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As the saying goes, lotteries are for people who can't do math. As The Balance points out, the odds of winning a major lottery are somewhere in the 1 in 300 million range, which makes 'winning the lottery' an absolutely terrible retirement plan. You have a much better chance of being attacked by a shark (odds: 1 in 3.75 million).

The lottery may be a terrible retirement plan, but it's also a very popular retirement plan. CNN reports that about half the population has bought lottery tickets, making it the most popular form of gambling in the country. It's easy to see why: Every lottery has a winner, and some of those winners take home absolutely enormous amounts of money.

Virginia family turns in bags containing $1M they ran over with truck. A Virginia couple is being praised for the “wonderful example” they set by returning $1 million in cash they found in the. #5 – $2,200,000 loss ended in suicide “The house lost $3 million in an hour to this player, and then they won $5.2 million back from him over the next six hours. The player slowly lost all his gains and an additional $2.2 million to the casino. He hanged himself in the suite that night.

All those profits are the result of the accrual of all of the losses from casino patrons each year. Of course, some of the money may come from other venues within the casino, but the breadwinner.

Of course, many of those folks don't have any clue how to handle their newfound wealth, and horror stories of people whose lives are absolutely destroyed after suddenly becoming millionaires are very common. But even when people mishandle their riches, they usually find their way eventually. A special few mishandle things so spectacularly they actually lose every penny and somehow wind up worse off than before they won. Here, in all their glory, are lottery winners who lost all their money.

Mickey Carroll: Lost $14 million

Mickey Carroll was working as a garbage man in England when he won £9.7m (about $14 million) in 2002. Just 19-years-old, The Huffington Post reports that Carroll already had a police record, and had to pick up his check while wearing a monitoring anklet.

If you're thinking that didn't portend well for the young man, you would be correct. Carroll quickly became known as 'the Lottery Lout' and 'King of the Chavs' (a slang term for an anti-social, lower class young person). As reported by The Independent, Carroll promptly bought a mansion and continued living the criminal-adjacent, drug-fueled life he'd already been living, just louder and more aggressively. He threw lavish parties powered by crack cocaine, got himself arrested several times, and managed to spend every cent he had within four years. Four years. To quote Dave Chappelle, cocaine is indeed a hell of a drug.

Carroll eventually went to jail for nine months on a charge of 'affray,' which is essentially disturbing the peace via public fighting. Carroll and some friends invaded a Christian rock concert and beat up several attendees. Since blowing all his winnings, Carroll has sobered up and has been spotted working various low-level jobs in factories and warehouses.

Willie Hurt: Lost $3.1 million

For some lottery winners who wind up losing everything, it's just a wild ride. When it's over and the money's gone, they shrug and go back to work. For some, however, the distorting power of money leads them to a truly dark place.

Willie Hurt won $3.1 million in 1989, with the money paid out in 20 installments of $156,000 each. Married with three kids, that money should have ensured s family was financially secure and able to pursue their dreams, but instead it destroyed Willie's life. As reported by The Orlando Sentinel, within two years, he'd spent every dime on a truly epic addiction to crack cocaine, was divorced and estranged from his family ... and charged with murder.

According to AP News, Hurt had taken up with a girlfriend named Wendy Elizabeth Kimmey. They rented a room in a boarding house, and spent weeks partying with drugs and alcohol. Other residents reported they'd heard the couple arguing loudly, which is certainly not unusual when drugs and alcohol are involved. On September 19, 1991 Kimmey's body was found in the room—she'd been shot in the head. Hurt was an obvious suspect, and wound up turning himself in and making a confession—which he then claimed not to remember doing. His lawyer then revealed that all of Hurt's winnings had gone towards his divorce and crack.

Suzanne Mullins: Lost $4.1 million

One unfortunate fact about winning the lottery is that your check doesn't come with a financial adviser. Most lottery winners have never experienced having so much money, and have no idea how to handle it—and sometimes their attempts to do so just make things worse.

Such was the case with Suzanne Mullins, who won $4.1 million in 1993 and split her winnings with her husband and daughter. Opting for annual payments, she received close to $50,000 a year after taxes. As USA Today reports, a decade later Mullins wasn't just broke—she was deep in debt to the tune of $150,000.

The journey from millionaire to deadbeat began with good intentions. According to Forbes, Mullins's son was very ill and his medical care cost more than $1 million. Mullins was determined to pay for his treatment, so she took out a loan of nearly $200,000 against her winnings from a company called the People's Lottery Foundation, agreeing to pay back the debt as her annual payments came in. In 2000, however, the lottery rules changed and Mullins was allowed to take the remainder of her winnings in a lump sum—which she did. Instead of paying back her loan, however, she stopped making payments altogether. The Foundation sued, and Mullins was ordered to pay more than $150,000—but her lawyer at the time claimed she had zero assets.

Billie Bob Harrell, Jr.: Lost $31 million

When Billie Bob Harrell won $31 million in the Texas lottery in 1997, he'd been down on his luck for a long time. Working a series of low-paying jobs, Harrell had been barely getting by. The annual payments of $1.24 million made him an instant millionaire, and he was determined to use his newfound wealth for good.

For a change, Harrell's story doesn't involve shopping sprees, drug abuse, or conspicuous consumption. According to The Houston Press, Harrell tried to make a positive change in the lives of people around him. He bought homes for family and friends. He bought people cars. He made large donations to his church, and became known as an easy touch for a loan or a gift when people were in need.

Harrell gave away so much money, in fact, it strained his marriage—as did his acquisition of a young girlfriend. His wife filed for divorce and then Harrell took out a loan against his future winnings in order to get some fast cash. It was a very bad deal, netting him about $2.25 million against more than $6 million in future payments. After an attempted reconciliation with his wife failed, Harrell sadly took his own life less than two years after becoming a multi-millionaire, and a failure to plan for his tax burden ate up the remnants of his fortune.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Denise Rossi: Lost $1.3 million

Lost All Money At Casino Games

Denise Rossi is one of the most notorious lottery winners in history—and one of the few who richly deserved losing every dime.

As reported by The Guardian, Rossi won $1.3 million in the California lottery in 1996. She told no one—not even her husband of 25 years, Thomas. What she did tell him was that she wanted a divorce, filing just 11 days after learning about her windfall. Not only did she keep her winnings secret from her husband, she kept them secret from the court as well, knowing that California is a community-property state. Thomas Rossi was stunned at the sudden divorce but didn't suspect anything was amiss.

As The Los Angeles Times notes, Thomas went through a rough patch after the divorce. His business failed, and he declared bankruptcy and took a part-time job to pay the bills. Then he accidentally received a letter from a company offering to advance Denise money against her lottery winnings—and her scheme fell apart. Thomas sued, and a judge found it hard to believe that Denise hadn't purposefully worked to obscure her winnings not just from her husband, but from the court—going as far as having her checks mailed to her mother's house. He awarded Thomas the entire amount—all $1.3 million—as a punishment for her attempted fraud.

William 'Bud' Post: Lost $16.2 million

For a land-speed record in terms of losing millions of dollars, look to Bud Post. Post won $16.2 million in 1988, paid out in 26 payments of nearly $500,000.

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