If the traffic at newsagencies on the eve of a major lottery is anything to go by, there is no shortage of people keen to disprove the aphorism that money can't buy happiness. A massive haul of cash is still seen as the great liberator from the much-maligned daily grind.

With global jackpots now boasting nine-figure sums, more modest dreams, such as paying off credit card debts or early retirement, have given way to the ridiculously opulent.

Unlucky: Bazil Thorne. Credit:SMH

Why buy one Maserati when you could buy eight, and still have some shrapnel left over for a modest yacht to ferry you around your newly acquired tropical island paradise?

But, as history shows, many winners come to rue the day their lives changed by a random assortment of numbers.