Unclaimed $1.5B lottery prize
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Odds for MegaMillion are approximately 1 in 302 million.
This was about $5 in +EV for a $1 bet. There is the possibility of a split ticket so $5 is really to much.
https://fox8.com/2018/12/25/winner-of-billion-dollar-jackpot-running-out-of-time-to-claim-prize/
Quote: cyberbabbleThe $1.5 billion MegaMillions prize from October 23 is still unclaimed.
Odds for MegaMillion are approximately 1 in 302 million.
This was about $5 in +EV for a $1 bet. There is the possibility of a split ticket so $5 is really to much.
https://fox8.com/2018/12/25/winner-of-billion-dollar-jackpot-running-out-of-time-to-claim-prize/
Hmm. I'm beginning to find it fishy that the 1.5 billion dollar winner had still not claimed the prize in over two months. I know in that state you don't have to come forward publicly but you would think that it would have been claimed in private by now. :/
I was at the local cardroom yesterday, and a guy at the table was telling us that he was travelling through South Carolina a week before the $1.5B jackpot was hit. He stopped at the very gas station in Simsonville where the winning ticket was purchased, and bought a MM ticket for the next 4 drawings. He has since lost the ticket!
He said he likes to hide things, and has searched 'most' of his hiding places, but not all.
I saw no reason not to believe him, but lots of people say lots of things at the poker table. Anyways, just thought I'd share.
Quote: JoemanI may have met the guy who bought the winning ticket yesterday!!! Well, most likely not, but here's the story:
I was at the local cardroom yesterday, and a guy at the table was telling us that he was travelling through South Carolina a week before the $1.5B jackpot was hit. He stopped at the very gas station in Simsonville where the winning ticket was purchased, and bought a MM ticket for the next 4 drawings. He has since lost the ticket!
He said he likes to hide things, and has searched 'most' of his hiding places, but not all.
I saw no reason not to believe him, but lots of people say lots of things at the poker table. Anyways, just thought I'd share.
If this is true, holy crap! It would be so heartbreaking to lose a 1.6 billion winning ticket. If he is telling the truth, this is why the 1.6 billion dollar MM ticket hasn't been claimed yet. Although he could have pulled the "Lost ticket claim," out of his ass to make interesting conversation, also most people wouldn't tell complete strangers this recounting, so I'll take his claim with a grain of salt.
Quote: GWAEI wonder if they would ever view the tape of the purchase and try to track down the person?
A Clerk on the News in another State was busted after he sold a loyal Customer a winning ticket and when the Clerk scanned his winning ticket after the drawing, the Clerk said something like,"Congratulations, you won $10,000! You matched 5 winning Numbers out of 6! I can pay you now! " The unsuspecting Customer was ecstatic to be getting paid $10,000 in cash for something he bought for $1, and happily took the $10,000. He got very suspicious when that same store had a sign a few days later boasting that that the 50 million (Or whatever millions it was Lotto Ticket was sold there. IIRC, he had taken a picture of his winning ticket when he bought it "Just for fun," and when he went on his State's Lottery website, he was shocked that his Numbers matched all six winning Numbers, not only 5 as the crooked Clerk had claimed, meaning he was the winner of the 50 million dollar Lottery. He was understandingly wanting some answers and called the police who reviewed the Surveillance tape and he was found on Camera buying the winning Lottery ticket. The Crooked Clerk had STOLEN the winning ticket(Bought it at a VERY dishonest discount, $10,000 to be exact) and had cashed it in as his own to that State's Lottery office and had opted for a one time lump sum and then fled the Country with the stolen millions and to this day IIRC is not allowed to ever come back to the US. That State's Lottery decided to pay the rightful owner his millions from their own Reserve. He was happy but hurt that a Clerk he was loyal to stole millions of dollars from him.
Quote: JoemanI may have met the guy who bought the winning ticket yesterday!!! Well, most likely not, but here's the story:
I was at the local cardroom yesterday, and a guy at the table was telling us that he was travelling through South Carolina a week before the $1.5B jackpot was hit. He stopped at the very gas station in Simsonville where the winning ticket was purchased, and bought a MM ticket for the next 4 drawings. He has since lost the ticket!
He said he likes to hide things, and has searched 'most' of his hiding places, but not all.
I saw no reason not to believe him, but lots of people say lots of things at the poker table. Anyways, just thought I'd share.
I think by now I would’ve found the time to search all my hiding places
Quote: michael99000Quote: JoemanI may have met the guy who bought the winning ticket yesterday!!! Well, most likely not, but here's the story:
I was at the local cardroom yesterday, and a guy at the table was telling us that he was travelling through South Carolina a week before the $1.5B jackpot was hit. He stopped at the very gas station in Simsonville where the winning ticket was purchased, and bought a MM ticket for the next 4 drawings. He has since lost the ticket!
He said he likes to hide things, and has searched 'most' of his hiding places, but not all.
I saw no reason not to believe him, but lots of people say lots of things at the poker table. Anyways, just thought I'd share.
I think by now I would’ve found the time to search all my hiding places
Yeah sounds like a BS poker table story to me.
Quote: NathanA Clerk on the News in another State was busted after he sold a loyal Customer a winning ticket and when the Clerk scanned his winning ticket after the drawing, the Clerk said something like,"Congratulations, you won $10,000! You matched 5 winning Numbers out of 6! I can pay you now! " The unsuspecting Customer was ecstatic to be getting paid $10,000 in cash for something he bought for $1, and happily took the $10,000. He got very suspicious when that same store had a sign a few days later boasting that that the 50 million (Or whatever millions it was Lotto Ticket was sold there. IIRC, he had taken a picture of his winning ticket when he bought it "Just for fun," and when he went on his State's Lottery website, he was shocked that his Numbers matched all six winning Numbers, not only 5 as the crooked Clerk had claimed, meaning he was the winner of the 50 million dollar Lottery. He was understandingly wanting some answers and called the police who reviewed the Surveillance tape and he was found on Camera buying the winning Lottery ticket. The Crooked Clerk had STOLEN the winning ticket(Bought it at a VERY dishonest discount, $10,000 to be exact) and had cashed it in as his own to that State's Lottery office and had opted for a one time lump sum and then fled the Country with the stolen millions and to this day IIRC is not allowed to ever come back to the US. That State's Lottery decided to pay the rightful owner his millions from their own Reserve. He was happy but hurt that a Clerk he was loyal to stole millions of dollars from him.
Keep in mind that EVERY state requires a winning ticket of $600 or more to be paid by the state lottery office, so if an employee ever would offer to pay out more, it's obviously a scam.
Quote: tringlomaneQuote: michael99000Quote: JoemanI may have met the guy who bought the winning ticket yesterday!!! Well, most likely not, but here's the story:
I was at the local cardroom yesterday, and a guy at the table was telling us that he was travelling through South Carolina a week before the $1.5B jackpot was hit. He stopped at the very gas station in Simsonville where the winning ticket was purchased, and bought a MM ticket for the next 4 drawings. He has since lost the ticket!
He said he likes to hide things, and has searched 'most' of his hiding places, but not all.
I saw no reason not to believe him, but lots of people say lots of things at the poker table. Anyways, just thought I'd share.
I think by now I would’ve found the time to search all my hiding places
Yeah sounds like a BS poker table story to me.
Keep in mind that EVERY state requires a winning ticket of $600 or more to be paid by the state lottery office, so if an employee ever would offer to pay out more, it's obviously a scam.
A few years ago a Mexican illegal won for a few million and out of fear of deportation allowed a friend to cash in the ticket.
The friend does not hand over the money and instead scoffs at giving the rightful winner anything
Indignant the illegal overcame his fear of deportation and went to the police. Luckily he had enough sense to keep whatever evidence necessary to prove he was indeed the rightful winner and they arrested the other guy
Heres where the story really got interesting to me
ICE got involved and the guy supposedly asked if they intended to deport him now.
The response? "Hell no, you're a millionaire now. Welcome to America." They gave him full citizenship. No way were they deporting him back to Mexico with a couple million American dollars lol
1) The winner lost the ticket.
2) The winner died.
3) The winner is playing it very smart and amassing a small army of lawyers and accountants to make sure the rest of his/her life runs smoothly after becoming insanely wealthy overnight.
Quote: TigerWuI see three options here:
1) The winner lost the ticket.
2) The winner died.
3) The winner is playing it very smart and amassing a small army of lawyers and accountants to make sure the rest of his/her life runs smoothly after becoming insanely wealthy overnight.
Your number 2 actually happened to a Lottery Winner just before he was going to cash in his winning ticket. Someone poisoned him with Cyanide. :( According to the News, no one confessed to being his Murderer. What a huge shock that no one confessed to being his Murderer, I'm being both sarcastic and serious. I'm surprised nobody said something that would inadvertently tip them off to their connection to his Murder. Often Murderers mention give themselves away by saying something that is just off like claiming they were SWIMMING in a pool in -15 in Chicago around the time of the Murder which is an obvious lie considering that the pool would have been frozen solid. Or they confess out of plain guilt. I'm being sarcastic when I mentioned that I was shocked no one confessed to being his Murderer because most people don't want to go to Prison or get the death penalty for Murder so of course they're not going to proudly sing like a canary on themselves.
Quote: NathanA Clerk on the News in another State was busted after he sold a loyal Customer a winning ticket and when the Clerk scanned his winning ticket after the drawing, the Clerk said something like,"Congratulations, you won $10,000! You matched 5 winning Numbers out of 6! I can pay you now! " The unsuspecting Customer was ecstatic to be getting paid $10,000 in cash for something he bought for $1, and happily took the $10,000. He got very suspicious when that same store had a sign a few days later boasting that that the 50 million (Or whatever millions it was Lotto Ticket was sold there. IIRC, he had taken a picture of his winning ticket when he bought it "Just for fun," and when he went on his State's Lottery website, he was shocked that his Numbers matched all six winning Numbers, not only 5 as the crooked Clerk had claimed, meaning he was the winner of the 50 million dollar Lottery. He was understandingly wanting some answers and called the police who reviewed the Surveillance tape and he was found on Camera buying the winning Lottery ticket. The Crooked Clerk had STOLEN the winning ticket(Bought it at a VERY dishonest discount, $10,000 to be exact) and had cashed it in as his own to that State's Lottery office and had opted for a one time lump sum and then fled the Country with the stolen millions and to this day IIRC is not allowed to ever come back to the US. That State's Lottery decided to pay the rightful owner his millions from their own Reserve. He was happy but hurt that a Clerk he was loyal to stole millions of dollars from him.
Throwing the BS flag on this.
Convenience stores don't "conveniently" have 10K cash on hand to intercept and pay off a huge winner who might just wander in one day. All states require tickets over $600 to be claimed at the lotto office.
This didn't happen.
Quote: beachbumbabsThrowing the BS flag on this.
Convenience stores don't "conveniently" have 10K cash on hand to intercept and pay off a huge winner who might just wander in one day. All states require tickets over $600 to be claimed at the lotto office.
This didn't happen.
Dateline NBC sent customers into stores in California with actual $1000 winning scratch offs , had them just hand the tickets to the clerks and say “can you see if I have any winners”. I believe they had 57 different store owners/clerks tell the customer there was no winners , and then keep the ticket and have a family member go claim the prize.
Quote: michael99000Dateline NBC sent customers into stores in California with actual $1000 winning scratch offs , had them just hand the tickets to the clerks and say “can you see if I have any winners”. I believe they had 57 different store owners/clerks tell the customer there was no winners , and then keep the ticket and have a family member go claim the prize.
That was the news segment that I was talking about, but I was posting from memory. I rewatched some of the segment a little while ago and the crooked Clerk switched the $500,000 big winner(He matched 5 winning numbers but didn't get the MB. ) with a winning ticket that only matched 3 numbers, worth $4. Here's how he pulled off this dastardly scam. After his terminal confirmed that his loyal customer did in fact, win, he kept looking at the terminal and the winning ticket and then told the customer he needed to go to the back for about a minute with the ticket The Customer didn't find this a red flag at all at the time and was like,"Oh. Okay." The crooked Clerk went to the back to the store with the ticket and switched the $500,000 with the lousy $4 winning ticket he already had and told the Customer,"Congratulations, here's your $4. The Customer having no idea he was just scammed, bought 4 more tickets. He happened to be on the internet randomly surfing later on when he found out that the $500, 000 winning ticket had been printed at the same store at 11:00 am that day and he was like,"Wait a minute. I bought a ticket at exactly 11:00 that day at that store. I'm very suspicious." He contacted the police or Lottery Office and whoever he contacted were able to show him on surveillance camera buying the big winning ticket. The dishonest Clerk had cashed it in for himself and was later imprisoned for grand theft and for lying to the Government. The news said that the Customer got his $500,000 and he used it to open a tool repair shop. He himself mentioned he put some in the bank for his kids.
Quote: beachbumbabsThrowing the BS flag on this.
Convenience stores don't "conveniently" have 10K cash on hand to intercept and pay off a huge winner who might just wander in one day. All states require tickets over $600 to be claimed at the lotto office.
This didn't happen.
The money didn't come from the store, it came from the clerk. Supposedly. Still doesn't explain why the clerk just happen to have $10,000 in cash on him. So the story probably is B.S.
Quote: michael99000Dateline NBC sent customers into stores in California with actual $1000 winning scratch offs , had them just hand the tickets to the clerks and say “can you see if I have any winners”. I believe they had 57 different store owners/clerks tell the customer there was no winners , and then keep the ticket and have a family member go claim the prize.
If you buy a scratch off ticket, scratch it off, and have no idea whether you won or not, I have no sympathy for you if someone steals your money. That's like sitting down at a poker table, not knowing the rules, randomly betting money, and at the end saying, "So, did I win?"
"Can you see if I have any winners?" -- Yeah, tilt your head slightly downwards and look at the ticket in your hand that explicitly tells you whether you won or not, you lazy clown.
Quote: TigerWuThe money didn't come from the store, it came from the clerk. Supposedly. Still doesn't explain why the clerk just happen to have $10,000 in cash on him. So the story probably is B.S.
If you buy a scratch off ticket, scratch it off, and have no idea whether you won or not, I have no sympathy for you if someone steals your money. That's like sitting down at a poker table, not knowing the rules, randomly betting money, and at the end saying, "So, did I win?"
"Can you see if I have any winners?" -- Yeah, tilt your head slightly downwards and look at the ticket in your hand that explicitly tells you whether you won or not, you lazy clown.
Not all of the bait tickets in the Dateline episode were scratch offs. At least one of them was a Cash 3 ticket. The undercover Dateline Employee had a straight ticket of like 350 and 350 was the winning number, meaning she won $500! at first the Clerk acted really excited, saying "Whoa!" and then he calmed himself down and acted really disappointed and said something like"267," is the winning number. I am sorry, but you lost. She pretended to believe him and said in a too cheery voice,(That voice that conveys,"What a lying jerk!" "Okay, thank you, have a good day!" then left. He kept the ticket. To Chris Hansen, she said in a disgusted voice,"He knew I had a winning ticket! He's disgusting!" Chris later on confronted him for lying about the winning ticket and keeping the ticket. But the Crooked Clerk didn't cash it in for himself. The crooked Clerk nervously said," All I said was "Ha!(Actually, it was "Whoa!" And I gave her back the ticket! Chris said something like,"Ha! Do you say "Ha! ," for random losing tickets?" And besides we caught you on camera putting her winning ticket behind the counter, not handing it back to her." The Crooked Clerk had a complete look of guilt on his face. Although he was not arrested since he didn't cash it in for himself, his boss did fire him(After maintaining that he did nothing wrong, which was weird as hell, LMAO! :D :/
Quote: NathanIn the middle of eating a Cookies And Creme candy bar, I suddenly wondered if MM and PB would ever hit 5 billion. It's very possible if NO ONE hits the winning numbers for like a year or two. That would be one for the history books if a 5 billion dollar Jackpot was ever hit. :)
I'm sure it will easily hit $5 billion in 20 years or so when inflation gets a hold of it.
Quote: NathanIn the middle of eating a Cookies And Creme candy bar, I suddenly wondered if MM and PB would ever hit 5 billion. It's very possible if NO ONE hits the winning numbers for like a year or two. That would be one for the history books if a 5 billion dollar Jackpot was ever hit. :)
I would say only if the rules are changed in some way that make it more difficult to win the jackpot. Which they’ve done in the past.
Quote: michael99000Dateline NBC sent customers into stores in California with actual $1000 winning scratch offs , had them just hand the tickets to the clerks and say “can you see if I have any winners”. I believe they had 57 different store owners/clerks tell the customer there was no winners , and then keep the ticket and have a family member go claim the prize.
That's different. Yes, it's a scam by the clerks, but one that doesn't require 10K on hand, giving people cash on the spot for a million dollar ticket, or any of the other false facts around a garbage story.
Quote: beachbumbabsThat's different. Yes, it's a scam by the clerks, but one that doesn't require 10K on hand, giving people cash on the spot for a million dollar ticket, or any of the other false facts around a garbage story.
That was my thought. No gas station clerk has 10k laying around to buy that ticket.
Nathan, it wouldn't take 2 years to get to 5b. Once it is at 1.5 b it will go to 2b at next draw and probably 500m each one after as every person in the country starts buying tickets
It's not implausible for a local market owner to have a lot of cash in a safe box.
Quote: QuadrigaNathan's story is mostly true. A local grocery store owner in NY city scammed a lottery winner by giving him $1K for a $1M scratch-off ticket. The suspicious winner who speak limited English returned the next day to press for more answer on the winning ticket. The owner then tried to pay $10,000 more to the winning customer, who called police rather than taking more cash.
It's not implausible for a local market owner to have a lot of cash in a safe box.
In my local newspaper years ago, a loyal customer at one store had won BIG money on a winning ticket. The customer had given it to the Employee there to cash it in, but the Employee was like,"You DID win big money, but we can't cash that here. You need a claim form and we don't have any claim forms right now. I would advise you to go to another Lottery Retailer to see if they can give you a claim form. The other Lottery Retailer he went to claimed the winning ticket was a LOSER. They kept the ticket.
The loyal Customer went to the store he was loyal to and told them what happened, and he was indignant. He begged them to call the police. The employee was indignant himself that someone scammed his loyal Customer. He called the police and the police showed up at the thieving Lottery Retailer's store. They found out that the Crooked Clerk had hidden the winning ticket inside of the register or something. The Clerk was arrested for attempted grand theft and the Customer got his Lottery Ticket back and his winnings.
On an interesting side note, the newspaper said he was happy to get his big winnings, but the picture of him looked miserable. I surmise he looked miserable because someone tried to scam and steal a lot of money from him. That would put a damper on most people.
Regards
Suited89
True but this genuinely feels like someone lost their ticket, purchased a handful and one slipped down in crack of a seat or something worse. So much money peoplr would have gotten legal and financial representation by now.Quote: Suited89IIRC one has 60 days to declare cash/annuity. Getting legal/finance ready DOES take time. Plus, in some states, one has to jump through some complicated hoops to remain anon. CT is one, but it can/has happened. Based on forming a LLC/LLP.
Regards
Suited89
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Quote: rsactuaryCA winner has a year to come forward. too early to hit the panic button yet.
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Every day you don't claim that 1.5 billion is a day with zero interest income, no? If the cash prize is $500 million and you get 5% on it, delaying the whole year will cost you around $25 million, no?
Quote: billryanQuote: rsactuaryCA winner has a year to come forward. too early to hit the panic button yet.
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Every day you don't claim that 1.5 billion is a day with zero interest income, no? If the cash prize is $500 million and you get 5% on it, delaying the whole year will cost you around $25 million, no?
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Irrelevant response to my comment.
The $1.5B ticket referenced in this thread was claimed in March, 2019.Quote: ChallengedMillyTrue but this genuinely feels like someone lost their ticket, purchased a handful and one slipped down in crack of a seat or something worse. So much money peoplr would have gotten legal and financial representation by now.Quote: Suited89IIRC one has 60 days to declare cash/annuity. Getting legal/finance ready DOES take time. Plus, in some states, one has to jump through some complicated hoops to remain anon. CT is one, but it can/has happened. Based on forming a LLC/LLP.
Regards
Suited89
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As for the November, 2022 $2B winner, I totally agree with Suited89 and rsactuary above. It's too soon to be worried (assuming one is apt to worry about uncashed lottery tickets.)
For me, having my legal and financial ducks in a row would be worth the lost interest. In fact, long term, it might even save me money. It would definitely save me headaches.Quote: billryanEvery day you don't claim that 1.5 billion is a day with zero interest income, no? If the cash prize is $500 million and you get 5% on it, delaying the whole year will cost you around $25 million, no?
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Quote: JoemanThe $1.5B ticket referenced in this thread was claimed in March, 2019.Quote: ChallengedMillyTrue but this genuinely feels like someone lost their ticket, purchased a handful and one slipped down in crack of a seat or something worse. So much money peoplr would have gotten legal and financial representation by now.Quote: Suited89IIRC one has 60 days to declare cash/annuity. Getting legal/finance ready DOES take time. Plus, in some states, one has to jump through some complicated hoops to remain anon. CT is one, but it can/has happened. Based on forming a LLC/LLP.
Regards
Suited89
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As for the November, 2022 $2B winner, I totally agree with Suited89 and rsactuary above. It's too soon to be worried (assuming one is apt to worry about uncashed lottery tickets.)For me, having my legal and financial ducks in a row would be worth the lost interest. In fact, long term, it might even save me money. It would definitely save me headaches.Quote: billryanEvery day you don't claim that 1.5 billion is a day with zero interest income, no? If the cash prize is $500 million and you get 5% on it, delaying the whole year will cost you around $25 million, no?
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How long can it take to get your ducks in a row? You hire an expert and go from there. You are losing about 70,000 a day if my math is right.
Just one expert? Off the top of my head, I would want an estate/planning attorney, a tax attorney, and at least one fiduciary. I'm sure I would find that I need other experts in addition.Quote: billryanHow long can it take to get your ducks in a row? You hire an expert and go from there. You are losing about 70,000 a day if my math is right.
Just the process of finding and interviewing these experts to determine the which ones are best for my situation would take a considerable amount of time. Then, they would need time to put all the necessary legal and financial instruments in place for when I am ready to claim the ticket. I'm sure there are many more things I would want to do prior to cashing the ticket that I can't think of right now.
Only $70,000 a day? That's it? That's the bargain of the century!
Quote: Terence MannFor it is money they have and peace they lack.
Quote: JoemanJust one expert? Off the top of my head, I would want an estate/planning attorney, a tax attorney, and at least one fiduciary. I'm sure I would find that I need other experts in addition.Quote: billryanHow long can it take to get your ducks in a row? You hire an expert and go from there. You are losing about 70,000 a day if my math is right.
Just the process of finding and interviewing these experts to determine the which ones are best for my situation would take a considerable amount of time. Then, they would need time to put all the necessary legal and financial instruments in place for when I am ready to claim the ticket. I'm sure there are many more things I would want to do prior to cashing the ticket that I can't think of right now.
Only $70,000 a day? That's it? That's the bargain of the century!Quote: Terence MannFor it is money they have and peace they lack.
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There are a finite number of experts in this field, and I assume they come with the whole package. The worst thing you could do, IMO, is hiring a bunch of separate experts that may be at cross purposes with each other.
