Page 28 - Southern California Gaming Guide • October 2019

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 five 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 of 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 find 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 financial 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 staff. There’s lots of money to be made off 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 different. 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 fits.
I know I haven’t scared you out of wanting to win big, 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 your newfound cash! You owe that much to all of us who are still trying.
Years ago, in the course of my job with a slot machine company, I met scores of winners, usually within the first few hours after they won a very big jackpot. Because verification 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.
learn of the jackpot in a newspaper that would make your life difficult. Rather, it was likely that the people who would make you crazy 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. The mid-50s widow whose son-in-law was already answering for her and planning to “manage” her money. The 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 financially toward such things as nieces’ educations. She was also expected to assume the full burden, emotionally as well as financially, 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 would be.
One of my tasks was to
request the lucky winner
to sign a media release that
allowed the casino and the
slot company to publicize the winner by name. I had all sorts of reasons in favor of going public: It would be fun to be the center of media attention — maybe even on a national TV show if the jackpot were large enough. But rarely did I say what I considered the most powerful reason of all: It wouldn’t be the strangers who
“Fact is, I believe winning, particularly when it is millions of dollars, ranks among life’s most stressful events. I’ll admit it sure beats losing a job, but I’m convinced that winning millions is much more stressful than you may realize.”
PAGE 28
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
OCTOBER 2019