Thanksgiving Lottery Ticket

Submitted into Contest #16 in response to: Write a story around the theme: Be careful what you wish for.... view prompt

361 comments

General

John Franklin bought a lottery ticket. He wished he could hit the jackpot on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving.


           He knew he might win three hundred million dollars with a single two-dollar ticket. Would John double his chances to win if he bought two tickets? No.


A quick look at odds shows he would have one chance in three hundred million to win. If he bought two, it’s two in three hundred million to win the Powerball or Mega Millions. Pretty small odds. What if he bought a hundred and fifty million tickets? Then his odds are two to one that he would win. That’s about the same thing as flipping a penny and betting everything on that single flip of the coin. Would you do that with your hundred and fifty million dollars? If you had that much money, would you need to?


           Look at the penny. If you bet five dollars on a flip and you lost. What are your chances that the next time, if you call the same side, that you will win? It’s still fifty-fifty. Yes, over an infinite number of flips, it will be half heads and half tails. But nothing says it can not be heads seven times in a row. Happens all the time in Vegas on red and black on the roulette wheel. If you doubled your bet after each loss of $5, on the seventh bet, you are gambling $740 that you will win and only break even. What kind of odds is that?


           Back to the lottery. Perhaps John is not dissuaded by the odds. So why? Maybe it’s fun for just a two-dollar ticket. The fun of saying, I have a horse in this race and WISH I could win. There are a lot of others running, but if you don’t have a horse, you certainly have zero chances to win.


           John did pull off a miracle and win. He hit the big one. His Thanksgiving wishes come true. Would John’s life change? Would yours? You bet your life it would. John’s life did change, after living through what he thought was a heart attack that Saturday night. He and his family were ecstatic. John quit his job the next day. He could buy almost anything he wanted on credit. Merchants were more than happy to extend it based on confirmation of John’s win. New car for him, wife and grown kids. Trips, luxury, and money is no object. That’s the life, huh?


           Let’s visit with John two years later. He is miserable. John says to a reporter, “It was great for a while to have all that money. But my wife and I had to get unlisted phone numbers to keep friends from calling and asking for money for a great investment, or for a worthy cause, or their dying relative that could be cured with a costly radical new drug or procedure. I gave money at first. You can’t imagine the anger when I finally said ‘No’ to them. It was terrible. Soon I had no friends. My kids hated me when I finally started saying ‘No’ to them as well. My new friends were shallow money-friends.”


           John shook his bowed head he now held between his hands. “You can’t imagine the burden that comes with a ten million dollar mansion in Florida and the staff to keep it going. Rip-off property managers. The insurance, taxes, and salaries of everyone. My Yacht captain keeping my ship in ready to run condition month after month. Now triple that for my other two places around the states and the private jet plane to get there.”


           John drew up a deep breath and exhaled as if he was glad to get it all off his chest. “My wife left me months ago and went back home to live with her parents in another state. Course she took half of what we had in the way of property and liquids left in the bank. Heck, she could afford the very best lawyer, and I ended up paying for him.”


           He looked at the reporter and said with a hollow stare in dark eye sockets, “So you ask me what it’s like to win the lottery? Not all it’s cracked up to be. I’ll be broke soon, and the bills may keep coming out of nowhere. To get any peace at all, I need to sell everything I own for a fraction of the price, but I still can’t be happy.”


“Everything that meant anything is gone. The life I had that I thought was hard. I had friends, family, and good times. Never again will I have a Saturday afternoon cookout with beer, friends and a game on the portable TV.”


           John drew one last huge cleansing breath and said, “Everything that ever brought me true joy is gone. Winning the lottery was not my dream wish come true. It was my worst nightmare.”

November 15, 2019 15:32

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361 comments

Albert Walker
21:40 Jan 12, 2023

Good day to all viewer online, my name is Albert Walker I am so overwhelmed sharing this great testimony on how i was checking for solution in the internet while miraculously i came across Dr Kachi who brought my ex Girlfriend back to me, This is the reason why i have taken it upon myself to thank this great spell caster called Dr Kachi, because through his help my life became more filled with love and i am happy to say that my ex Girlfriend who has been separated from me for the past 2years came back to me pleading for me to accept her back...

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Albert Walker
21:40 Jan 12, 2023

Good day to all viewer online, my name is Albert Walker I am so overwhelmed sharing this great testimony on how i was checking for solution in the internet while miraculously i came across Dr Kachi who brought my ex Girlfriend back to me, This is the reason why i have taken it upon myself to thank this great spell caster called Dr Kachi, because through his help my life became more filled with love and i am happy to say that my ex Girlfriend who has been separated from me for the past 2years came back to me pleading for me to accept her back...

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Cherlyn Solie
14:03 Jan 11, 2023

I was doing research on how I can improve my chances of winning the lottery and I came across so many testimonies on a blog saying how Dr. Kumar has helped them win the lottery by sending them the winning numbers. I was curious and I thought it was all a joke but I decided to give it a try and see for myself and I contacted this spell caster to know for myself how this works because I have spent a lot buying tickets and never win. I contacted him and he told me the necessary thing that need to be done and i did it and he told me to wait for ...

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Cherlyn Solie
14:03 Jan 11, 2023

I was doing research on how I can improve my chances of winning the lottery and I came across so many testimonies on a blog saying how Dr. Kumar has helped them win the lottery by sending them the winning numbers. I was curious and I thought it was all a joke but I decided to give it a try and see for myself and I contacted this spell caster to know for myself how this works because I have spent a lot buying tickets and never win. I contacted him and he told me the necessary thing that need to be done and i did it and he told me to wait for ...

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Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

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Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
10:17 Jan 10, 2023

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

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Evelyn Dawson
14:21 Jan 07, 2023

I was reading through Facebook when I saw a post about the legit spell caster called Dr Kachi who has helped people in winning the lottery ticket. I'm a woman who’s addicted playing the lottery and always put all my faith in buying the ticket I lost all my money of all time and my effort trying to win my game, until I met my old friend who told me the Secret of her wealth that Dr Kachi who cast lottery spell winning number for her to play the Powerball ticket that change her life, it was she that directed me to Dr Kachi. i explained to him i...

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Evelyn Dawson
14:20 Jan 07, 2023

I was reading through Facebook when I saw a post about the legit spell caster called Dr Kachi who has helped people in winning the lottery ticket. I'm a woman who’s addicted playing the lottery and always put all my faith in buying the ticket I lost all my money of all time and my effort trying to win my game, until I met my old friend who told me the Secret of her wealth that Dr Kachi who cast lottery spell winning number for her to play the Powerball ticket that change her life, it was she that directed me to Dr Kachi. i explained to him i...

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Manuel Franco
16:11 Jan 05, 2023

I just want to say Thank You to everyone who supported me through the years. My name is Manuel Franco, New Berlin, Wisconsin. My story of how I won the Powerball lottery of $768.4M is a bit of a tale. I have been playing Powerball tickets for 6 years now since I turned 18. I bought my first ticket on my 18 birthday. I was feeling very lucky that day because I had contacted Dr. Odunga Michael to help me with the winning Powerball numbers. I really had that great great feeling that I looked at the camera wanting to wink at it. I only did a ti...

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Janet Willis
12:32 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:32 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:32 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:31 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:31 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:31 Dec 27, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 39,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until t...

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