4 Real-Life Crazy Louisiana Lottery Winners’ Stories

Lafayette, Louisiana (KPEL-FM) - Everyone across Louisiana and America has Powerball fever right now, and for good reason.

This Saturday's Powerball jackpot is currently an estimated $1.7 billion, and could easily climb to a whopping $2 billion by the time the drawing takes place.

This got us thinking...we've had many Louisiana Lottery winners throughout the years, are there any wild stories about how they've won?

There sure are...

Crazy Lottery Stories from Louisiana

When it comes to Louisiana Lottery winners, there aren't any crazy stories about what winners have splurged on, but there are some truly extraordinary stories related to how the winnings were obtained or nearly lost.

READ MORE: Maximize Your Wins: Louisiana Scratch-Off Ticket Tips Revealed

1. Harold and Tina Ehrenberg from Mandeville, Louisiana

Harold and Tina almost lost a fortune if it wasn't for Thanksgiving.

While cleaning the house before Thanksgiving, the Ehrenberg's they found the winning ticket tucked away, a Lotto ticket they had completely forgotten about.

After finding it, thankfully they checked the numbers because what they had was a winning Lottery ticket worth $1.8 million.

Not only that, but the ticket was set to expire 2 weeks from the day they found it.

2. Bryan Cureington from Monroe, Louisiana

You've heard that one man's trash is another man's treasure, right?

That saying is absolutely the case for Bryan Cureington from Monroe.

A family member of Bryan tossed his "Make My Year" scratch-off ticket away, assuming it wasn't a winner.

Fortunately Bryan realized it in the nick of time and was able to dig through the trash and find it before it was hauled away because ultimately, Bryan's scratch-off ticket was worth $200,000.

READ MORE: Most Common Winning Louisiana Lottery Numbers

3. The Belle Chasse Clerk Con

Back in 2008, a Belle Chasse, Louisiana convenience store clerk allegedly conned a customer out of a winning Lottery ticket.

From lotterypost.com -

A joint investigation by Louisiana State Police and the state's Lottery Corporation determined that a clerk at a Belle Chasse convenience store conned a jackpot winner out of his ticket and a payoff of $800,000.

 

When the owner brought the ticket back to the store to claim his prize, the clerk allegedly told him he was mistaken and kept the ticket.

The clerk and her accomplice were eventually arrested.

It's not known if the rightful winner of the $800k was ever able to recieve his Lotto winnings.

4. Carl Hunter from Metairie, Louisiana

Carl from Matairie is a pretty slick and disciplined Lottery winner.

Despite winning a monster $97 million Powerball jackpot, Carl kept quiet and played it cool.

Hunter, a 73-year-old construction company owner waited a full 4 months before claiming his millions,

He used the time to wrap up construction projects and get everything taken care of in order to claim his jackpot and retire.

There's also the story of Frances Richardson of Simsboro, Louisiana who won an $825,000 jackpot from just a $1 Lotto ticket!

The Powerball drawing will be Saturday, September 6, at 9:59 PM CST.

Good luck!