I am reminded of a BBC UK comedy series of some years ago, where the lead character was a work-shy drunk. He was sitting in his armchair waiting for the National Lottery numbers to be drawn. His longsuffering wife of many years turns to him and says, “I don’t know why you bother. You will never win with those numbers”.
His chosen numbers were, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6. He waves his ticket angrily and says to her, “I have as much chance as anyone else... now shhhh!” The voice of the announcer can then be heard. “...and here are the winning numbers for tonight’s draw. Incredibly, 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 and 12!” Our hero screams an expletive, crushes his ticket and throws it away.
The irony of this tale was not lost on me when the Super 5 numbers were drawn recently. The winning numbers were 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 and 25. The jackpot was €350,000. All except, there were 77 winning tickets with the matching numbers. Picture the scenes across our islands. Families in living rooms celebrating, husbands and wives jumping for joy and others staring unbelievably at their ticket. Dreams of a luxurious cruise perhaps, giving time to ponder how to spend their winnings? Or maybe spread some much-needed cash among family members? Maybe even help a favourite charity? Sadly, the winning jackpot amounted to €4,545. A win nonetheless, but how many dreams were crushed that Wednesday evening?
It does beg the question, “Why did so many people choose these numbers? And how many more out there select numbers in a sequence like our aforementioned friend?” Perhaps these players believed that the chances of a simple sequence are improved because nobody else would play such numbers?
Well, that theory is now blown out of the water. As to how many more players choose a simple sequence, well as evidenced by this recent draw... plenty. Others may choose their selection by birthdays, anniversaries, ages and memorable dates. The fact is, any group of numbers could win. We can watch the draw live on TV and we know the numbers are selected randomly. This did not stop people commenting on social media that it was a ‘fix’, a ‘scam’ and a ‘swindle’.
Perhaps those commenting had read the New York Times story, “The Man Who Cracked The Lottery”.
Eddie Tipton was the information-security director for the Multi State Lottery Association in the US and with his skills, embedded hidden software on the lottery computer which then deleted itself. Not before the computer selected Tipton’s numbers of choice.
The fact is, any group of numbers could win
He would then have family and friends choose those numbers prior to the automatic selection and draw. He was eventually caught and jailed, but not before he and his friends and family ‘won’ millions of dollars.
Now, assuming that we won our fortune fairly and squarely, just what would we do with it? Six years ago, Colin and Christine Weir from Scotland won an eye-watering £161 million (€185m) on the Euro Millions Jackpot game. It is not only the UK’s biggest win but also the biggest in Europe.
The Weirs describe themselves as “lifelong supporters of Scottish independence” so it comes as no surprise to learn that since their win, they have donated £4.5 million to the Scottish National Party. The couple also donated £3.5 million to the pro independence ‘Yes Scotland’ campaign ahead of the 2014 Scottish Referendum. Football fan Weir also gave more than £1 million to Scottish club Partick Thistle to set up a youth academy and clear debts.
They also helped a number of charitable causes. They purchased a sophisticated prosthetic leg for a 13-year-old boy, established a charitable trust to help fund health, sport, cultural, recreational and animal welfare projects. In addition, the Weirs also gave £1 million to the National Theatre of Scotland.
England’s Nigel Page scooped £56 million in February 2010. He married his girlfriend and moved into a purpose built ‘eco’ mansion and gifted his previous home to his cleaner. His ex-wife, Wendy to whom he was married for 10 years claimed £8m following his win but it is reported she settled for a ‘mere’ £2m.
The big prize road is also scattered with the debris of those who won big... and lost it all.
Callie Rogers was just 16 (the legal age for playing in the UK) when she won the top weekly prize. She went on to blow her £1.8 million win on breast enhancement, drugs and partying.
She spent a staggering £300,000 on clothes and distributed £500,000 to friends and family.
Even the first big winner on the UK Football Pools (where one predicts the outcome of matches that end in a draw) lost everything.
Viv Nicholson and her husband won £152,319 (more than five million in today’s value) and she famously promised to, “Spend, spend, spend!” She did. Nicholson was 25 at the time of the win and by age 30 had lost it all... and her husband who died at the wheel of the luxury car he purchased from their winnings. Such was her infamy, there was even a West End stage production based on her life.
It is all a far cry from my €2 investment every Wednesday evening when my wife and I tune in to the draw in the hope that we might hit the jackpot. On the whole, our prizes are much more modest than the American, European and UK lotteries, but they often offer significant life-changing sums of money.
I won just under €80 for my stake last year for matching three numbers. I celebrated by buying champagne, flowers and chocolates. Now, what insight does that offer on my personality and future plans should I ever win big?
Tom Welch is a former UK regional newspaper publisher, now living on Gozo.