Chinese Man Spent $967,000 On Lottery Tickets, Unfortunately Doesn't Win Jackpot
Most likely, you were not.
You are more likely to be born with an extra finger, get struck by lightening, or die from an insect sting or plane crash.
But Shanghaiist notes that one man in Shanghai thought lottery odds were more in his favor, so he spent his entire life savings on tickets.
At one point, the 46-year-old was spending 20,000 yuan ($3,200) a day, according to Shanghai Daily.
In total, the man hawked four apartments and four cars worth around $967,000 to buy tickets.
He was caught in the destructive cycle of buying tickets; not winning; wanting to win to make up losses; buying more tickets. “I couldn’t stop,” he admitted.
Xiao sold his apartments, cars and watches. Then last year, his wife asked for a divorce.
Lady Luck did briefly smile on Xiao early this year when he won 400,000 yuan. But this made little impact on his growing losses.
Besides in Macau and some areas of Hong Kong, gambling is illegal in China, but numerous underground rings exist.