“We are what we are, and the lottery is stupid.” So thought Remy Hadley from the notorious TV series “Dr. House. But day after day on the news and on the Internet you can find out how the next lucky person won a large sum on a lottery ticket. In this piece, you will learn about the nine biggest winnings in lottery history.

USA

• 425 million dollars
  Raymond Buxton, a retired Californian, participated in Powerball. That’s the name of the famous American lottery. Initially the winner was to become the owner of 425 million dollars, but because of tax obligations the amount was reduced almost twice, which Buxton was not confused.
• $429 million.
  The state of New Jersey is one of the richest in the United States. And in 2016, the state native became $429 million richer on the same Powerball. By the way, the chance of winning in this lottery is 1 in 292000000. According to bookmakers’ estimates, the chance of Donald Trump repainting the White House in gold is 292,000 times less.
• $447 million.
  Instead of change after buying several liters of beer, a young American decided to take a lottery ticket. And on a summer day in 2017, his luck smiled on him – the ticket brought him the sum of $447 million. He never gave his name, but the store where he bought the ticket, the organizers encouraged the amount of one million dollars.
• 487 million dollars.
  A native of the small state of New Hampshire on the border with Canada won nearly $500 million in the lottery. Taxes ate up a third of their winnings, and the couple decided to give some of the money to charities.
• $590 million
  Mindy Crandell was first in line at the store in 2013, but out of the goodness of her heart decided to let Gloria McKenzie go first. The old lady bought a lottery ticket that turned out to be a winner. It brought Gloria $590 million and much suffering in the future – she had a fight with her son over the embezzlement and sued him.
• $758 million.
  On August 24th, Powerball was drawing $758 million. About two million people watched the process, and only one of them was the winner. A nurse from Massachusetts decided to quit her job as soon as she received the money, not surprisingly.
• 1.5 billion dollars.
  Twice in the history of lotteries lucky people have smiled with this amount of money. The first time came in 2016. Then the final prize was divided among the three winners, because of the deductions received only 327 million dollars in bank accounts.
  A South Carolina resident also won $1.5 billion. Only four months later he decided to collect the won funds through a hired lawyer.

Russia

Пенсионерка из Воронежской облA pensioner from Voronezh Oblast bought a Russian Lotto ticket for 100 rubles. And on it she hit the jackpot, winning a total of 506 million. A tax deduction of 13 percent “ate” 66 million, and part of the money Natalia Vlasova, which is the name of the winner, sent to charity.