Man Wins Lottery During White Elephant Exchange — and Won't Be Sharing His $25K Winnings with the Gifter
"The rule was that all trades are final," the man writes on Reddit
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Lottery scratch-off ticketsA 22-year-old man says that he won $25,000 from scratch-off lottery tickets during a recent white elephant exchange with his family — but he doesn't intend to share his winnings.
In a post shared to Reddit, the man says that the gift exchange took place at his home, during a recent family Christmas party attended by around 25 people.
For context, he adds that his family plays the dice version of the white elephant exchange, which means participants can trade gifts with other participants. It also means some people end up with multiple gifts, and some wind up empty-handed.
The poster writes that he initially ended up with "a space heater, windshield wipers, a 20-pound gummy bear, and a $50 Starbucks gift card."
But his cousin ended the game with $50 worth of lottery tickets — and, since he doesn't go to Starbucks, he traded the gift card for the lottery tickets.
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Later, when he scratched off the lottery tickets, he realized he had won $25,000.
"For I second I thought they were fake but my Grandma (82F) 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," he writes. "I thought about how to tell them throughout the party, when they asked [if I won] I said no and that I threw them out."
The day after the party, the man told his mom the truth and asked her to come with him to cash the ticket. She then told his brother, who took photos of him "being handed $100 bills" as he collected his winnings.
And then, those photos were shared with the rest of the family.
"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 ... For 30ish people that attended that's $7,500 right there, I felt that was fair," he writes.
But the family members who weren't able to attend the party argued that they shouldn't be excluded, and "others argued that $250 isn't enough."
"After about 30 minutes of arguing, I was pissed and gave up negotiating. I told everyone that I'm sorry that they're not happy with their white elephant gifts this year and that the rule was that all trades are final," he adds.
So, he's kept all the money, putting $15,000 into a savings account and investing the rest.
"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 isn't enough from a $100 limit, they're the selfish ones," he writes, adding that none of his family members are struggling financially.
Reddit commenters are weighing in on the situation, with many chiding the man for telling his family he won in the first place.
"Next time, don't say anything," wrote one commenter. "Seriously, there is a reason why people who win the lottery need to remain anonymous. People get funny about money."
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