When/If the winner of the sixth largest jackpot in U.S. history does stake his/her claim, they’ll be given two options: take the jackpot in a lump sum (with taxes of $210 million), or opt for annuity payments for the next 30 years.

The Stop and Shop retailer that sold the ticket won’t be getting a cut of the winnings, as is sometimes the case – instead, the store decided to take an 8 cent cut of each ticket sold in its outlets. Ouch. The state of Rhode Island will do well from the win, however – it is set to receive $12 million in taxes from the jackpot; assuming the winner shows, of course.

If you recently bought a PowerBall ticket in the Rhode Island area, it might be worth checking behind sofa cushions, in kitchen drawers and the dog’s kennel if you haven’t already looked over your ticket. The winning numbers were 1-10-37-52-57, PowerBall 11.

$336 Million PowerBall Jackpot Remains Unclaimed by Rhode Island Winner is a post from: The Inquisitr

A military veteran in dire need of a kidney transplant has won a cool $14.3 million in Wisconsin’s Megabucks lottery. Napolean Elvord scooped the jackpot on January 14, yet didn’t realize he was a millionaire until several days after the draw had taken place.

Indeed, the winning $1 ticket was still on Elvord’s dining table when it was announced the winning ticket had been sold at a Wisconsin Mobil station. Elvord is a regular at said station, and it wasn’t until the manager there asked him if he had bought the winning ticket that he noticed his error: he had mixed up the dates of the draw that produced the Megabucks winner.

For almost a week, an eight-figure sum had been lying on Napolean Elvord’s table, yet he didn’t realize it.

Elvord didn’t celebrate when he checked the ticket, as he still wasn’t convinced he had won. However, a visit to the Wisconsin Lottery office confirmed his success, and he received a lump-sum payment of $10.2 million, or $6.87 million after taxes. He told the Wisconsin State Journal:

“It’s still going through my head. The first thing they asked me was, ‘Did you make up the ticket?’”

With his new-found fortune, Elvord plans to help those less fortunate than himself, especially those who have taken a hit in the shaky economy over the past few years. He told NBC15:

“I hadn’t really made any plans yet, but I do look at the economy and think about the people that have lost homes that had homes and had jobs. And I’m into construction. I like remodeling, fixing up things, and I’m looking at possibly doing something in that area to re-sell homes and bring people back into their housing area.”

However, he’ll be looking after himself as well – for the past five years Elvord has received kidney dialysis, so plans to return to his native Texas and put some of his windfall toward health insurance.

Military Vet Who Needs New Kidney Scoops $14m Lottery Jackpot is a post from: The Inquisitr

One Lucky New york man matched all  five numbers and the mega ball last night, winning $206 million dollars in the Mega Millions lottery.  the winning numbers were 23, 32, 33, 39, 43 and a mega ball number of 8.

1 New York Resident Wins $206 Million Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot is a post from: The Inquisitr

The ticket for the Georgia Lottery will expire on Monday evening at 5pm, when the lottery’s 180-day claim window closes. Georgians: now is the time to start upending sofas and checking wallets.

The winning ticket was sold at the Pilot Travel Center truck stop, along I-20 and just inside the state from Alabama. It came with the numbers 24, 30, 45, 57, and 59, with Powerball number 26. Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick says:

“Unclaimed Powerball jackpot prize funds are returned proportionately to each participating state based on that state’s sales for the particular drawing.”

In Georgia, all unclaimed prize money is placed back in the prize pool for future games and special prize promotions. It’s still paid out to lottery players, but that probably won’t be much consolation if you found this ticket to a fortune on Tuesday morning.

Anybody who finds the ticket is urged to head down to the Georgia Lottery headquarters in downtown Atlanta, or one of the seven district lottery offices around the state. If you find it after Monday, it’s probably time to curl up into a very, very small ball and sob/shake uncontrollably for the next year. Reddick adds:

“The winner can claim at the Georgia Lottery kiosks at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, located in the baggage claim areas of the North and South terminals.”

And finally, don’t forget your old FRIENDS at the Inquisitr. Thanks.

$77m Powerball ‘Lottery’ Ticket Still Unclaimed, About to Expire is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Taiwanese city of New Taipei this week came up with a unique solution for cleaning their streets of dog feces, they launched a city wide lottery that everyone could participate in.

City officials were able to collect 14,500 bags of dog poop from more than 4,000 people, removing half of the cities dog feces from streets and sidewalks.

For each bag turned over to the government a lottery ticket was awarded and eventually a 50-something woman claimed the top prize, a gold ingot worth $2,200

Government officials also provided 85 other people with prizes ranging from smaller gold pieces to household appliances.

This may be the first time that non-dog owners in the city weren’t complaining about other people’s dogs leaving messes in the middle of the cities streets.

City officers are hoping that the clean up will continue even now that the dog poop lottery is over. Perhaps cleaner streets was just the motivation the Taiwanese people in the city needed.

Would you clean up dog poop around your city if you could potentially earn thousands of dollars from the simple task?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

New Taipei City Officials Offer Dog Poop Lottery, Clean Up Streets In Record Time is a post from: The Inquisitr

Three rich Connecticut businessmen hit it big when they purchased a $1 lottery ticket that turned out to be a $254 million winner.

The prize is the largest in state history and because the men held onto the ticket for nearly a month without alerting lottery officials the state ended up placing billboards all over the area to hunt down the winner.

According to the New York Post the three owners of an asset-management company bought the ticket together and drove to the lottery officer in a giant limo to pick up their giant check.

In the meantime lottery winners Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore have placed their winnings in a trust, which after taxes contains $103.5 million.

While it may appear that a bunch of rich businessmen are just lining their pockets further the lawyer for all three men says much of the money will go to charity while noting:

“This is going to benefit many people.”

One person already happy for the win is the stores owner who collects $100,000 for selling the winning lottery ticket. Upon hearing the good news the stores owner announced:

“Christmas comes a little early this year.”

It’s nice to see a lottery winner who knows how to manage their money, especially since they will be managing to give much of it away to groups in need.

Rich Connecticut Financiers Win $254 Million Lottery is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you win the lottery you’re already considered pretty lucky but when you win the lottery because the store clerk accidentally sold you a Powerball ticket instead of a Mega Millions ticket you’re considered super lucky and that’s what happened this week to Georgia resident Kathy Scruggs.

Kathy realized the store clerks error when purchasing her ticket but she decided to keep the $25 million winner anyways.

The 44-year-old told the Savannah Morning News that she was searching endlessly for a job before her big win, a search she has officially given up.

“I’ve been looking and looking and looking,” Scruggs says, but now “I’m going to build my mom and grandmother a home.”

Scruggs also says she plans to help struggling people cover dental bills while noting “I’m happy and grateful.”

I’m pretty sure I would be “happy and grateful” if I won $25 million as well, hopefully she doesn’t blow through her cash like many lottery winners in the past have.

Unemployed Woman Given Wrong Type Of Lottery Ticket, Wins $25 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

An unnamed customer on a Ryanair flight from Poland to the UK has reacted to winning 10,000 Euros ($13,616 or £8,765) on a scratchcard by eating his winning card.

What could have inspired such an act? Was this a powerful and emotionally charged statement about the standard of airline food? Sadly, no. Turns out this guy was just pissed off about having to wait to claim his prize, because he wanted to cash in right then.

The impatient passenger was urged by cabin crew and some passengers not to eat the ticket, but stood up and ate it anyway, as a demonstration of … something. The winnings will now go to charity.

A Ryanair spokesman has since said that the airline crew did not have the cash “kicking around the aircraft” (NO WAI), and that the prize had to be collected directly from the scratchcard company. Ryanair went on to confirm that the eccentric passenger ate his ticket on February 26th, which means this guy is taking the most expensive dump of his life right … about … now.

[Via BBC]

Impatient man eats winning $13,600 scratchcard is a post from: The Inquisitr

Investigators said Thursday Bulgaria’s lottery agency did not commit any fraud after the winning jackpot number was drawn twice early this month.

A five-man investigation panel formed Wednesday by the sports ministry to investigate the case did not find any violations committed by the state lottery agency when the jackpot numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35 and 42 was drawn live on national TV on September 6 and 10. There were no winners in the first draw but 18 people, who bet using the same number, won the prize worth $7,567 in the second draw.

The investigators also said manipulation of the winning number was not possible because the numbers were drawn in different order and the winners came from different regions of the county.

Bulgarian mathematician Mihail Konstantinov said the chances of the winning numbers being drawn twice 4.2 million to one.

Bulgarian Investigators Deny Fraud In Drawing Of Winning Lottery Number Twice is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lucky South Dakotan rancher Neal Wanless has won a $232.1 million dollar Powerball jackpot after buying a ticket in nearby Winner, SD.

Wanless wasn’t having the best run of luck prior to his win, having recently lost a mobile home to repossession. The 23-year-old rancher lived with his family on 320 acres of land in what is currently the seventh poorest county in all of the United States.

The Wanless family worked very hard to make ends meet raising sheep, cattle and horses and scavenging for scrap metal. Neighbor Dave Assman said:

“They’ve been real short on finances for a long time. ”They are from real meager means, I guess you’d say.”

Wanless spoke to press briefly about his win, smiling uncontrollably, thanking God, promising not to squander his newfound riches and wearing a big black cowboy hat. He also spoke of repaying “many times over” the community that had helped his family in the past.

Since his win, Wanless has continued ranching and has no plans to stop. Wanless said to AP reporters:

…he recently told his horse, Eleanor, that “It’d be nice if we go for a longer ride than usual on a bigger ranch of our own.”

Awww…

South Dakota rancher Neal Wanless claims $232.1m Powerball Jackpot is a post from: The Inquisitr