pony strip club, where Whittaker was known for flaunting his cash, and where he one day turned up bragging of $545,000 cash which he had stashed in his Lincoln car outside the bar.

READ MORE: 'I was given £7million lottery ticket as a waitress tip - but it ruined my life'

It is alleged that two employees spiked him, broke into his vehicle and stole the cash. But the pair never faced prison, and in a rare stroke of luck for Whittaker the cash was found near a dumpster.

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2. William 'Bud' Post III: Never trust your family

After winning $16.2 million in 1998, poor William’s brother was after him. His brother hired a hitman to murder William and his wife so he could claim the money and splash his riches. But the assassination attempt failed - and his brother was put behind bars.

But surviving the assassination attempt didn’t end up being a good omen for William. His life was still riddled with misfortune and mistakes, such as investing into a business which flopped. He was also forced to pay $5 million to his landlady - and ended up declaring bankruptcy before his death in 2006, according to FinancesOnline.

3. Lynne Ann Poirier: Buy your own ticket and never promise to share

Lynne Ann Poirier learnt this lesson the hard way - when her ex sued her for hundreds of thousands of dollars based on a verbal agreement they had made to share lottery winnings together. Howard Browning won the case, and Poirier was forced to pay $291,000 - therefore bankrupting her.

Browning’s case was reinforced by the fact that he was able to show that the lottery ticket was bought with his money while they were together - which Poirier denied. In a nine-year legal battle culminating in 2016 Poirier was ordered to pay up.

4. Etta May Urquhart: Never trust your family (part two)

Etta May had been going for the California lottery for 18 years, and her commitment paid off when she raked in a whopping $15 million. She gave the ticket to her son to claim the jackpot for her, which began a bitter familial dispute.

Her worse-than-cheeky son had taken the ticket and claimed the money for himself. Uruquhart refused to stand by and let it happen - she took her son to court, suing him for fraud as well as abuse for stealing her winnings, and she won.

5. Tonda Dickerson: The $10 million tip

If you are obliged to share your winnings, do so straight away. The alternative is long and brutal legal cases which will no doubt lose you a hefty sum of cash.

Tonda Dickerson was given a lottery ticket as a tip in the Waffle House where she worked. That ticket turned out to change her life, raking in $10 million. But the other waitresses at the Waffle House reminded Tonda of the deal to share all tips between them - meaning the lottery ticket did not belong to Tonda alone. Sure enough, she was sued for millions.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the rest of Tonda’s life involved a return from the man who gave her the ticket - to demand a brand new car - and a kidnapping by her ex-husband, who she shot through the chest to escape. Perhaps winning the lottery isn’t so lucky after all.

6. Ron Yurcus: Don’t lose your ticket!

Ron Yurcus bought a ticket back in August 2012 - and it was worth a cool $1 million. But Ron, amid the hectic chaos of life, forgot he had bought the ticket for three months. Luckily, the Illinois resident found the ticket in November when clearing out his desk - and realised there had been $1 million sitting there all along.