Ervin Smolinski, 94, has just received the best birthday gift ever after receiving a winning lottery ticket worth $300,000 from his daughter! Smolinski, a World War II veteran explained how this was part of an inside joke within his family, as every month he'd purchase some lottery tickets and give them as presents to relatives who had birthdays that month. This became a tradition for his family, with everyone giving him chocolate and scratch-offs for his own birthday as well. Speaking about plans for the money, he explained that the $300,000 won't change much of his day-to-day life as he is someone who always shops in the sales and is careful with his money, however it will remove the stress of having to worry about money in general.

Merry Thomas, from Virginia is the latest winner of a $1,000,000 prize with the Virginia Lottery after doing the good deed of showing her friend Julie how to play scratch-off lottery tickets. Thomas went to the Giant Food store, with her friend Julie which is located on Town and Country Road in Fredericksburg, where she explained how the self-serve machine operated in scanning the tickets. Julie won $12, whilst Merry won a $1 million prize, stating "I've been freaking out since then!". She doesn't have any plans for the future as of yet, however she feels very fortunate and is in disbelief at the amazing situation she's found herself in, beating the odds which were 1 in 1,162,800 to win the top prize.

Hector Pasillas, from Visalia sure is glad he started playing the lottery after winning a $750,000 prize following his dad's footsteps! Pasillas began buying lottery tickets six months ago after watching his dad win a $1,000 prize with a $10 Mystery Crossword Scratchers game. He purchased the winning Mystery Crossword ticket at 7-Eleven which is located at 111 West Walnut Avenue in Visalia, however it wasn't until he was sat in his car that he scratched it off to realize he'd won. Initially, he thought that he'd won just $200, and it wasn't till he had the ticket scanned by the clerk that he learned it was actually the top prize of $750,000.

A man from Lafayette has just claimed a lottery prize worth $435.3 million with the Powerball lottery from a drawing back in February. The man's identity has been withheld as he is from Indiana, which has laws enabling winners to claim their winnings through a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). The ticket matched up all 5 numbers which were: 10, 13, 28, 52, 61 and the Powerball number 2. The individual has opted to receive the prize as a lump-sum, which will be worth $189 million after taxes, over the gradual monthly instalments to receive the full prize amount of $453.3 million. As a very family-oriented man, the winner's plans for the jackpot include giving money to family for education, travelling to see relatives, purchase a home and a car as well as pursuing an advanced degree.

A family of 5, from Hesperia in San Bernardino County have struck it big after winning a $72,000,000 prize with the SuperLotto Plus jackpot! This story started back on Christmas day, when Donaldson, Petersen, Monica Petersen, Arthur Santana and Yvonne Wilkinson decided to form a pool where they put in $20 each so that Donaldson would occasionally purchase lottery tickets until the money ran out. The blessing came around a month later, and almost didn't happen when Donaldson had to ask someone for a ride on a rainy day to go buy a few tickets, however there was a queue so large that she almost left twice, thankfully she held on patiently and purchased 4 plays for 2 different dates – A Quick Pick turned out to be the winner for the 25th of January drawing. "Oh my God. I think we hit the lotto" is what Donaldson shouted at the revelation after matching up all 6 numbers (13, 9, 29, 27, 33 and Mega number 10), this was a reality very difficult to wrap their head around!

Husband and wife, James and Sylvia Silverence, from New York are the latest winners of the New York Lottery's biggest ever scratch-off prize worth $10,000,000! James purchased the winning ticket at the Stewart's Shop on Vassar Road, which is located in Poughkeepsie after going there to cash in a previous winning ticket worth $125. Speaking about the trip he stated "There were six tickets left, so I put in some extra money and got them all", James took this risk on the $30 ticket's after watching the woman in front of him in the queue purchasing 4 of the same $10,000,000 Cash scratch-off tickets and not winning a prize. After taking the tickets home, his wife, Sylvia scratched them off and showed her husband the ticket, covering up the word "Jackpot" before finally revealing the matching numbers and "Jackpot" to James.

Ivan Campos, from Riverside County sure is thankful that he stopped off at a gas station on his way home, as that decision led to him to win a monumental $1,000,000 with the California lottery! Campos went to the gas station with the intention of cashing in a previous lottery ticket which was worth $20, however he decided to take a risk and use this $20 prize money to purchase two more $10 Scratchers tickets- one he discovered to be worth $1 million, the top prize on the 50X Money Scratchers ticket.