Are you aware that lottery ticket sales have spiked recently? In only two months in a single state, more than $180 million in scratch-off tickets were sold. While not everyone can end up a winner, the lottery still gives people the opportunity to hit it big. When you use the right strategies, you have a much better chance than those who rely on old-fashioned luck.
Are you wondering how a simple scratch-off could change your life? Keep reading to learn all about the biggest lottery winners of all time.
The Biggest American Winners
When it comes to the biggest US lottery winners, nothing beats the three people who won the Powerball in the first month of 2016. While the idea of sharing a jackpot may be a bit of a bummer, that doesn’t matter so much when the winnings are as big as this one. This lucky trio had the pleasure of splitting almost $1.585 billion.
It was hard to go anywhere that year without hearing about this historic event. What made it even more special was that each winner came from a different state. The couple Mae and Marvin Acosta hailed from California and only claimed their winnings around half a year after the numbers became public.
Johnson and Lisa Robinson were the second winning couple and they came from the humble city of Munford, Tennessee. David Kaltschmidt and his wife Maureen were the final winning couple and are residents of Florida.
You might expect people who win this big to start whole new lives indulging in only the most expensive luxuries, but sometimes that’s not the case. In fact, the Florida couple changed almost nothing about their lives, except the fear of being without money whenever it’s needed.
Not only do they still shop for groceries at their local store, but they also play the lottery every week just like they used to before winning. Since almost $328 million comes with a ton of responsibility, the Floridian couple decided to hire The Nickel 95 Trust as a reliable way to manage their funds.
A Hefty Scratch-Off Ticket
Not all lottery winners come from the Powerball. There are plenty of scratch-off lottery winners out there too. You might even be surprised to learn that you have a better chance of winning scratch-offs in general.
Part of this is due to the fact that scratch-offs have smaller prizes compared to the Powerball, for instance. Not all scratch-offs are chump change, however. This was proven when a North Carolinian ironworker bought a ticket worth $10 million.
Not a bad way to spend $30, if you ask us. The ironworker often plays other games instead of scratch-offs but he felt like buying one on a whim. He didn’t even realize it was a winner until he went home and fired up his grill.
Imagine the surprise on his face when he scratched it and saw how much he won? Instead of getting a regular payout of half a million every year for the next 20 years, the man went with the lump sum option. After taxes, he found himself sitting pretty on a pile of $4.2 million smackeroos.
He said that he plans on working for at least a few years more. Afterward, he’ll use the money to help with his retirement. Since a relaxing retirement can cost more than $1.1 million in the United States, there’s no doubt that the money will come in handy.
The scratch-off he bought is part of a relatively new game called $300,000,000 Supreme Riches. Two other lottery winners have claimed the grand prize as well. They plan on using the money to help out their families.
Karma or Luck?
The Southern Carolinian is yet another name that belongs among the biggest lottery winners of all time. We don’t know their real name because they decided to claim the winnings anonymously, but we do know they come from South Carolina. This jackpot was almost as large as the historic 2016 Mega Millions.
This one happened a couple of years later in October of 2018. The jackpot was a jaw-dropping $1.537 billion. What makes this story even more unique than other winners is how close someone else came to winning instead.
While in line to get their ticket at the KC Mart convenience store, the Southern Carolinian was kind enough to let someone else go in front of them to get the next ticket. Whatever the numbers were on the ticket the other person bought, we know they weren’t Mega Millions winners.
Some people would say that the Southern Carolinian won because of karma. If that’s the case, then you should feel free to skip ahead of us in line because we’d be happy with a $1.537 billion reward as well.
The state of South Carolina turned out to be a winner, too, because it was the first time their state has ever produced a Mega Millions claimant. Considering how big the jackpot was, the state government received a nice slice of the cake in the sum of over $60 million in income taxes.
Instead of getting the full winnings over the course of almost 30 years, the Southern Carolinian decided to go for the lump sum of cash. $877.78 million is still quite a bit of lunch money.
Are You Ready to Join the Biggest Lottery Winners?
Now that you’ve learned all about the biggest lottery winners of all time, you can do your best to join their amazing ranks. Most winners don’t rely on luck. Rather, they use strategies informed by mathematics and more.
We are here to provide you with all the detailed analytics you need so that you can have the greatest chance at winning your scratch-off tickets. No matter what state you live in, we post the latest information on a regular basis.
For a taste of what we can offer you, check out our free reports.