Four Jackpot Lottery Stories That Ended in Lawsuits, Jealousies and Feuds (2 of 3)

The Son Whose Thirst For Money Couldn’t Be Quenched

In October 2011, Dave Dawes from Wisbech, England, won £101m ($156 million) in the UK Lottery. Being the generous dad that he was, he gave his son Michael £1m. Michael did the responsible thing: he spent some of the money on modest things and invested the rest so that he’d be set for life. Just kidding! He and his partner James Beedle blew through the entire amount within a month. Michael even quit his high-paying IT job because he figured he’d try his hand at being a professional gravy train rider. When he asked for more money, his dad was pretty surprised but obliged. After burning through an additional £600k and demanding even more money, Dave decided the pound/buck needed to stop there. So Michael did what we would consider the most American thing to do: he sued Dave. Fortunately, the judge sided with the dad, ruling that he had been more than generous enough and that Michael shouldn’t have expected to be supported financially for the rest of his life.

The Losingest Lottery Ticket Ever

On January 8, 2023 John Cheeks’ life changed forever, for that was the day when he discovered he held the winning ticket for the $340 million Mega Millions jackpot. Or not. When he went to claim his prize, an agent at the Office of Lottery and Gaming informed him that it wasn’t the winner and that he might as well pitch it. Instead, Cheeks lawyered up. Turns out, as a result of a mistake by the quality assurance team, a set of test Powerball numbers was posted to the live website. However, these numbers were not the same as the ones drawn two nights later, and the website clearly stated that the only valid numbers were those from the drawing event, meaning Cheeks did not have a winning ticket. Cheeks sued for breach of contract, negligence, and fraud. His attorney must have withdrawn from the case since Cheeks ultimately represented himself pro se. In the end, the D.C. judge threw out the case due to lack of jurisdiction. Well, Cheeks may not have been a jackpot winner or even a lawsuit winner, but with the right mindset he can still be a winner at the game of life.