The Luck of the Draw: 15 Fascinating Facts About Lotteries

A Canadian lottery winner named Sharon Tirabassi blew through her $10 million winnings in less than 10 years and now lives paycheck to paycheck.

A woman named Christina Elizabeth Goodenow bought a winning lottery ticket with her dead mother-in-law's credit card. The police claimed it was obtained by illegal means and kept the $1 million jackpot for themselves.

In 2005, a Chinese man named Zhao Liqun found that he could still buy lottery tickets within a 5-min window after the winning numbers were announced. Through this loophole, he won over $4 million. Chinese authorities discovered the loophole and, in 2007, he was sentenced to life for fraud.

A New Jersey man named John Roland purchased two identical lottery tickets and won the Jackpot. With one other winning ticket sold elsewhere, John received two-thirds of the $879,000 prize instead of half.

A Calgary man named Tom Crist won a $40 million lottery jackpot and gave all of his winnings away in memory of his late wife.