Most Remarkable Ways Gamblers Spent Their Biggest Winnings

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Over its long history, gambling has witnessed hundreds of thousands of tragic losses, as well as some dazzling wins! Players hope that by working out the rules of the casino, they can finally master the craft of winning it big, and becoming seasoned gambling geeks.

Even so, the players find it hard to know what to do with their winnings; but this has never stopped them from winning six-figure sums on multiple occasions. But winners seem to lose their presence of mind when they finally win big! When they do work out what to do with their money, they often opt for yet another big gambling session! Let’s find out what famous players have done with the biggest casino wins in history.

Michael Carroll’s Cocaine Trips and Crash

Caroll’s rather peculiar way of spending his lottery winnings brought more “fame” than actually winning the lottery in the first place! After cashing in his huge lottery prize, Michael finally broke bad, joining a lavish drug-laden circuit of everyday $3000 crack cocaine and high-end sports cars. However, his excitement soon spiraled out of control, and he ended up selling his mansion after running out of the last penny he had.

Gamblers Can Do Charity

Gloria Mackenzie, the winner of the biggest Powerball prize of $590 million, remains one of the most benevolent gamblers ever. After distributing a large share of her gambling riches among her closest friends and relatives, she donated the rest of her winnings to the high school she graduated from. Gloria gave the institution as much as $2 million, debunking the common stereotype that all gamblers are stingy and cynical. Two thumbs up, Ms. Mackenzie!

Long Live Shopping

Here’s another striking story about throwing away your gambling winnings in a foolish manner. Vivian Nicholson, a 1961 lottery winner, heralded she would stock up with loads of designer clothes right after she found out she was a winner. So she did, and it barely took her four years to go broke and sell her “trophy” garments, in order to make a living.

When a Gambler Goes Producing

A big $35 million winner, the first thing Jonathan Vargas came up with was buying his mom a big mansion. Then he moved on to fulfilling the dream of his life – starting up his own wrestling show. Although it wasn’t much of a television success, the fact that someone’s life-long dream came true thanks to his gambling winnings is encouraging and inspiring.

Sex, Drugs, and Gambling

This is how we could sum up Super 7 jackpot winner Gerald Muswagon’s life after he hit it big in 1998. Between alcohol, promiscuity, and hard drugs, Muswagon was capable of spending as much as a few thousand in one night, which gradually led him to committing suicide shortly after his bankruptcy.

A Grateful Son

Afghanistan veteran Jon Heywood was nearly penniless when he spun an online slot machine, probably following the famous saying: “He who risks nothing, gains nothing”. So the soldier hit the £13,2 million jackpot; and unlike the big majority of jackpot “pets” who got over-excited at their tremendous wins, Jon didn’t rush to purchase a luxury car or an haute-couture suit. Instead, the guy reimbursed his father for the care and wisdom he had given Jon, by covering the expenses of his heart and lung surgery.

Health Care Donations and Weed Investments

One of the most charming ways famous gamblers spent their winnings was Robert Erb’s. Following his $25 million winning, he became a philanthropist, donating money to various different health care and disability foundations. But his biggest and most challenging “donation” was investing a decent amount of his prize money towards marijuana legalization. Robert gave 1 million dollars to the latter cause.

A Kind Heart and Calamitous Passion

Wayward gambler Janite Lee won $18 million. She lost it all over the course of several years, because of her gambling addiction, as well as her natural generosity. Janite threw her winnings away on numerous games that turned to be of no benefit to her. But apart from gambling, Lee expended her money on various education programs, social organizations, and charities. In the end, her big prize finally ran out; and, like most enthusiastic and committed gamblers, she got down to playing again, in order to make up for the tragically lost money.

Improving the City Welfare

When John Kutey cashed $28.1 million prize, he had already established for himself exactly how he would spend his winnings. Kutey gave the municipality $250,000 so that they could get rid of the local pool and set up an immense water park. The considerate gambler then went on to give $200,000 on the park construction in New York.

Louise White’s Ice-Cream-Inspired Foundation

Louise had a rainbow sherbet and then bought a $336,4 million lottery ticket; she has really loved this dessert ever since! Louise was 81 years old when her life was finally turned upside down after getting the lucky ticket. Given her age, nobody would have expected her to spend the lottery money on clothes, cars or drugs; and of course, she didn’t. Louise set up a trust targeted at helping her family get by. In honor of the legendary ice-cream, she called it “The Rainbow Sherbert Trust”.

Paying For Your Sister’s Breast Plastic Surgery

Winning a £3,045,705 prize, Sarah Cockings acknowledged her family as the lucky charm that had brought her this tremendous win. Sarah bought her parents a big house, as well as repeatedly gave them enough money for their vacation expenses. The most heartfelt (yet perhaps also the most unusual) present she made was to pay for her sister’s breast augmentation surgery.

Buying a Dream House

The whole point of a prize is making one’s dream come true, isn’t it? So, as soon as the Griffith family won £1.8 million on a lottery ticket, they spent a good share of the prize on their dream house. Moreover, the Griffiths bought a super-fast and posh Porsche to meet their high status of fortunate millionaires.