Page 14 - March 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

So, You
Want to Win a Million?
by Cee Stuart
Congratulating people who have just won a lot of money—be it from the lottery, a sweepstakes, or a slot machine jackpot — is like congratulating new parents. While the moment is incredibly joyful, just under the surface is an awareness that a corner has been
turned and things will never be the same. Fact is, I believe winning, particularly when it is millions of dollars, ranks among life’s most stressful events. I know, I know. I can hear you saying,“Just give me the chance...” I’ll admit it sure beats losing a job, but I’m convinced that winning millions is more stressful than moving across town.
winner told me that she became the de facto head of her family, was consulted on all sorts of decisions and expected to contribute nancially toward such things as nieces’ educations. She was also expected to assume the full burden, emotionally as well as nancially, for caring for her ailing parents.
It will come as no surprise, then, that well-adjusted people seem to weather instant wealth with the least guilt when they say “no” and with the most pleasure when they help others. But even the mildly neurotic — where I would classify myself — can take steps to make being a millionaire the dream you always imagined it would be. Here are my top ve suggestions:
1. Be realistic about just how much money you have won. Many jackpots are paid as an annuity and even a couple million paid out over 20 years isn’t really all that much money, especially after taxes.
2. Give yourself some time. In the short term, check into a hotel or nd another retreat for a couple of days to let it all sink in before having to confront the onslaught of well wishers and decisions. In the long term, don’t rush to change too much in your life. Go slow.
3. One thing to change immediately is your telephone number. Not change it actually, but arrange for a second line while putting your former number on an answering machine. at way you can pick and choose the calls you respond to and do it on your schedule while giving the new number to only the closest friends and family.
4. Seek sound nancial advice from a trusted source. One winner told me about trying to cash her check at a major bank and practically being tackled by the in- house brokerage sta . ere’s lots of money to be made o your money so select your advisors with care.
5. Lots of winners want to prove that they are still the same, and maybe they are. But many of the people in their life will see them as being di erent. Recognize that your situation and others’ perception of it have changed. And while it may be very hard, at some point you must be prepared to let go of what no longer ts.
I know I haven’t scared you out of wanting to win and most people, including myself, would be thrilled to have these problems. So when you win, be realistic, be smart and most of all, enjoy being rich! You owe that much to all of us who are still trying.
In the course of my job with a slot machine company, I’ve met scores of winners, usually in the first few hours after they win a jackpot. Because verification of the win takes time as a technician runs diagnostics on the machine, I watch, listen to and question the newly rich. I’ve seen criers and hooters and holler-ers (including one family that, in the best New Orleans tradition, second-lined through the casino!) and, most common of all, the winners who just stare, glassy eyed, as they try to process what has happened to them.
I have drawn some generalizations, admittedly very subjective, from all this observation. Couples seem to handle it better than winners who are alone or with friends. Older folks are more stoic. Women are more willing to talk about the changes they want to make in their lives. Men are more likely to say “it won’t change a thing.” If not already retired, nearly everyone says they’ll continue to work. But you have to love the handful of winners who call their boss and quit on the spot.
“Fact is, I believe winning, particularly when it is millions of dollars, ranks among life’s most stressful events. I know, I know. I can hear you saying, ‘Just give me the chance...’ I’ll admit it sure beats losing a job, but I’m convinced that winningmillionsismorestre”ssfulthanmoving
across town.
First, Consider This...
One of my assignments is to convince the lucky winner to sign the media release that allows the casino and the slot company to publicize the winner by name. I have all sorts of arguments in favor of going public: It’ll be fun to be the center of media attention — maybe even on a national show such as Oprah or the Today Show if the jackpot is large enough. But rarely do I use what I consider the most powerful argument of all: It won’t be the strangers who learn of the jackpot in the newspaper that make your life di cult. Rather, it is likely that the people who will make you crazy will be friends and family, some of whom you may have already called to share the good news.
Sometimes it is easy to see problems ahead. e mid- fties widow whose son-in-law is already answering for her and planning to “manage” her money. e buddy with the chip on his shoulder — a chip that just gets bigger with every beer.
And the winners that I have kept in touch with tell me that some relationships fail altogether and others undergo a radical change. One multi-million dollar
Page 14 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE March 2004