After the announcement of the winning numbers in early Summer, a Maryland lottery game gave the unannounced winner one hundred eighty two days to claim the prize –a substantial amount of time for searching between the couch cushions or thumbing through a house full of drawers. With only one day left on the claim period, however, it looked as though the jackpot was set to go unclaimed, until the winner confirmed his ticket numbers with the state lottery agency and became the recipient of a considerable quarter million dollars.

The man, who had apparently forgotten about his purchase, stashed the ticket with his auto insurance papers, and it just so happened that right before the claim period was up, the winner’s auto insurance was set to be renewed on its six-month schedule. The man remembered having heard about an unclaimed prize for that particular game, and decided to check the numbers –after which he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had indeed won. With his winnings, the man has stated that he’ll likely spend some on a vacation, donate a portion to charity, help out his family, and make some investments along the way.

The unimaginable agony of finding a winning UK National Lottery ticket recently expired may be exceptionally rare, but without proper ticket organization or an online playing or tracking method, such scenes can become reality. Luckily for this Maryland man, such an agony was, even if barely, averted.

Popularity: 6% [?]

With all of the money being doled out to excited winners, there’s often plenty of happy news to relate about lottery events worldwide. But sometimes, scams and scandals break loose, and keeping an eye out for the methods used can help lottery players –and the general public– avoid falling prey to such schemes.

In one of the most recent examples of lottery scams, a group of four people were arrested in the American city of Chicago for bilking a set of victims out of over $100,000. The group approached elderly Hispanic citizens on the streets, with a given member relating that they had a winning lottery ticket, but couldn’t cash it because they were an illegal immigrant. The scammers would then offer to split the $1 million prize if the person would be so kind as to cash the ticket for them. Of course, they wanted a good faith deposit of some kind first, such as money or jewellery. After securing this prize, the scammers simply disappeared, leaving their victims short of plenty of funds –and probably feeling a bit foolish.

While such scams haven’t been spotted too recently among players of the UK National Lottery, the cash won by the team may serve as an inspiration to others to try their hands at enticing UK residents to easy winning ticket access. Keep your wits about you and play your own tickets –you won’t have to put up anything in good faith when you do.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The UK National Lottery serves as a major source of joy for those who are lucky enough to win, but can still be an exciting and fun activity for people who play without experiencing the thrill of winning. That essential joy of lottery games is the focus of a new advertising campaign being run by a company in Chicago in the United States. The theme of the advertisement, “joy someone,” encourages holiday shoppers to consider buying lottery tickets for their friends and loved ones as the Christmas season approaches.

Though commercials for lottery events may seem rather unremarkable, this particular campaign is being hailed as one of the season’s best, and is apparently especially welcome amidst the heavy hitting of the recession as it wreaks havoc on American holidays for another year. The commercial features an array of scenes depicting people in extraordinary and personalised environments, such as a striking red room in which a cat lover reclines on a couch surrounded by an incredible, multiple-story cat tower (complete with happily purring and playing felines, of course).

It’s that sense of personalization which lends itself to the ideal of using lottery winnings to fulfill dreams and take on extraordinary projects and challenges. Though many people would doubtless love to purchase a winning set of numbers or eye-popping scratch cards for their families this year, helping them to dream big and think up new ways to explore their passions through a ticket gift is an excellent idea, as well.

Popularity: 6% [?]