Gambler Who Blew $11.2M in Ten Years Regrets Nothing

“Lotteries are stupid,” said Olivia Wilde’s character in House M.D., a beloved medical drama about highly successful doctors whose personal conflicts and patients’ inclination to tell lies clash to create one of the best series in television history. The idea behind this statement is that winning the lottery would not fundamentally change who you are – and perhaps even what you do.

Kings of Chavs, the Man Who Bed 4,000 Women and Lost It All

Nothing serves as a better example of that than the story of the self-proclaimed “King of Chavs,” Michael Carroll, now 39, a binman who pocketed £9.7 million ($11.2 million) from the UK National Lottery in 2002 and blew it all on hookers, orgies, alcohol, and other sensual pleasures, including gambling. He won the money at the age of 19 and went on a mighty good time over the next decade.

His “Roman-style orgies” involved willing participants and a lot of controlled substances; media reports argue. Carroll claims he has slept with more than 4,000 women. An escapade of this magnitude usually cost him £50,000 along with cocaine, which he said would cost him up to £2,000 a day. Carroll though has been open about how winning big money at such early age affected his mental and physical health.

And still, he regrets nothing. He argues that the lottery win and the way it all played out after was “the best 10 years of my life for a pound,” and not many people can have a boast such as this. “I don’t look back with any regrets that’s for sure, I wouldn’t want to turn the clock back,” Carroll reflected.

Investment over Carnal Pleasure Makes a Millionaire a Poor Boy

Carroll did try to invest a little, but his lack of experience supposedly cost him some of the money he could have spent on pleasure instead. Carroll bought a mansion that cost £325,000 but fell in disrepair over the next decade, and he put £1 million down on the Rangers, his favorite club, which entered administration in 2012 because of mounting debt.

He declared bankruptcy in 2013 and spent three months in a hotel for the homeless after being unable to find a job. In 2019, he moved to Scotland and became a coal delivery man. He has also reunited with his wife. The phrase “lotteries are stupid” perhaps was used to serve as a reason why you shouldn’t rely on a lottery to turn your life around.

But then again, Carroll took the best out of it and he is back on with his life, and he has no regrets. Lotteries might be stupid, but they are a hell lot of fun if you win.