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Maybe it’s because there are more lotteries being played today than there used to be, but every week there seems to be a story in the news about unclaimed lottery jackpots worth millions of pounds. The best way to play the lottery these days is to buy your ticket online – that way, there’s no danger of losing that flimsy piece of paper if you happened to have the incredible good luck to be the winner.
Buying online also means you can enter lotteries in other countries – so you can increase the possibilities of winning. You can now play the EuroMillions lottery regardless of where you live
as well as the celebrated Spanish Christmas lottery and the massive US lotteries – Powerball and
MegaMillions.
If you were to win the lottery, though, would things necessarily all fall into place? Certainly the stories in the media don’t always give that impression. Just eight months after winning an amazing $338 million playing Powerball, New Jersey resident Pedro Quezada is facing legal action from his former live-in lover who wants a cut of it now that their relationship is over.
It’s reminiscent of that 1994 Nicholas Cage movie – It Could Happen To You – where he plays a
policeman who offers to split his lottery winnings (if he wins) with a waitress he doesn’t have any cash to tip. Then, of course, he does win the lottery and much to the distress of his screen wife Muriel (Rosie Perez), he does the honourable thing and splits his winnings with the waitress (Bridget Fonda). He ends up being divorced by Muriel and falling in love with the waitress.
Another lottery film that shows the highs and lows of winning is the 2010 comedy release, Lottery
Ticket. Bow Wow plays Kevin Carson, a boy from the projects who wins $370m on the lottery. His
problem is keeping hold of the ticket over the holiday weekend while all kinds of acquaintances try to relieve him of it.
The best policy if you’re planning on playing the lottery is to buy your tickets online so there’s no stress about losing them, and if you win, keep the great news to yourself!