9 Lottery Near Miss Stories

Forgotten Tickets

A surprising number of people buy lotto tickets, put them somewhere for safekeeping, and then promptly forget about them. In 2008, £24,11,524 went unclaimed in the UK National Lottery in the space of just one week, which is shockingly high until you realize that the cash value of unclaimed prizes in the UK alone amounts to an average of £20,00,000 per week.

One near miss lottery player was James Wilson, who was going through an old wallet when he came across a forgotten lottery ticket. He decided to check the numbers, and ended up winning himself an unexpected £51,232.90 on EuroMillions, which he  wanted to be putting towards a new house. However, the story doesn’t end there – if James had found the ticket just 24 hours later, he would have missed the official deadline and been unable to claim his winnings! Cutting it a bit close there, James! Had James used our services, he wouldn't have gone through such panic moments! He would have been notified (for free) soon after the draw that his lucky numbers brought him a small fortune. Moreover, he would have received his prize directly in his account and could have tried his luck to draws from all over the world.

There is also the player in the Irish lottery who nearly missed out on a cool €16,00,000 prize in 2015. Only after hearing an appeal on the radio did he think to check his ticket, which, you guessed it, turned out to be the winner. According to the rules of the Irish lottery, winners have 90 days to claim their prize; this Dublin man arrived at the lottery head office on bang on the 90th day, and with only 90 minutes to spare – it looks like the luck of the Irish is still alive and kicking.

Winners Who Nearly Didn’t Buy a Ticket

Lots of us get a gut feeling about things and instinctively act on it – here are some stories of people who were glad they did just that.

A player in Canberra has her brother to thank for her Australia PowerBall  win in August 2016 – she wasn’t going to enter until her brother called her to say he had a hunch that she should play. It was this call that resulted in her AU$3,50,00,000 payout. In shock, she said “I have never won anything before in my life.” This lucky Ozzie lady decided to spend the money on a tour of Europe – after making sure her family, and her brother especially, get a share in the winnings.

Jason Rinaldi of Canada is another lottery winner who very nearly wasn’t. He was the co-owner of a small automobile business dealing in specialist cars, and times were getting pretty tough for the company in 2008. Orders weren’t coming in as quickly as they once were and belts were being tightened, so he decided that he would roll the dice on the lottery this one last time before calling it quits. This last ditch gamble paid off, as he walked away with a prize of C$3,53,00,000 from the Canadian 649 Lotto all to himself, tax free! Instead of worrying about where he could make savings, he found himself wondering which of his favorite cars not to buy.

Another player in New Zealand found himself in a unique situation when someone cut in line in front of him to buy a ticket New Zealand lottery ticket. “I wasn’t in any hurry, so I just let them go ahead and didn’t say anything.” They say manners cost nothing, but it seems rudeness does have a price tag – a cool N$10,00,000, which ended up being won by the patient customer. When he learned of his winnings, he said, “I guess good karma pays off.” We agree, but who knew it paid so well?

The Winners Who Never Were

We have been through some stories of near misses, with most of them having a positive outcome for the player. But what about the times when the near miss works the other way and the ‘winner’ is left with a big fat zero?

A Canadian man must have had to muster up a whole lot of positive thinking to cope with the excruciating experience of missing out on a C$2,70,00,000 jackpot. He bought 2 tickets at 8:59 PM, but only the first was processed within the official time limit – the second missed the 9:00 PM cut-off time and was entered into the next lottery draw. Unfortunately for him, it was the second ticket that had the winning numbers on it, which meant despite being 7 seconds away from hitting the jackpot, he walked away with nothing. When playing the lottery online, these things are very rare, especially if you take advantage of special play formats such as subscriptions and multi-draw packages, making sure you never miss the chance to enter your favorite draws.

Another sorry tale is of that of the New York man who decided not to join the office lottery syndicate; according to a close source, "They asked him a couple of times, and he didn't feel lucky." Well, he sure was right about that, but maybe not in the way that he originally thought. The lucky syndicate went on to win a US$31,90,00,000 jackpot after playing the US Mega Millions lottery in 2011, which will be split equally between the 7 players. The source went on to say that none of the winners went to work on Monday, which would have given him plenty of quiet time to consider what might have been. We feel your pain, brother.

Louise Parkinson and Liam Handley, a couple from the UK, played the same numbers twice a week for 7 years, week in, week out. That is, until they went on holiday in 2014 and forgot to buy tickets in all the excitement. When they returned from their break in the Canary Islands, they discovered that the numbers they had picked had come up while they were away, and would have netted them £20,00,000 if they had remembered to buy the ticket. They continue to use the same lucky numbers in the hope that they will come up again, and we certainly wish them the best of luck.

Missed the Jackpot by One Number

This happens every single draw, disappointing a lot of those dreaming to scoop tens of Crores. While in some lotteries, cashing a second category prize might not mean much, those entering the draws of the huge American lottos Powerball and Mega Millions will not be so sour for missing the jackpot by one number. Why? Because the second prize is not so bad itself! Both Mega Millions and Powerball offer US$10 Lakh for all those who match the main numbers, but not the Powerball, respectively the Mega Ball.

And this can get bigger if you remember to use lottery multipliers on your ticket. A good number of winners, who became super rich overnight using online services, scooped the second prize. Most of them were wondering if there is any way to play Powerball legally without having to travel to the US each time there is an appealing jackpot, and they did a bit of research. They came across online platforms like our own that allow anybody can play and even win Powerball without even stepping foot in America.