Everyone dreams of winning the lottery.  They imagine cars and sandy beaches and women and transportation devices and burning their name onto the surface of the moon; all logical, rational things that people should do with absurd amounts of money.  But having a lot of money is actually a curse.  When you get your paycheck you feel like a rockstar, you buy fancy things, and then it's Tuesday and you've spent half your money on alcohol and fancy bathroom soaps.  Now multiply your measly salary by millions.  Biggie was right.

 

6.)  Evelyn Adams

(Not pictured: Evelyn Adams)

When Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery in 1985, she had defied all probability, all that "Your chances of winning the lottery are ______" garbage that everyone quotes when you buy a lottery ticket.  Then she won it again in 1986.  With all the fame that came her way, Adams was confronted with the sad hordes of relatives and acquaintances asking for a hand out.  And Evelyn couldn't say no.  Her inability to turn people down coupled with her ravenous desire to gamble in Atlantic City landed her in a trailer, where she still lives today.  Evelyn Adams lost $5 million dollars.

 

5.)  David Edwards

Yes, he has a mullet.

Sometimes good people win the lottery, but sometimes good things happen to shitty people.  Such is the case for David Edwards.  The ex-con won a $41 million dollar Kentucky jackpot in 2001, and got to partying right away, presumably with his ex-con buddies, still wearing their cliche striped prison outfits and shackles.  Edwards surrounded himself with less-than-trustworthy people, allowing them access to his money, a privelige that none of his "friends" let go to waste.  In less than 6 years after winning the money, Edwards was broke and in debt for not paying child support.

 

4.)  William Post

Blood is thicker than water, but money is thicker than blood, if that makes any sense.  Since it doesnt, listen to this story anyway.  Willie "Bud" Post won the lottery in 1988, guaranteeing him $16 million dollars and the prospect of a financially secure future.  But everything went awry for Bud.  As is the case with most of the winners on this list, his family came to him asking for handouts.  Being a kind family man, Bud obliged most of the requests, carelessly handing out money to relatives with no prospect of getting it back.  His life took a downturn soon after the win when a former girlfriend sued him, winning a portion of his money.  As bad as the lawsuit was for Bud, the next shock came in the form of a Hamlet-esque murder attempt at the hands of his own brother who hired a hitman to kill him in hopes of inheriting some of the money.  Other members of the family succeeded in convincing Bud to invest money into a car business and a restaurant, only to have both ventures fail miserably, taking his money with it.

Within one year of his win, Bud was over a million dollars in debt and in jail for firing a gun at a bill collector.

Today, Bud Post lives on social security to the tune of $450 a month.

 

3.)  Jeffrey Dampier

Jeffrey Dampier is one of the few people on this list who didn't blow his money on a pink elephant or hot air balloon shaped like the Death Star.  In fact, he was pretty smart with his money.  He invested in a gourmet popcorn store that saw decent profits.  He DID purchase gifts for his family and took them on vacations, but his spending did not exceed his earnings.  Even so, the lottery win was a curse for Dampier.  Seven years after his 1996 win, Dampier was found in a van, shot in the back of the head.  The police immediately accused Dampier's sister in law, Victora Jackson, and her boyfriend Nathanial Jackson (just a weird coincidence) of kidnapping and murdering the lottery winner for his money. 

 

2.)  Billie Bob Harrell Jr.

In June 1997, a deepy religious Texan named Billie Bob Harrell Jr chose the correct numbers to win the Texas Lottery, and with that, $31 million dollars.  At the time of the win, Harrell was working at The Home Depot and was struggling to make ends meet.  His family was the recipient of a "miracle," Harrell believed.  Then, Bob Harrell started making mistakes.  Instead of looking for advice, he purchased homes and a ranch for his family.  He was handing out free money to family members with no return, and began losing his fortune.  Then, one night in 1999, Bob Harrell went to his bedroom, took up his shotgun, and killed himself.  Before his death, he told his financial advisor that "Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me."

 

1.)  Jack Whitaker

Jack Whitaker's Powerball win was the stuff of legends: Christmas morning, 2002, hard-working family man wakes up to find that the numbers he chose win him $315 million dollars.  In what Whitaker regarded as the chance to help others, he immediately began building churches and helping out the less fortunate, despite the fact that he was worth around $15 million even at the time of his winning the prize.  But with the win came serious trouble.  He appeared on national television as the Powerball winner, making him a highly visible figure in his West Virginia town.  Everyone wanted a piece of Jack, asking for cash at public events and sending him letters begging for financial help.  People went as far as to ask for carpeting for their homes, big-screen TV's and Hummer's.  At first, Jack was unable to turn them down.

After constant requests for money, and numerous lawsuits launched against the companies he had started with his fortune, Jack was unable to cope.  He began lashing out in public against strangers, and had several run-ins with the law.  His car was broken into, and several hundreds of thousands of dollars taken from him.

But the biggest tragedy in his life centers around Brandi Bragg, Whitaker's 17-year-old grand-daughter.  Jack loved her very much, and found it fit to take care of her financially.  He purchased four cars for her, and even gave Brandi a $2,100 per week allowance.  At first, she was very responsible with the money, but over time, things fell apart.  Brandi fell in with the wrong crowd, and in September 2003, her boyfriend was found dead of a drug overdose.  Brandi soon disappeared, and her body was found several weeks later, also dead of a drug overdose.

Currently, Jack Whitaker is divorced and in a law suit with an Atlantic City casino over bounced checks.