At the time of writing this, Kenya’s biggest betting site Sportpesa jackpot stands at Sh163, 000,000.
This is an amount of money that only a handful of people can work and save during their entire career plus pension money.
While it is everyone’s dream to get enough money to cushion them from the daily stresses of food, shelter, clothing and happiness, some people got their big break and squandered all of it in a moment!
John McGuinness – £10 million
In 1997, John McGuinness, a hospital porter, won himself a cool £10 million and wasted it all on trivialities. Before the win John used to stay with his mum and earn £150 per week transporting equipment to and from the hospital wards.
After his big break, John shared £3m on family, £750,000 on his ex-wife and another £200,000 on fancy cars and holidays.
It was, however, his£4 million investment in Livingston Football Club that saw his downfall after the club later went into administration, as McGuinness had used his wealth to guarantee the club’s loans and was liable for its debts.
In 2009, he could not afford even to buy simple food to eat.
Pete Kyle – £5.1 million
When Peter Kyle won a £5.1 million lottery, he described the whole experience as a “dream come true.”
The guy went ahead to give his family a major face-lift that saw them ride in luxury cars and boats. They also went to lavish parties and exotic holiday destinations.
They soon moved from their modest home to a spanking new five-bedroom mansion complete with a bar, steam room and big swimming pool.
Pete Kyle was reportedly said to have been spending roughly £4,600 per day!
In under three years, he had spent all he had, and was surviving on benefits!
John Roberts – £3.1million
In 1998, John Roberts, a security guard got his biggest breakthrough when he won a record £3.1 million!
He got the opportunity to make his life count, having been a security guard earning peanuts.
The lad now lives in a caravan and has a debt of £20,000 hanging over his head.
Somehow, his friends managed to convince him to buy a pub whose title deed was not even transferred to his name!
Callie Rogers – £1.8 million
Britain’s youngest lottery winner got her lucky break aged only 16!
Immediately after collecting her cheque in 2003, she went to have a £18,000 breast surgery, spent £300.000 on clothes and £500,000 on friends and family. She became so poor she couldn’t save enough money for her son
Roger Griffiths – £1.8million
Former IT manager Roger Griffiths won £1.8 million and embarked on a never ending journey of fun and opulence.
Together with her wife who had quit her day job, they spent all they had and ended up in a bitter separation.
They had exotic holidays in Dubai, Monaco, New York and ended up worse than they originally were.