Buying a lottery ticket and then waiting for the draw is something many people in the UK do. Of course, there will be a slight hope there that your ticket has matching numbers on it to those drawn out. In such a case, you receive a payout, which increases the more numbers you match up.
Throughout the years, many people have managed to do this. Some have matched all numbers, resulting in a jackpot payout. This has led to them receiving often large sums of money. Those success stories are often reported in the news. For example, the story that surrounded the biggest EuroMillions payout, standing at £195 million, a record at the time.
But there have also been instances where players have celebrated too early. A player sees the draw and believes they have won the jackpot, a premature celebration occurs before a severe realisation sets in. They have lost the ticket or they have purchased a ticket for the wrong draw or something else has happened that means they aren’t a jackpot recipient. It may surprise you, but there are many instances where people have gone through this. A leap of joy occurs because they think they won the lottery jackpot and then it turns out they haven’t.
Here, we’ll take a look at some of the stories when this has been the case. Read on to find out some of the twists of fate that have meant these players are not millionaires today.
An Unfortunate Card Decline for Young Couple
One of the biggest stories that broke in March 2021 was about a young couple from Hertfordshire. Rachel Kennedy, 19, and Liam McCrohan, 21, had been playing the lottery for five weeks. They used the same numbers each week, utilising an online National Lottery account. In the fifth week, the couple noticed that their numbers had come up in the draw and not only three or four numbers, but all seven of them!
The pair double-checked the numbers – 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6 and 11. They were all present in the draw. Kennedy and McCrohan were, without a doubt, enthralled to have won the jackpot. Except there was one slight catch – they hadn’t actually won. Rachel’s lottery account was set to buy the same numbers each week using an automated system, yet the payment for that week’s ticket did not go through. Her bank account had insufficient funds in it to fulfil the purchase.
She called her boyfriend into the room when she saw the winning numbers on the lottery app. Her mum wasn’t far behind, either. All three couldn’t believe their luck at having the winning numbers. Rachel proceeded to call the lottery, thinking they were about to be on the receiving end of £182 million. That phone call proved to be a big let-down, though. The lottery informed her that while they did have the right numbers, the ticket was not purchased.
“I was on top of the world when I thought I had won but when I found out I hadn’t, Liam was actually more upset than I was”, she said.
Heartbroken by the result, Rachel has since changed her lottery numbers. She believes that the previous numbers are unlucky.
A Late Realisation Means £3 Million Disappears
Another instance of a couple losing out came in 2001. Martyn and Kay Tott had feelings of extreme joy when they found out they had a successful ticket. Yet it took the pair six months to come to the realisation that they had that ticket. The draw they had entered was for £3 million on the National Lottery. When nobody came forward to claim the win, the Totts of Watford figured that they should check into it.
Realising they should be the recipients of the £3 million, the pair went into celebration mode. As it happens, they had lost the ticket with the winning numbers on it. Further to this, the 30-day period to report lost tickets had also closed. Yet this didn’t stop the couple. Via computer records, the Totts were able to prove that they were the winners of the money. The case soon picked up national attention. Even big names like Sir Richard Branson and Tony Blair spoke out in support of the pair.
But without the ticket in their possession, they were not able to secure a single penny of the money and that wasn’t the end of the bad luck for the Totts, either. Martyn said in an interview that the near-win was bad for their relationship. It “quickly highlighted our differences”, leading to a lot of arguing. The married couple would go on to end their relationship, finishing in divorce.
A Crumpled Up, Binned Ticket Leads to US Lottery Woes
It’s not only in the United Kingdom that near lottery wins have occurred. Across the seas in the USA, players have experienced similar heartache. In 2014, two New Yorkers proceeded to sue the New Jersey Lottery after losing out. Salvatore Cambria and Erick Onyango of New York chose to play the $1 million Powerball. That game takes place in neighbouring New Jersey. The pair bought a ticket and then awaited the draw.
Cambria asked Onyango to check the New Jersey Lottery website soon after the draw at 11pm. Onyango saw that the numbers there didn’t match the ones on their ticket. Cambria screwed the ticket up and tossed it in the bin. It was only the following day that they realised it was actually a winning ticket. The pair commented that the website was showing the numbers from the previous draw. Unfortunately, by the time they realised the problem, their ticket was on its way to landfill. Having lost out on the $1 million prize, they considered their options.
At one point, they thought of hiring a bloodhound to search for the trash bag. Both also stated that they had two other tickets showing serial numbers and those proved that they should have been the recipients of the jackpot but the Lottery Commission declined to comment on the situation. Instead, Cambria and Onyango never received a payout.
Double Check Before You Go on a Shopping Spree
There are those people who narrowly miss out on winning because of one thing or another and then there are those people who assume they’ve won, but it’s a big mistake. The latter of these happened to a lottery player in France back in 2014. The 46-year-old woman saw that numbers on her ticket were matching the latest draw and as is common in such instances of victory, she went out on a shopping spree.
Visiting her favourite shops, she spent thousands on clothes, jewellery and perfume. She wrote out cheques for the expensive purchases and she believed that her EuroMillions payout would cover the expenses. Yet upon returning home after a €4,000 splurge, her husband brought bad news. One of the digits on her ticket did not match up with those drawn. Thus, she had not won the big prize after all.
Not wanting to face criminal proceedings, the woman made up a story. She claimed that someone had stolen her handbag and written the cheques out. Yet CCTV footage proved to be her downfall, displaying her on the shopping spree. In the end, she had to stand before a French court. They served her with a four-month suspended sentence and community service. She was also ordered to repay her debts in instalments.
Man Wins £6.5 Million, But His Money Is “Stolen”
In October 2019, Peter Rhodes set about playing the UK lottery. He wasn’t a frequent player, but every now and then would buy a ticket for a draw. Usually when the prize funds are bigger than the norm. Mr Rhodes said that when his numbers came up in the draw, he was as surprised as anyone would be. To get the ball rolling with his payout, he took his successful ticket to a shop in London. It was there that he claims someone stole his £6.5 million win.
He says that alarm bells started ringing during his visit to the shop. In the end, he believed that the shop employee stole the jackpot from him. Mr Rhodes contacted Camelot about the money, and he said that a woman confirmed the win. Yet only a few hours later, he received contact from the fraud team. They stated that he would not receive the money because someone had already claimed it.
“It’s a life changing amount of money. They haven’t stolen from me. They stole my kids’ futures. That money was going to be for them”, he commented.
Speaking of his time at the London shop, Mr Rhodes said that the assistant put the ticket through the machine. It then made a noise, indicating he had won on the draw but then, it is his claim that the shopkeeper refused to hand his ticket back. He said that he leaned over the counter to see around 80 tickets underneath. The shopkeeper then allegedly picked one up and paid out £11.40 to him.
Yet there was quite the mystery surrounding the money. The shop where Mr Rhodes went to cash it in did not make any claim to the funds. He received an extra call from the fraud team, stating that they were shutting down his case. Why? Because they weren’t going to pay out the £6.5 million twice over. The pensioner went on to contact the police about the ticket and hired a solicitor. Mr Rhodes said he would take his case against The National Lottery as far as possible.
It’s also odd that Camelot had evidence that Peter did buy the ticket himself. An electronic footprint traced that winning ticket back to him. The police confirmed that they had received a report on the accusation of fraud. Their response was:
“This was initially dealt with as a civil matter. In September 2021, following further contact from the complainant, officers liaised with Camelot who confirmed there was no evidence that any fraud had been committed. As a result, the case has been closed – should any further information come to light then this decision can be re-assessed”.
Camelot said that they could not comment on the specifics of the case.
A Strange Final Story
It’s never a good thing when someone should receive a payout and doesn’t. Those players will doubtless feel cheated and heartbroken at the result. Yet that wasn’t quite the case for Helen and Lee Kuchczynski.
On July 12, 2022, the couple from Kendal won the EuroMillions lottery. This gave them a £3.6 million payout. Stories usually break about big winners splashing out on a car. Or sometimes on a new house. Big holidays are another popular option to go for.
But the Kuchcyznskis decided to go against the grain. Instead, they chose to buy a backscratcher for £17! When asked about his first purchase, Lee said:
“I bought a new backscratcher because I snapped my other, so I bought one worth £17 instead of £8”.
Nothing like pushing the boat out, is there?!
Alas, it didn’t take the couple long to spend a little bigger than that. They are now in possession of a new home and car, thanks to their lottery jackpot.