Week after week, a Welshman played the lottery with the same numbers. But once that didn't work out – and made him a millionaire.
Kassel/Caerleon – His account balance was "minus 68 pounds". Then Les Scadding from Caerleon in Wales won over £45 million in the lottery. On the day in 2009 that changed his life forever, he had actually made a capital mistake. This gave him a million-dollar lottery win, which can also become a nightmare.
Unemployed truck driver makes serious mistakes on lottery ticket – and becomes a millionaire
At that time, the truck driver had already been unemployed for almost a year, as the Guardian reported. Playing the lottery, however, remained his greatest hope. The father-of-three said he always knew he would one day win the lottery. His daughter, who was living abroad at the time, asked him one question week after week after the draw: Did you win? His answer was always "Next week".
He relied on his lucky numbers. But on that fateful day, he forgot the piece of paper with the usual numbers and was forced to choose a random "lucky dip". The result: The then 58-year-old won half of the Eurojackpot, more precisely 45,570,835.50 pounds (just under 51 million euros). The other half was cleared by a syndicate from Liverpool.
"When we realized I had all seven, we almost dropped the laptop"
It wasn't until the next day that he had checked the numbers with the result, when his wife, Samantha, sent him out for tea time to buy something to eat. When he returned to the lottery office, he asked someone at the ticket office to check his numbers. "The machine simply printed out a pink slip of paper and asked me to get in touch with the lottery company," Scadding said. Curiously, it's the same store where another player, Jenny Southall, bought an £2007.8 million winning ticket in 3.
"I thought I had won about £50,000 and I rushed home to tell Samantha," said the winner. At home, Samantha pulled out the laptop and went online to check the winning numbers. "When we realized I had all seven, we almost dropped the laptop," he said. A phone call confirmed that her wildest dreams had come true.
The couple was soon back on the internet thinking about what they could spend the money on. "I've never owned a new car in my entire life, and my dream car is a Range Rover Sport," said the happy winner, adding that he envisioned a black model with a walnut interior to replace his Citroen C5. "We went online and optimized it," said his wife at the time. But the couple's private happiness did not hold, and in 2013 the two separated.
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Lottery winner becomes main shareholder in football club
Scadding also wanted to do good with his winnings. He had testicular cancer and planned to support cancer charity. "We're in a position where we can do a hell of a lot for ourselves and bring joy to family, close friends and charities as well. So I think it's going to change us for the better," the winner said at the time. "You can't buy health, but we can live a very good life." Scadding fulfilled yet another dream: he became the main shareholder of Newport County Football Club after investing some of his money, and served as the club's owner between 2012 and 2015 until he stepped down.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, a man won the lottery thanks to ChatGPT. A case of brazen fraud, on the other hand, occurred in northern Hesse: With a supposed lottery win, a 66-year-old was brought to 1000 euros. (cgsc)
Gambling can be addictive. If necessary, get help from the free hotline of the Federal Center for Health Education: 0800 1 37 27 00.
