Page 24 - Southern California Gaming Guide • April 2017

So, You Want to Win a Million?
First, Consider This...
by Cee Stuart
Congratulating people who have just won a massive amount of money from a slot machine jackpot is like congratulating new parents. While the moment is incredibly joyful, just under the surface is the 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 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 much more stressful than you may realize.
Here are my top ve suggestions if you win big:
1. Be realistic about just how much money you have won. Many slot 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 a 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. Monitor incoming phone calls. Pick and choose the calls you respond to, and do it on your own schedule.
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 has 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 big, and most people, including myself, would be thrilledtohavetheseproblems.Sowhenyouwin, be realistic, be smart, and most of all, enjoy your newfoundcash!Youowethatmuchtoallofuswho are still trying.
Years ago, in the course of my job with a slot machine company, I met scores of winners, usually within the rst few hours after they won a very big jackpot. Because veri cation of the win took time, I watched, listened to and questioned the newly rich. I saw criers and hooters and hollerers and, most common of all, winners who just stared, glassy-eyed, as they tried to process what had happened.
I’ve drawn some generalizations, admittedly very subjective, from all this observation. Couples seemed to handle the numbing thrill better than winners who were alone or with friends. Older folks were more stoic.
Women were more willing to talk about the changes they wanted to make in their lives. Men were more likely to say“It won’t change a thing.” If not
already retired, nearly everyone said they
would continue to work. But you have to
love the handful of winners who called their bosses and quit on the spot.
One of my tasks was to request the lucky winner to sign a media release that allowedthecasinoandtheslotcompany
to publicize the winner by name. I
had all sorts of arguments in favor of goingpublic:Itwouldbefuntobethe center of media attention—maybe evenonanationalTVshowifthe jackpot were large enough. But rarelydidIsaywhatI
considered the most
powerful argument
of all: It wouldn’t be
the strangers who learn of the jackpot in a
newspaper that would make your life di cult. Rather, itwaslikelythatthepeoplewhowouldmakeyoucrazy would be friends and family, some of whom you may have already called to share the good news.
Sometimes it was easy to see problems ahead. e mid-50s widow whose son-in-law was already answering for her and planning to “manage” her money. e buddy with the chip on his shoulder, a chip that
just got bigger with every beer.
And some winners that I had kept in touch with told
me that some of their relationships failed altogether, and others underwent radical changes. One multimillion- dollar winner told me that she had become the de facto
head of her family, was consulted on all sorts of decisions, and was 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 seemed to weather instant wealth with the least guilt when they said “No,” and with the most pleasure when they helped 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
wouldbe.
PAGE 24
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
APRIL 2017