# Shocking!: woman claims winning lotto ticket not part of office pool **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697 "2012-04-03T15:41:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/61 "2012-04-04T21:40:21Z")
This would be so much cleaner if a syndicate of lawyers had won it. They’re going to end up with the money anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/62 "2012-04-04T22:44:50Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Has a company lotto pool ever won the lotto (I’m talking a major one- however you want to define that)? A group of twelve bus drivers here in the UK split a jackpot worth more than $50 million. > **[EuroMillions lottery win buys Corby bus drivers ticket to retirement](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/19/euromillions-lottery-corby-bus-drivers)** > > Twelve Corby bus drivers expected to quit their jobs after each taking home £3m share of £38m lottery win ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/63 "2012-04-04T22:45:43Z")
I vote that she’s insane and didn’t really win, but then again, where is the real winner. Something like that happened a couple of years ago where the real winner didn’t step forward and this insane person claimed that they won and lost their ticket outside of the liquor store. Of course dozens of jackasses descended on the store and frantically dug through the snow looking for the lost ticket. The real winner claimed their prize a week later. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/64 "2012-04-04T22:54:09Z")
A group of security guards at Sandia National Labs won a few years back. There was one guy that normally went in on the pool, but for some reason(out sick, IIRC) skipped that time…Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/65 "2012-04-04T23:16:40Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > If you don’t make copies of the pool tickets, you are out of luck. This sort of thing has been litigated before. One time, as I recall, it was a mother cutting out her daughter (or the other way around.) We sign our tickets in our pool. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/66 "2012-04-05T03:23:30Z")
I bought the work pool tickets Fri. afternoon, wrote the company name on them, photographed them with my phone and emailed the pics to all players. Of course, we didn’t win. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/67 "2012-04-05T06:19:31Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Years ago a radio station hid some money (less than $100, IIRC) in books at a library (without telling the librarians about it) and announced it on the radio to get people to go to the library. A mob tore the stacks apart. (People thought much more money was there.) If anyone still believes her, that McDonalds is in trouble. Howdy, neighbor. The Wolf, right? I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t even the station itself, just one of its DJs getting a bright idea to get more people to go down to the library. At any rate, I heard about how the DJ had absolutely NO idea that people would go down to the library and make a big mess. I went to the library and volunteered to sort and reshelve books. Usually librarians are pretty easygoing and pleasant and seem to enjoy their jobs. On that day, though, they were not so happy. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/68 "2012-04-05T09:18:30Z")
Back when McDonalds was doing one of the scratch off ticket promotions, a neighbor got a $25,000 prize ticket. She took it in to the local McD to process, and the manager took the ticket, said he had to verify the winner, and walked into the back of the store with it. He went right out the back door, got in his car, and got caught trying to turn in the prize ticket at another McDonalds a couple states away. And that was only for 25k. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/69 "2012-04-05T10:57:25Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I vote that she’s insane and didn’t really win, but then again, where is the real winner. I was wondering this same thing, but if I’d won and some whacko was claiming she did, I’d take advantage of the hubbub to be working with a lawyer and a financial planner. Plus in MD, you’re allowed to remain anonymous, and with such a huge payout, you bet I’d be laying low… But I’m not this time. ☹ I will be cashing in my $3 winnings later today tho. 😉 There was a report on the morning news that Lottery officials will hold a news conference today to address this insanity. Also that the woman has been banned from the McDonald’s in question. The plot thickens… ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/70 "2012-04-05T11:03:35Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Stories like this make me think of something my mom was fond of saying: > > **“God shows his contempt for money by the people he gives it to”** > > Petty selfishness in the face of a scrillion dollar windfall is just unseemly. If there was a God, he doesn’t hate me. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/71 "2012-04-06T15:23:00Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Of course, I think the woman is lying, period. I don’t think she’s the winner at all, let alone splitting it with anyone. Looks like you [called it:](http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/06/11049946-self-declared-mega-millions-winner-mirlande-wilson-i-lost-the-ticket) now she’s claiming she lost the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/72 "2012-04-06T15:29:06Z")
> [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > The local talking heads have said you have to be a citizen to claim the prize. I don’t know if this is true or not. I doubt it. If I bought a ticket while I was in Maryland on vacation I’d be entitled to claim the prize, even though I’m Canadian. I would have to pay U.S. taxes on the winnings though. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/73 "2012-04-06T15:49:52Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I doubt it. If I bought a ticket while I was in Maryland on vacation I’d be entitled to claim the prize, even though I’m Canadian. I would have to pay U.S. taxes on the winnings though. Yeah, I never play the lottery, so I don’t know the rules. It was just a talking point on the news. Definitely one of those times when you DON’T want to read the comments section on the local news website story. The story I read yesterday said she claimed to have hidden the ticket at work. Apparently, the McDonald’s in question has guards stationed outside and a PR agent who refuses entry to members of the press. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/74 "2012-04-06T15:54:46Z")
Well, apparently she [lost](http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/06/11049946-self-declared-mega-millions-winner-mirlande-wilson-i-lost-the-ticket) the ticket. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/75 "2012-04-06T16:29:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Today, NBC News reports Wilson has “misplaced” the ticket. > > When asked if she was a teller of tall tales, Wilson told NBC “I did not make up no story to get no attention.” At first I cringed at the atrocious grammar, but now I wonder if it was a clever way to admit she made up the story to get attention while appearing to deny it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/76 "2012-04-06T23:07:34Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Today, NBC News reports Wilson has “misplaced” the ticket. When asked if she was a teller of tall tales, Wilson told NBC “I did not make up no story to get no attention.” > > At first I cringed at the atrocious grammar, but now I wonder if it was a clever way to admit she made up the story to get attention while appearing to deny it. No, then she would have said “I did not \*not \*make up no story to get no attention.” ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/77 "2012-04-07T03:36:41Z")
One thing that puzzles me is why a woman who works at McDonald’s would hire a lawyer if she doesn’t have the winning ticket. He probably makes more per hour than she makes all week. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/78 "2012-04-07T04:37:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > No, then she would have said “I did not \*not \*make up no story to get no attention.” I must disagree. I did not make up a story = I didn’t make up a story. I did not make up no story = I made up a story. I did not not make up no story = I didn’t make up a story. (Right? Someone check my math on the multiple negatives…) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/79 "2012-04-07T05:55:10Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I must disagree. > > I did not make up a story = I didn’t make up a story. > I did not make up no story = I made up a story. > I did not not make up no story = I didn’t make up a story. > > (Right? Someone check my math on the multiple negatives…) You forgot to add in the “to get no attention.” That’s another negative that needs canceling out. I did not make up no story to get no attention = I did make up a story to get no attention. Not true. I did [del]not[/del] [del]_not_[/del] make up [del]no[/del] story to get [del]no[/del] attention = I did make up story to get attention. True. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697/80 "2012-04-07T07:56:35Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > What else would you do with them? I agree that photocopying tickets everyone getting a copy is important but I wouldn’t leave the actual tickets just lying around the office. Even our secure file cabinets can be broken into with a nail file and 2.8 seconds effort. Most people wouldn’t go round breaking into office cabinets in the off chance there is a winning lotto ticket inside. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-woman-claims-winning-lotto-ticket-not-part-of-office-pool/617697.md?page=5)