Three Families With Multiple Lotto Winners

Major lotto wins can bring out the best and worst in people. A recent poll conducted by Oz Lotteries showed that the majority of respondents would make taking care of their families financially a priority if they won lotto. It has been said that generosity is an integral part of what it means to be an Australian, and the idea of being able to repay your family by contributing to their happiness and security is a noble one. Some families are lucky enough to have multiple lotto winners – talk about keeping in the family! Here are some notable stories.

A pair of brothers from the Gold Coast were lucky enough to both win lotto in the 1970s, and decided to buy a small cottage in quiet Mermaid Beach with their winnings. “My brother won $30,000 and shared it with me, so when I won $80,000 I thought I should share it with him,” said the younger of the two.

The brothers, both lifelong bachelors now in their 70s, have shared the home together for decades and have no plans to split up, despite their home now being on the market. They could never have predicted that by 2015, their $103,000 humble home and its prime beachfront land would be worth $5.95 million.

A local real estate agent called their block a “very valuable and rare” piece of land with views “all the way down to Coolangatta”. The younger brother said they would be sad to go but were looking forward to a new life somewhere along the riverside in Broadbeach or Mermaid Waters.

“We’d love to win the lotto for a third time,” he said, “but I think we’ve lucked out on that one!”

Meanwhile on the other side of the world in Norway, a family was shocked when not one, not two, but three of their own won Division 1 prizes in the national lottery. Funnily enough, each of the lotto wins coincided with the births of three babies in the family – you could say they were born under a lucky star!

The father was the first winner in 2006 who won approximately $1.8 million, followed by his daughter in 2009 with approximately $1.8 million, and most recently his son in 2012 with approximately $2.7 million in prize money.

The winning son was reportedly reluctant to take even one day off work to celebrate. He said there were no plans to leave the family home or go on a spending spree – but an investment home was on the cards. “I actually have a bit of a guilty conscience about winning so much money,” he said. “I’m sure there’s somebody who could have done with the money more than me.”

Finally, two siblings from New York who bought their winning tickets from the exact same petrol station two years apart both won $1 million. Astoundingly, an employee of the petrol station also won $1 million on a scratchie just six months after the original win – must be a lucky lotto hotspot!

The winning brother won a set-for-life scratchie game in 2008 which has an annual prize of $1 million. Even luckier, he did not have to pay federal taxes on the winnings as he was a London resident at the time.

Just six months later, the employee who sold the brother’s winning ticket bought one of his own and won $1 million. The lucky winner moved back to India to be with his wife and family.

It only took another two years before the family struck gold again when the sister purchased her scratchie from the same petrol station and won a million dollar prize, to be delivered in yearly portions worth $33,015. She said that if she hadn’t been visiting her parents that day and stopped to buy a ticket, she wouldn’t have won.

“God has blessed me and my family in many ways,” she said, adding that she planned to donate to her church and send her parents on a holiday. The lucky petrol station has become the only place her extended family will buy lotto tickets.

“Uncles, aunts and cousins – we all play it now.”

Would you take care of your family if you won a major lotto prize? Let us know how you would treat your loved ones if you were the fortunate one!

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