10 most famous largest lottery jackpots winners whom you would admire
Powerball and Mega Millions are the most popular and famous lottery games played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. People from US and even Canada and adjoining countries wish to play these favourite games, the reason as they offer highest payouts where players win billion of dollars in prizes and rewards.
Here are the 10 most famous largest lottery jackpots winners whom you would admire
1. Merle and Patricia Butler
This lucky couple married for 41 years had played Mega Millions Lottery and won 280 million dollars jackpot prize. The couple after winning were so calm that they kept their win a secret for nearly two weeks. The couple on winning planned to buy a new car and attend a few St. Louis Cardinals games.
2. The Three Amigos
The Three Amigos are the Maryland winners who worked in Maryland’s public education system and pooled their money to buy 60 tickets. Surprisingly they won this Mega Million Lottery. When they came to know they have won they joked that they planned to celebrate their win by getting matching tattoos of the winning numbers.
3. Ira Curry
Georgia resident Ira Curry, 56, from Atlanta was one of two winning ticket holders of 2013 second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. Though she will have split reward she was just in a state of disbelief when she came to know of her winnings. Her sisters, Jalunda Baker Price and Brenda Baker, were equally surprised too. Also she said her winning numbers were a combination of family birthdays and the family’s lucky number 7.
4. Steve Tran
Steve Tran from San Jose California was a delivery driver and he had won $324 Mega Million Jackpot. He shared his wins with Georgia Winner Ira Curry. He bought the ticket in San Jose but then forgot about it until the idea struck him in the middle of the night to check his tickets After learning of the win, he immediately called his boss and quit.
He had bought five tickets at a store in San Jose the Saturday before the draw while visiting the city with his family. When he returned home, he added the tickets to a pile he had picked up from other cities while working as a delivery driver, put them on his dresser and entirely forgot about them.
As two winners of the huge jackpot – the second biggest in U.S. history – were announced, Tran joined other Californians in wondering about the identity of the lucky winner in their state.
5. Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier
Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier of Merritt Island claimed their $207 million prize from the Mega Millions lottery won on March 18, 2014. She had less than $5 cash with her when she filed for bankruptcy but now this Merritt Island woman held a giant novelty check for more than $200 million in lottery winnings.
Collier bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket at a Sunoco gas station on South Courtenay Parkway on Merritt Island. She and her boyfriend, Raymond Moyer, had the winning numbers.
The Merritt Island winners split the $414 million jackpot with one other winner from Maryland. The winnings were awarded in one lump-sum payment: $115,448,968. The money was deposited in the Cobie and Seamus Trust, named after Moyer and Collier’s dogs, according to Florida Lottery. Moyer and Collier are members of the trust. Raymond Moyer and Robyn Collier from Merritt Island, Fla. said they planned to use their newfound wealth to travel and attend as many Notre Dame football games as they could.
6. B Raymond Buxton
Northern California retiree B. Raymond Buxton waited until April Fool’s Day to come forward to claim his winnings. It is said he was not able to sleep for days after he realized he had won. He claimed the prize at the California Lottery headquarters in Sacramento. The one winning ticket for the Feb. 19 drawing was sold at a convenience store in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Milpitas, about 10 miles north of San Jose.
The $425 million jackpot was also one of the largest lottery jackpots in U.S. history. The nation’s biggest lottery prize was a $656 million dollar Mega Millions jackpot in 2012. Lottery officials said Buxton chose to take a lump sum payment of $242.2 million before taxes.
The ticket was sold at a Chevron station in Milpitas. Lottery officials said Buxton was getting lunch at a Subway restaurant at the station’s convenience store when he decided to buy another ticket since the jackpot was so large, lottery officials said. He bought a single Quick Pick ticket for $2 that turned out to be the winner.
7. Paul White
Paul White, from Ham Lake, Minn., wasted no time in coming to claim his share of a whopping $448 million Powerball jackpot. White, 45, who works for an electrical contractor, was one of three winners and had split the jackpot, one of the largest in lottery history. According to him he didn’t check his ticket until his girlfriend, Kim VanReese, 45, called him to let him know there had been a winner in Minnesota.
He was too busy at that time to check the wins but when his girlfriend told him that the Powerball was 32, which he remembered he had on two of his five quick-pick tickets he checked the winning numbers and discovered he had hit the jackpot. Lottery officials said he opted to the cash payout and was presented today with a pre-tax check for $149.4 million.
8. The Ocean’s 16 group
The Ocean 16 group were all employees of Ocean County, New Jersey who won a third of $448 million Powerball jackpot. The co-workers, nicknamed “Ocean’s 16,” got a check for $86,054,355, their share of the jackpot after taxes.
They produced the second of three winning tickets to the jackpot. The first winner, who came forward, was Minnesota engineer Paul White and the final holder too. Six members of the group said their homes had been directly damaged by Sandy superstorm in 2012, and most said they planned to keep working at the Ocean County Vehicles Services Department. The rest said they would continue working as usual.
The odds of winning the jackpot were about one in 175 million. Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Five states – Kansas, Maryland, Delaware, North Dakota and Ohio – allow the winners to remain anonymous, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
9. Cindy and Mark Hill
The lucky winners of half of the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot were Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn, Mo.Cindy Hill, who with her husband has three adult sons and a 6-year-old daughter adopted from China, purchased the ticket at a Trex Mart gas station in Dearborn.
Cindy, who worked as an office manager but was laid off in 2010, said that when she learned that a winning ticket was sold in Missouri, she dropped her daughter off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car, according to the Missouri State Lottery.
The winning ticket was one of five Cindy purchased, for a total of $10. She let the computer quick-pick choose the numbers, according to the Missouri Lottery. The winning numbers were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29; Powerball was 6. The Hills took home $193,750,000 in lump sum payout — which worked out to $396,000 for each person in Dearborn, a town of 496. The couple planned on launching a scholarship at the local high school.
10. Gloria MacKenzie
On May 18, 2013 a winning ticket sold in Florida had the winner of 590 million powerball jackpot an 84 year old Gloria C Mackenzie from a small town of Zephyrhills, Florida The lucky jackpot winner scooped an incredible $590,500,000! But she would never have won if it wasn’t due to the kindness of a 10 year old girl and her mother.
The story is that there was a big queue for buying lucky lotto ticket. But while 34 year old Mrs Crandell and her 10 year old daughter Mallory were rethinking their lottery numbers for the gigantic $590 Powerball jackpot an elderly lady went in ahead of them in the queue to purchase her ticket. Mallory said “Mommy, that woman is now before us”. Seeing that Mrs Crandell was unaware, the lady at the counter stopped Mrs Mackenzie to allow Mrs Crandell to reclaim her spot in line. Mrs Crandell however politely declined the offer and told Mrs Mackenzie “go ahead.” They had no idea that this act of kindness would cost them $590,500,000.
Mindy Crandell and her daughter Mallory still remember well the day of the Powerball lottery drawing. Mrs Mackenzie purchased one Quick Pick ticket and left the store. Mrs Crandell family and friends began teasing them that the lady she allowed to cut in line was going to win the mega jackpot.
Mrs Mackenzie matched all five numbers including the Powerball while Mrs Crandell was at home still being teased by family members that the lady in the line was probably the winner. It was a joke that she would endure for life. Mrs MacKenzie who won $590 on the USA Powerball jackpot.