Groom in 'disbelief'' after winning $1million on lotto ticket the day after his wedding
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The 57-year-old groom purchased the Diamonds & Pearls lottery ticket from an E-Z Mart in Prudenville, Michigan and went on to win one million dollars
One couple in Michigan have hit the jackpot after getting married and one day later winning $1 million from a lottery. The 57-year-old groom purchased the Diamonds & Pearls lottery ticket from an E-Z Mart in Prudenville, Michigan.
The man said: "I bought the ticket the day after my wedding and gave it to my wife to scratch. When she revealed the ‘$1 MIL’ prize amount, we were in disbelief. We kept reading the instructions over and over again to make sure we really won. It was an exciting couple of days for us!”
The lucky newly wed chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of $693,000. He said he plans to invest his winnings.
This might be a wise option, as another woman won the lottery twice in six months, only to lose it all. Evelyn Adams, from New Jersey, first won £3.9 million in October 1985 and then another $1.4 million jackpot just four months later.
Despite her incredible luck, Evelyn's fortune didn't last. The convenience store worker from Point Pleasant Beach had been playing the lottery since 1971, initially spending $25 a week on tickets.
After her wins, she found herself in the public eye, losing her privacy. "I was known," said Evelyn. "I couldn't go anywhere without being recognized." After bagging her first jackpot, she cleared some bills and set up a college fund for her daughter. She also treated herself to a car, but poor business choices and a severe gambling problem saw Evelyn lose her cash and end up in a trailer home.
When she initially won the jackpot, Evelyn chose to be generous with her winnings, helping those who asked for financial help. However, she found that some people she lent money to didn't feel the need to repay her. She revealed: "I gave a lot of money away at first. Now I am more selective."
Her family had mixed reactions regarding her incredible luck. Evelyn said: "Most of my family was great, but a few of my relatives were angry because I had so much."
After winning her second jackpot, Evelyn was brimming with plans for the future, eager to enjoy her newfound wealth. She planned to marry her fiance, who owned the shop where she worked. She also hoped to use her winnings to go back to school and study music, dreaming of opening a music store one day.
Seven years after her double win, Evelyn and her fiance tied the knot, and his shop, which had become a hotspot for lottery ticket buyers hoping for some of her luck, was sold. Evelyn chose to receive her winnings in yearly payments of $218,000. In 1993, Evelyn was full of hope for the future, planning to move from Point Pleasant Beach once her daughter finished high school. But things didn't go as planned.
By 2012, Evelyn had spent all her money, mainly due to frequent visits to the slot machines at Atlantic City casinos. She remembered: "Winning the lottery isn't always what it's cracked up to be. I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It's called rock bottom."
Evelyn admitted she made some mistakes by giving away her money too freely, but said most of her errors came later. After her big wins, she developed a gambling addiction. Her winnings were quickly used up due to spending at the casino tables in Atlantic City, bad investments and personal spending.
