A young man has been embroiled in a heated family feud for refusing to split his $A40,000 lottery winnings after being gifted a $10 ($A15.70) scratchie.
The 22-year-old, from the US, hosted a family Christmas party at his home, with 25 guests participating in the annual gift-swapping game called White Elephant, also known as Bad Santa.
The host ended the game with four gifts, which included a heater, windshield wipers, a giant 9kg gummy bear and a $50 ($A78) Starbucks gift card.
‘My family plays the dice version with some house rules for context: Anyone who doesn’t have a gift by the end of the game will receive $10 as a gift and trading gifts is allowed only with the $10 consolation gift,’ the man said in a Reddit thread.
‘The game had a total of about 40 gifts; I ended the game with four gifts, and four family members ended with none.
‘Of the four people without gifts, three of them got rejected – meaning only one trade was made. My 26-year-old female cousin ended with $50 ($A78) worth of lottery tickets but assumed they’d be worth nothing and I don’t go to Starbucks.’
But the pair realised they couldn’t trade because the rules prevented certain items from being traded.
However, the cousins argued the gift card and lottery tickets should be allowed for trading as they represented the same monetary value.
A young man has sparked a heated family feud for refusing to split his $A40,000 lottery winnings after he was gifted a $10 scratchie (file image)
‘The family agreed and more gift cards were exchanged,’ the man said.
‘Trading ended and people began using their gifts so I went to put my gifts back in my room and (grabbed) a quarter to scratch the five $10 ($A15.70) tickets.’
He never expected to win anything – but as he scratched the second ticket, he realised he’d won $25,000 ($A40,000).
‘I did a double take,’ he said.
‘For I second I thought they were fake but my 82-year-old grandma who bought them wouldn’t do that. I sat in my room for a bit and decided to keep quiet about it knowing how some family members might react.
‘I thought about how to tell them throughout the party, when they asked I said no and that I threw them out.’
The next day, he went to cash in the scratchie card to redeem his prize money.
‘I asked my mum to come with me… She was surprised of course,’ he said.
His 28-year-old brother, who tagged along, thought it would be ‘funny’ to take a picture of him receiving his wad of cash and post it on social media.
‘Although I told him not to say anything because of the commotion it would cause and that I’d share some with the family, he posted it anyway,’ the lottery winner said.
‘An hour passes and I’m pulled into a group chat of people from the party plus family members that couldn’t make it.
‘I said I’d give everyone who came to the party $250 ($A394).’
But his gesture fell on deaf ears, with family members labelling him ‘selfish’.
‘For around 30 people… that’s $7,500 ($A11,800) right there, I felt that was fair. Family members who weren’t there argued that they shouldn’t be excluded, others argued that $250 ($A394) isn’t enough if I have $25,000 ($A40,000),’ he said.
‘After about 30 minutes of arguing, I was p***ed and gave up negotiating. I told everyone that I’m sorry that they’re not happy with their gifts this year and that the rule was that all trades are final.’
The man was gifted five $10 scratchies, including the winning $A40,000 ticket (file image)
As the family struggled to an agreement, he decided to keep all the money.
‘I put $15,000 ($A23,600) in my savings, and invested the rest,’ he said.
‘Many of my family members are still upset with me – even as far as calling me “cruel” and “heartless”. I told them that if $250 ($A394) isn’t enough from a $100 ($A157) limit, they’re the selfish ones.
‘Note that no household or individual family member is struggling financially.’
He then asked the internet whether he was being inconsiderate.
His post has been met with more than 540 comments – with many weighing in on his decision to keep his lottery winnings.
‘You’re not the a******. Next time, don’t say anything. Seriously, there is a reason why people who win the lottery need to remain anonymous. People get funny about money. Lesson learned,’ one said.
‘When it comes to money and family, best to keep your mouth shut. They can’t get salty about what they don’t know,’ another shared.
‘$250 ($A394) is pretty generous for doing nothing… they should be happy they got anything,’ one added.
Those who received a scratchie or a lottery ticket as a gift explained what they did when they discovered they’d won.
‘My ex sister in law gave me a lottery ticket for my birthday and said, “If you win anything I get half”. I just didn’t tell her. Kept my winnings to myself,’ one said.
‘I gave lottery tickets as a Christmas gift. My niece won. I was delighted! What a great gift. I was VERY pleased with myself. Years later, the family still talks about it. No one ever suggested that she share the winnings. Why? It was her gift. That’s like taking the gift back. What kind of person would do that? Sorry, but these are horrible, greedy people. They ruined the joy of giving and receiving. They may be family, but they are not your friends, and don’t love you,’ another shared.
‘A cousin gave my husband a lottery ticket for his birthday and he signed the back of it so my husband would have to share if it was a big winner. I thought that was pretty tacky,’ one revealed.
Meanwhile, many explained why they never gift lottery tickets.
‘This is why my personal rule is I never give out lottery tickets as any sort of gift. Because if you lose, people are like, “haha”. You got nothing for your gift,’ one said.
‘If you win, everybody wants a piece of it. It’s your money. You don’t need to share it with anybody. And you will never make anyone happy because they all want more and if you end up more than them they will think you’re being greedy.
‘Nobody wins in that way. Also, your brother was a super huge a****** for posting it online knowing there was going to be issues.
‘You offered to be nice and everybody said it wasn’t enough free money. So you did the right thing. No one gets anything and you get to have some savings cushion and a little investing.’