The Funny Side of the Lottery: 6 Hilarious Facts

The Funny Side of the Lottery

For many people, playing the lottery is a serious endeavor. It’s seen as a life-changing opportunity. Still, lotteries do have a funny side. Some people have done crazy things after winning. Others have gone through unbelievable coincidences. Are you ready to laugh and feel amazed? Here are some of the funniest lottery facts out there.

The Country that Screwed its Lottery Up

In the early 1700s, France decided to organize a national lottery for the purpose of raising money for the government. After all, lotteries are seen even today as an excellent opportunity for collecting taxes. Unfortunately, some French government member responsible for the initiative had a really hard time with math. As a result, the lottery ended up benefiting somebody else.

It turned out that the top prize being offered exceeded the funds collected through ticket sales, even if all of the tickets got sold. One person that noticed the odd fact was French writer Voltaire.

Voltaire teamed up with a statistician and the duo went ahead to win the lottery. They purchased a big number of tickets. One of those tickets was winning and Voltaire ended up a million francs richer. Needless to say, the French government wasn’t particularly pleased. We don’t know whether the person responsible for the lottery got fired, but the game ran for a period of solely 2 years (from 1728 to 1730).

Hunger Games from India?

Well, not quite, but the thing that the government has decided to do is pretty high on the list of weird occurrences.

Since India has a problem with over-population, the government is considering opportunities for encouraging a lower birth rate. One of the brilliant ideas that somebody came up with is a sterilization lottery.

People who undergo voluntary sterilization in India are all entered in a special lottery draw. Women who get their tubes tied receive an instant prize of 600 rupees. On top of that, they’re entered in additional drawings for prizes like cars, television sets and electronics.

While the move may have seemed brilliant for somebody high up in the government, India has received a lot of criticism for its sterilization lottery. Still, health authorities report that the campaign has been a huge success.

The Fat Curse

If you’re happy with your current weight and you’re not wanting to gain pounds, you should refrain from playing the lottery.

Statistics suggest that 32 percent of lottery winners become fatter after getting richer. There are several explanations for the phenomenon. For a start, people don’t have to walk or rely on public transportation options – they have fancy cars, yachts and even airplanes. In addition, a multi-million lottery prize acts as a mild sedative. It makes people relax and feel calmer. This sense of comfort typically leads to some weight gain.

It’s fun to point out that 12 percent of the winners decide to join a gym after becoming richer. Unfortunately, things usually don’t work out according to plan when it comes to starting an exercise routine.

The Panda Winner

Chinese Lottery Winners

Chinese players have different concerns from their Indian counterparts. Lottery winners in the country are mostly worried about keeping their identities private.

As a result, a curious trend was born in the country. Many of the people going to claim their lottery prizes wear a mask in order to keep themselves anonymous. During the year of the horse, one man went to claim his prize in an appropriate horse mask. Another winner had an entire panda costume that he relied on in order to maintain his privacy.

A person who won the equivalent of 85 million dollars had a bear costume on him. Somebody else who had a similarly large prize to collect appeared in a large Mickey Mouse head at the Chinese lottery headquarters.

China’s government is committed to helping players avoid personal risks that may stem from the announcement of the major win. This is why the personal information of players in the country is kept private and they’re allowed to wear masks/costumes when making a prize claim.

Some people, however, go a step too far. The man wearing the horse mask noticed journalists taking photos of him. This is when he decided to put plastic bags over his shoes. The (slightly paranoid) guy then went ahead and asked journalists to delete all photos they had taken. He was concerned that somebody could identify him by looking at the shoes!

Ladies and Their Lingerie

People have some funny habits when it comes to playing the lottery. Some weird behaviors, aren’t that odd because they’re shared by a big number of players.

According to statistics, 30 percent of female lottery players keep their winning tickets inside their bras. We’d love to know who did the survey and how they came across the information. One thing is certain, however, the inside of the bra is the safest place according to the ladies.

Unfortunately, people who did the survey did not ask guys about their winning ticket storage preferences. Chances are that they would have come across some pretty curious information!

The Bank Robber

The final hilarious lottery fact comes once again from China. Here’s something you should never try, even if you consider yourself a lucky individual.

Ren Xiaofeng was just a regular guy who worked at the Agricultural Bank of China. One day, Ren had a brilliant idea. He decided to steal some money from the bank, use it for the purchase of lottery tickets and restore the sum after winning. Ren stole 26,000 dollars worth of yens, bought his lottery tickets and crossed his fingers.

Against all odds, the plan did work. Ren won and he restored the money. Nobody found out about his little scheme. Unfortunately, Ren got cocky. He decided to repeat the experiment, this time bagging the much bigger sum of 6.7 million dollars.

Needless to say, it didn’t work out in Ren’s favor the second time around. The man lost all of the money, but 95,000 dollars. This sum was certainly not enough to cover for the millions of dollars that he embezzled. Ren bought a fake ID and a car to flee the country. As a result, an extensive manhunt had to take place.

While the story itself is a fun presentation of human idiocy, it does have a sad end. Ren was eventually caught and sentenced to death. This is why you should never invest money that you don’t have in the purchase of lottery tickets. That’s especially true for people living in countries run by communist regimes.

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