Hello World!
Welcome back to the Free Play Lotto Blog series, we hope you are having a great week so far! Well, last week we discussed what you should do, if YOU were the lucky jackpot winner of the lottery. Yes, we know already that it’s highly unlikely but you have to be prepared for everything you know? And through out the years there HAVE been winners. So, those infinitely lucky people – who are they, and what are they up to? That’s what we have cooked up for you today – past winners of the Powerball and where they are now!
Since 2010 there have been a total of 393 jackpot winners. Out of millions of people who play the Powerball every year – these lucky few are the ones who have experienced the huge cash windfall of literally billions of dollars. To bread down that even further, here are the top 3 states where the winners are from.
39 of the jackpot winners have come from Indiana, 31 from Missouri, and 22 have come from Minnesota. 1
The largest 3 jackpot sizes there have ever been are as follows – $1.586 billion, $768.4 million, and $758.7 million. 2
That’s right folks – the jackpot has gotten as large as a BILLION dollars… How crazy is that?? Well it happened, and it’s likely to happen again. Can you imagine, pocketing a billion dollars off of a $3 ticket? Talk about lucky! Well let’s talk about those top 3 lucky winners who have won the most money ever in lottery history!
#1 – Lisa & John Robinson of Tennessee in 2016 – $1.586 Billion
Lisa & John Robinsons were one of 3 tickets to win the largest lottery in history. The other two contestants chose to be very private and didn’t come out publicly, the Robinson family chose to appear on a news broadcast to publicizies they won immediately after finding out. Because there were 3 winning tickets, this meant that they must split the winnings equally. After the cash out option, the jackpot of which the 3 split was $983.5 million dollars, for them to collectively take home. Lisa and John Robinson, at the advice of their lawyer, decided to go public with their winning the Powerball lottery and found a way to get on a new station, to publicize their good fortune, BEFORE they had even cashed in the ticket.
The Robinson family has kept outside of the public eye, taking all the precautions they can to stay anonymous with their large cash win. They have upgraded their lifestyle and since then bought a large mansion with nearly 400 acres of land at an undisclosed location according to the following source.
#2 – Manuel Franco of Wisconsin in 2019 – $768.4 Million
Manuel Franco won the second largest jackpot with a single ticket on March 27, 2019. There were no other winners so he alone took home a whopping $476.9 million after choosing to cash out. One day after work, he reported just feeling lucky and went to buy a ticket from the local gas station. They have actual video tape evidence of him buying the winning ticket, which is just a normal everyday occurrence for the then 23 year old. See the press conference held shortly after turning in his ticket.
Mr. Franco has kept silent and out of the public scene ever since his win. He has been spotted at a public grocery store helping out a fellow consumer with a generous gift card donation to a mother in need. Ever since then, his social media presence has been absolutely ghost like – and for good reason! Many people try using lottery winner’s name to scam the public out of private information in hopes that they can partake in the winner’s ‘generosity’. Many scams arrive every time – but aside from the negatives – we know that Mr. Franco is enjoying a huge positive, one that will likely change his financial future for the rest of his life.
#3 – Mavis Wanczyk of Massachusetts in 2017 – $758.7 Million
Mavis Wanczyk of Massachusetts won the 3rd largest Powerball jackpot ever on August 23, 2017. She alone took home $448 Million dollars after choosing the cash out option. Previous to her winning, she worked at a Medical center for 31 years in patient care. Needless to say, she reported calling into her work immediately after winning and quit her job.
Mrs. Wanczyk has been kept out of the public eye since then. As for what our team could find, there was nothing conclusive as to her present day whereabouts. Some people speculate that she has kept to her humble beginnings only buying a small house to live in, in her home town. Others believe she skipped the state and now lives lavishly in Florida, as for sure – no one knows. One thing is certain – she is enjoying a life free of financial burden.
As is typical with many lottery winning occasions there have been many scams generated in her name, trying to mislead people into giving their private information.
It’s crazy to think that there are actually people whose life was changed completely at the draw of some random numbers – but there are! And quite frankly, that’s why millions of Americans play the Powerball and similar lotteries multiple times throughout the year. Be sure to check out our next blog post where we talk about the actual psychology behind gambling and the lottery!
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So thanks for stopping by! This is your family friendly lottery reminding you that with Free Play Lotto – you can’t lose, if you don’t pay!
See you next time!
– The Free Play Lotto Team!
Source:
1. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/powerball-winners-by-state
2. https://www.powerball.net/winners