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Jack Whittaker Winning The Lottery Research Paper

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Millions of dollars and Millions of problems A lottery is a gamble in which participants pay an amount to obtain an opportunity at winning a large prize during a drawing (Lotteries). Lotteries in the United States can date back to as far as 1612 when it was used to provide funds for a newly created settlement in the country. A single person or several individuals can win a lottery if they concur with the correct number or sequence of numbers selected in a drawing. Today, winning the lottery is something most people desire and wish they had the good fortune for since it would bring in a large sum of money. The mathematical likelihood of someone winning the lottery on a single ticket is one in 175 million (Wasserstein). Despite this small possibility of winning the lottery, Jack Whittaker happened to be the one in 175 million when he won the lottery in 2002, for $315 million. The effects of Whittaker winning the lottery affected his financial stability, family relationship, and social well-being. …show more content…

After gaining the millions of dollars he began to spend money very generously, distributing it by the thousands to separate entities. Whittaker gave 10 percent of his winnings to Christian Charities, including many churches in West Virginia, and $14 million to a foundation he named after himself, The Jack Whittaker Foundation (Pous). He also gave the woman who sold him the ticket a sum of $50,000, a house for $123,000, and a new Dodge Ram Truck (Pous). In 2003, thieves stole $545,000 from inside a briefcase that Whittaker had in his car and again in 2004, $200,000 were stolen from his car that he managed to

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