You’ve probably read of stories about how lottery winners’ lives were left in shambles after hitting the jackpot, right? It’s almost as if such cases are just as common as success stories. Well, the winner’s curse is actually not just limited to lottery winners. In this list, you will read of winners from various contests and fields who became first-hand witnesses of life’s cruel sense of irony.

So maybe the adage “Winning isn’t everything” isn’t just some hollow and trite saying losers utter as a consolation after all. Sometimes, as the tragic turn of events in the following people’s lives have shown, we’re actually better off being the mom’s-basement-dwelling, potato-chip-eating, internet-browsing, list-reading losers that we all are.

1. Bradley Hardison

In a feat that would make Homer Simpson proud, Bradley Hardison of Elizabeth City, North Carolina devoured eight donuts in two minutes to beat police officers in a donut-eating competition at an anti-crime event some time in 2014. Sweet victory, right? Except the news of his win led to his eventual arrest .

As it turned out, Hardison had been a suspect for about nine months for separate break-in incidents at two local establishments. Lieutenant Max Robeson of Camden County Sheriff said they had been trying to interview Hardison regarding the break-ins but he had somehow remained elusive. His victory was published by a local newspaper and that was when Robeson was finally able to trace his whereabouts and ultimately arrest him. As to whether Hardison was too stupid to realize he was wanted or he simply wanted to rub it in the police officers’ faces, we’ll never know. Perhaps he just couldn’t resist the opportunity to eat a bunch of donuts. We mean, could you?

2. Yong













So Alanis Morissette thinks a 98-year-old man winning the lottery and dying the next day is ironic? Well this next entry is about a man who didn’t even last a few minutes after hitting the jackpot.

This man simply known as Yong was a 62-year-old noodle stall helper in Malacca, Malaysia. Yong placed a bet worth 40 cents in Malaysia’s four-digit lottery. In August 2014, while on his break, he was reading the newspaper to check the lottery result. To his surprise, his combination of “1234” won second prize in the draw . It was unclear how much his winning prize was but second prizes for Malaysia’s 4-digit lottery normally pay between the equivalent of $250 and $500.

He was so ecstatic with his win people nearby overheard him yelling “Wow!” before he suddenly collapsed to the floor. His employer immediately called for paramedics. They tried to revive him but they were unsuccessful. He was dead mere seconds upon realizing he won. Poor fellow. At least those other cursed lottery winners got to enjoy their money for a while before self-destructing.





3. Johnny Orris





















Self-proclaimed “King of All Media” Howard Stern first gained notoriety, and hundreds of millions of dollars along the way, as a shock jock pushing the envelope in radio broadcasting. In October of 2013, as a tie-in with Johnny Knoxville’s movieBad Grandpa, Stern held a contest called “Get My Grandpa Laid” on his radio show. The winner turned out to be 86-year-old Sullivan, Illinois native and widower Johnny Orris. The prize? A threesome with call girls Caressa Kisses and Rain Riches in Nevada’s famous brothel, The Moonlite Bunny Ranch.

December 12, 2013 was the scheduled date for Orris’ threesome. When that day came he decided to celebrate what he called the greatest day of his life by dining at a Nevada steak house first before heading to the brothel. According to one of his grandchildren, he was so full of life and had been really looking forward to this particular day. Sadly, the greatest day of his life would turn out to be his last. Orris choked to death on a prime rib he was eating. Paramedics tried to revive him but to no avail. Grandpa Johnny Orris didn’t get laid after all.







































