I won £176,000 lottery jackpot but I was BANNED from taking home £50,000 of it because of bizarre ‘winners rule’
A MUM who won a £176,000 lottery jackpot was banned from taking home a £50,000 chunk of it – because of a bizarre ‘winners rule’.
Ashley Smith, from Mason County in the US state of Kentucky, scooped the $224,000 (£176,000) prize in an online lottery game last week.
She said: “I was just waiting for the kids to go to sleep and decided to play.”
The mum-of-two screamed and leapt out of bed when the Bank Buster jackpot popped up on her screen.
Her husband said: “I thought she was faking. I called my mum, and she couldn’t believe it either.”
The whole family drove to the Kentucky Lottery HQ the next morning to cash in Ashley’s prize.
But Ashley only took away $160,409 (£126,000) of the $224,000 jackpot because of a little-known rule.
Lottery winners in America can either collect their winnings in a massive lump sum or split them into tax-free annuity payments over 29 years.
Ashley chose to take away the lump sum – so had to pay $63,000 in taxes.
Her family plans to spend most of the jackpot on household bills – and repairing their car after Ashley’s husband hit a deer.
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