Lotto Expert 5

[Minette Mccandrew]

Thereare literally billions of dollars in unclaimed lottery prizes each year, according to research from lottery expert Brett Jacobson. He collects data from every state lottery commission for a lottery app he runs, and his data shows there were $2.89 billion in unclaimed lottery prizes in the 12 months ending June 2017.

There were 167 prizes worth $1 million or more went unclaimed in fiscal 2017 alone, according to Jacobson's data. Some of those prizes can still be claimed, but some states only give ticket holders six months to come forward.

Even some winning instant scratch-off game tickets are never handed in to claim a prize, Jacobson said. People will lose a winning ticket or put it aside and forget to turn it in during the allowed time.

The cyber security expert and brainpower behind a lottery rigging scandal that netted $2 million in illegal winnings from five states pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct.

For the first time in an Iowa courtroom, Eddie Tipton admitted to playing a central role in the rigging scheme after more than two years of adamant denials in the face of mounting evidence against him. Tipton told Judge Brad McCall that he wasn't sure when he first wrote and installed code on lottery computers that would allow him to predict winning numbers, but the scheme snowballed from there.

Pursuant a plea agreement, Tipton, 54, faces up to 25 years in prison for using his insider access to manipulate computers that performed drawings for Hot Lotto and other games that he targeted in Iowa, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Colorado and Kansas.

Tipton arrived in a Polk County courtroom around 8:30 a.m. Thursday wearing jeans and a blue shirt. His brother, Tommy Tipton, who also pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit theft, sat on a bench behind him wearing a blue tie.

As part of the plea, Eddie Tipton admitted that he wrote computer code sometime between 2005 and 2006 that allowed him to predict the winning numbers in certain lottery games. Tipton said that, in the beginning, he did not think he was breaking the law because states accepted the tainted drawing software as he wrote it. Tipton considered it a "loophole," he said.

Tipton will be sentenced at a later date. Though he faces up to 25 years in prison, there is no mandatory minimum sentence he would have to serve before being paroled. His defense attorneys will be allowed to argue for a deferred judgment and a suspended prison sentence.

Eddie Tipton worked as the information security director at the Multi-State Lottery Association in Urbandale when he was first arrested in 2015 and charged with two counts of fraud after acquaintances recognized him on surveillance video as the hooded man who purchased a Hot Lotto ticket at a Des Moines convenience store. An unsuccessful attempt to cash in on that winning ticket for a $16.5 million prize ultimately led investigators to unwind the yearslong scheme involving Eddie Tipton, his brother and a close friend, Robert Rhodes.

Rhodes, a Texas businessman, pleaded guilty to a fraud charge in Iowa and a computer crime charge in Wisconsin earlier this year and agreed to testify for prosecutors against both Tipton brothers. After Tipton's first arrest and conviction, investigators learned that Rhodes won a $783,000 jackpot from the Wisconsin lottery using numbers that he ultimately admitted were given to him by Tipton on an index card.

Tommy Tipton, a former Texas justice of the peace, sobbed throughout his own hearing and was immediately sentenced to 75 days in jail. Tipton admitted that he won lottery drawings in Colorado and Oklahoma using numbers that his brother had provided him.

Eddie Tipton shook hands with Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand, who prosecuted the case, after the judge ended the hearing. Together, the Tipton brothers are expected to pay $3 million in restitution to the lotteries they targeted. Both are required to sit for a so-called "proffer" session with investigators to share details of how the scheme worked.

Non-U.S. citizens are legally allowed to purchase Powerball tickets, and they may actually be able to pocket more money than those living in the U.S., Kentucky lottery expert and financial consultant Don McNay said on CTV's Canada AM on Monday.

The worlds foremost lotto and lottery expert shows players his inside secrets of beating the game that millions play religiously every day. Prof. Jones shows you how to scientifically track and wheel numbers to substantially increase your chances of winning million-dollar jackpots. You'll learn how to use three- and four-ball lottery strategies, advanced six-ball wheeling systems, how to create the same wheels used by experts, and how to identify high/low frequency and hot numbers. Includes winning strategies for every state, plus twenty Dimitrov Wheels. 160 Pgs.

This means setting a budget for how much you can afford to spend on tickets each week or month and sticking to it. It also means choosing your numbers carefully, based on statistical analysis and past winning patterns. Some players also choose to play in groups, which can increase their chances of winning and reduce the cost of playing.

Joining a lottery pool or syndicate is a popular strategy for increasing your chances of winning the lotto. By pooling your money with other players, you can buy more tickets and increase your odds of hitting the jackpot.

Plus, playing in a group can be more fun and social than playing alone. Just be sure to choose your group members carefully and establish clear rules and expectations for how winnings will be divided.

One strategy for increasing your chances of winning the lotto is to choose less popular numbers and avoid common patterns. Many people tend to choose numbers that have personal significance, such as birthdays or anniversaries, which means that numbers 1-31 are often overrepresented in lotto picks.

Another strategy for improving your lotto results is to use a lottery system or software. These tools use complex algorithms and statistical analysis to help you choose numbers that have a higher likelihood of being drawn.

You'll fall into the highest tax bracket in the year you win if you take the jackpot in a lump sum. For 2023 and 2024, this means you'll likely owe the IRS at least 37% in taxes. If the bounty is spread out over 30 years, you may not be in the highest tax bracket each year, depending on the size of your prize and your other income.

All winnings over $5,000 are subject to tax withholding by lottery agencies at the rate of 24%. This potentially leaves a gap between the mandatory amount of withholding and the total tax you'll ultimately owe, depending on your tax bracket.

If you collect the total winnings, then allot everyone else their share, the IRS may assume that you're giving the money away, which can result in the gift tax. You might also be responsible for income tax withholding on the entire winnings. Have everyone enter into the pool with a written contract defining his or her shares, which you can then provide to the IRS if necessary.

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The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal, or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek the assistance of a professional who knows your particular situation for advice on taxes, your investments, the law, or any other business and professional matters that affect you and/or your business.

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The enthusiastic Pickens continued telling his happy story to Howard: "I won not only the Jackpot for $58,260.00, but also the second prize for $533.00 and a third prize for $16.00 on the first three games. I could not have wheeled all those prizes by accident or come up with the winning numbers without the charts and Quick Stats in Gail's Advantage Gold software. Think about it: 25 numbers wheeled into only 13 games with a prize guarantee of 2 right when you guess 4 correctly. That is a bit of a long shot."

"This past August I was on a road trip from California to Oregon with my sister, and on one of our stops there was a celebration going on for a local resident who hit a Fantasy 5 jackpot," he said. "I felt a twinge of jealousy because I felt I could beat that game. I dreamed about how even a small windfall could make my life better."

Then, Pickens got down to business. "I tracked the numbers on my own looking for trends and wheeled my numbers with my own system," he said. "I had a few wins but soon realized I was wasting money. I needed help. I searched the Web. My searches kept bringing up the name Gail Howard. I had heard of her, but I did not know she was the one who had produced all those systems that had won so many jackpots."

Using the free lotto wheels and number selection strategies given away on the Gail Howard Web site, Pickens won several second and third prizes in the California games. He then bought Howard's Advantage Gold and Wheel Five Plus [ now Wheel Five Gold] lotto software and her book, "Lotto Wheel Five to Win."

By Jan. 25, two months after purchasing Howard's software and book, Pickens discovered what seemed like no accident. "I looked at the winning numbers and saw that I guessed all 5 in my group of numbers," he recalled. "That was a good start. I looked at my games. I thought, 'All right, I got a 3rd prize 1st game and second game, wow, 2nd prize. No, not 2nd -- that's the jackpot!' "

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