How ‘embarrassed’ lottery winner won $1 million, lost every cent

An “embarrassed” lottery winner has revealed how he won $1 million and then blew it all in less than a decade.

An “embarrassed” lottery winner has revealed how he won US$1 million in the lottery and then blew it all in less than a decade.

The man, who did not give his name, called into financial advice radio show The Ramsey Show to share his depressing blunder.

“I’m a former lottery winner. I won a million dollars on a scratch ticket in the state of Virginia when I was 28,” he said.

“I’m 36 now and I have gone through it all.”

“Down to zero?” co-host George Kamel clarified.

“Yes,” the man confirmed.

The man won $1 million from a scratch ticket but blew it all in just a few years. Picture: iStock.

The man explained that his take-home prize was about US$750,000, which was then reduced to US$555,000 (AUD$870,000) after taxes.

But despite the windfall, over the next eight years, he drained his bank account back down to zero.

Some of the cash went towards a new car and paying off his private student loans.

Tragically, the man said most of the money was lost in the same way that it was won — gambling.

“I gambled to buy the ticket, right? So that never stopped,” he explained.

“(After I won, the gambling) was more so casinos, sports gambling. I’m quite embarrassed by it.”

The Ramsey Show co-host Ken Coleman as the man explained his plight. Picture: TikTok.

The man said, not long before he called into the show, he had begun taking steps to turn his life around.

He said he had reached out to Gamblers Anonymous, an addiction support group similar in structure to Alcoholics Anonymous, and made an appointment to speak with someone and “hopefully get over the addiction and move forward”.

He said he was now working as a restaurant manager earning US$75,000 (A$114,000) per year and had US$6000 (A$9100) in the bank.

He had two federal student loans that hadn’t yet been paid off, amounting to US$29,000 (A$44,000) in debt.

The man now works as a restaurant manager, earning $75,000 a year, and is $29,000 in debt.

The Ramsey Show hosts helped the man to make a financial plan.

They instructed him to create an emergency fund before beginning to “chip away” at his debt. Mr Kamel estimated, according to the man’s income, his debt could be paid off within the year.

“Then, we’re going to get a fully funded emergency fund so that you never have to go back into debt again, so you have financial foundation,” Mr Kamel said.

“But the bigger piece is getting your spending under control and getting this addiction under control.”

The man is not alone in his fate.

Estimates suggest that between 30 and 70 per cent of lottery winners declare bankruptcy after their big win. Lottery winners have been found to be several times more likely to declare bankruptcy than the average American.

“I swore I wouldn’t be here, but I am,” the man said.

Originally published as How ‘embarrassed’ lottery winner won $1 million, lost every cent