I love reading about interesting/heart-warming/incredible gambling-related stories, and this latest one came to my attention recently, even though it happened two years ago.

James McAllister celebrated a Valentine’s Day he’ll never forget after doing the practically impossible – winning the lottery twice… on the same day!  The odds of this happening are staggering, but McAllister is walking proof that it can really happen!

It all began when the 62 year old decided to take his wife out for a Valentine’s Day breakfast, and during a stop off along Highway 92 in Georgia, he purchased a Millionaire Jumbo Bucks scratch off ticket.  McAllister was over the moon when he found out that he had won $5,000 on this lottery ticket – certainly enough to pamper his wife with anything her heart desired on that Valentine’s Day.

But McAllister obviously felt that this was his lucky day and decided that he would purchase another lottery ticket, just for the fun of it. He went out shopping for a Valentine’s card for his wife, and bought another lottery ticket at the same time.  This time there was no denying it – Lady Luck was definitely on his side that day. McAllister found himself the winner of a staggering $250,000 !  A romantic until the very end, McAllister said: “It was because of Valentine’s Day. If it hadn’t been for my wife, I probably wouldn’t have won either time.”

So check out these odds:  McAllister  had a one in ten thousand chance of winning the first lottery, the $5,000 windfall that he had.  Then, look at the odds of winning the $250,000 prize – one in a million!  Now combine those odds and see what the chances are of winning these two lotteries in the same day!  They are truly staggering!

McAllister opted to receive his Georgia Lottery prize in one lump sum, even though it meant that Uncle Sam would get a good chunk of it for tax reasons.  However, the couple will definitely have enough money left in the bank to enjoy many more Valentines Day together!

Now and then, I like to bring you a heartwarming lottery tale that I pick up in news articles from around the world.  Sometimes they’re mega wins worth millions of dollars, and sometimes, like this one, they aren’t massive, but they certainly tickle in all the right places.

So here goes:  A man and a woman recently reconnected later in life, after not having seeing each other for years and years.  Kimberley and Larry, both from Maryland, used to know each other when their kids were very young, but then lost touch with each other.  Years later, Kimberley drove into a drive-thru to pick up a meal, and the teller serving her was Larry’s daughter.  The girl recognized Kimberley and got all excited that she was seeing a face from your childhood.  A little while later, Kimberley received a letter in the mail (yes, some people still use this form of communication!) from Larry, asking if she’d like to meet up for coffee.  After that first date, the two have been together ever since.

A great friendship soon turned into love, and the couple were married in a short but meaningful ceremony last year.  This year, they are planning to go all out with a big church wedding, and all the plans have been made. However, no money was left over for a honeymoon.  On that long-winded background, I’ll get to the lottery bit of my tale.  Larry decided to purchase five lottery tickets for his wife who had been a little ‘under the weather’.

However, the clerk accidentally ripped off six tickets and Larry saw it as a sign that he should be purchasing six instead of five.  Incredibly, the sixth ticket landed him a luxury cruise trip for him and his wife – something that they so passionately wanted in order to complete their fairy tale  wedding. The Cruise for Cash scratchoff tickets were offering these fantastic prizes to lucky winners, and nothing could have come at a better time for a better couple!

The vast majority of us dream about winning the lottery, but that’s because we can always do with that extra cash to pay off our mortgage, fix up our car or take that dream holiday that we know we’ll never be able to afford on our current salary.  Buying the lottery ticket is like buying a fantasy, and even if we know that the odds of us winning are minute, at least we can fantasize what we’re going to do with the millions if we ever win.

But have you ever stopped to think that celebs also buy lottery tickets? My first reaction when I heard this the other day was: ‘What for?’ After all, when you’re earning seven digit sums on movies, why would you even waste your time buying a lottery ticket?

Well, it turns out that movie stars have their ownlottery dreams. Take Helen Mirren, for example, one of the most respected actresses of all times.  In a recent interview, Mirren said that she still buys lottery tickets, and when she was asked why, she said it was to pay for her Italian castle. It turns out that the poor dear purchased an Italian castle in 2007, in the stunning area of Puglia, and now needs a hefty amount to refurbish it.

“When the lottery gets big, up to $50 million, I buy a ticket, because maybe I will win,” she said. “It’s a fantasy we all have.”

It seems that Dame Mirren has been inspired by her roles in films such Elizabeth I and The Queen and wanted to own her own piece of royal property. However, owning a castle definitely comes with a price tag.  A 500 year old castle like the one Mirren purchased is usually in less than pristine condition, and Mirren and her husband Tylor Hackford were well aware that they’d have to pour literally millions of dollars in to make the place habitable. But I guess, if you have a talent like Mirren’s and know that you’ll be making top paying movies for a long while still, buying a castle may not seem such a crazy thing – even if you need the lottery to keep it going!

One of the greatest tragedies to hit New Zealand occured last week, when an earthquake ripped through downtown Christchurch, killing over 100 people, injuring many more, destroying homes, cutting water supplies and ruining infrastructure. No doubt, the government needs to spend millions restoring this scenic South Island city to its former glory and will be seeking out any possible way to fund its project.

As such, the Minister of Interior, Nathan Guy announced over the weekend, that he would be using his ministerial powers to trigger a special clause of the country’s Gambling Act to run a unique lottery that can benefit the Christchurch community. The minister also said that half of all the money that is collected in this week’s lotteries will go to the Christchurch earthquake relief. Fifty cents of every dollar spent on Lotto, Lotto Strike and Lotto Powerball in the coming week would be donated to help with relief work, said the Lotteries Commission.

Throughout the week, there were major efforts by New Zealanders on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get the Lotteries Commission to make a much bigger donation. One of the proposals was to donate this week’s $15 million Powerball win to the Christchurch victims. However, the Commission said that while it was perfectly understandable that people wanted this to happen, it was not legally possible for it to do so. “New Zealand Lotteries is governed by a very strict legal framework called the game rules and these set out in detail how the prize pool is allocated,” said a spokeswoman for NZ Lotteries, Karen Jones. “It is not possible under that legal framework to cancel a draw or re-allocate prizes.”

The spokeswoman also said that the Lotteries Commission had been innundated with hundreds of emails, with suggestions on how they may help the victims. “We are absolutely keen to help and are willing to do so,” she said.

Wouldn’t it be great if this week’s Powerball winner originated in Christchurch?