Smackwater Jack, he bought a shotgun.

Cause he was in the mood for a little confrontation

-Carole King

Jack Whitaker is not a happy guy. 

I don’t know what he was like before he became the world biggest Powerball winner, but he has been a total jerk since he won. He is always in the mood for confrontation.

 I might be too, if I blew through $315 million. Jack is now claiming that he is broke.

 Jack picked the winning ticket on Christmas Day, 2002. I predicted then that Jack would run through all the money in five years.

 Jack proved me wrong. He did it in four.

The first thing I tell anyone that come into large sums of money  is to never let anyone know you have it. Set up a trust or corporation and keep your mouth shut.  

 Jack did the opposite: he went on a publicity tour.  He acted like he done something important like curing cancer, instead of just stumbling upon a string of lucky numbers.

 When Jack won the lottery, he had noble and high-minded plans. He was also planning on gathering a team of experts to help him make important decisions.

 If Jack had gotten advice from financial advisors and lawyers instead of strippers and bartenders, he might have hung on to the money longer than four years. He ran through more than $78 million per year. That averages to over $215,000 a day.

 You can get a lot of whiskey and lap dances for that.

 While he was on his spending spree, he should have changed his name from Power ball Jack to Alibi Ike. When he was arrested for drunk driving, it was someone else’s fault.  When he was stupid enough to lose $545,000 in cash in a strip club, it was someone else’s fault. When he blew millions at the casinos, it was someone else’s fault. 

 Jack needs to take a real hard look at personal responsibility and self-assessment. It is never too late to change  but Jack has inflicted damage on all around him.

 My favorite recent Jack story was the time he lost over a million in a casino.  He then had the novel idea that the casino owed Jack money because Jack invented a slot machine with Jack’s picture on it.  

 Talk about a guy who is out of touch with reality. Why would any casino or person want to be associated with Jack?  He is the role model for greed, excess, and how to lead a screwed-up life. It would be about as popular as a slot machine featuring O.J. Simpson.

 Maybe the people at Fox can do an “If I Did It” book and television series about Jack.  They could show how life would be for Jack if he had acted sensibly with his money.

 Poverty is going to hit Jack hard. He was a jerk when he was on top, and no one will be there when he hits the skids. 

 He had better get used to it. The crowd of strippers surrounding Jack will be a whole lot smaller.  

 If you ever see his picture, you’ll know they weren’t with him for his looks.  It might have taken the whole $545,000 to get a woman to spend quality time with him.

 Before he won the lottery, he had a woman to spend quality time with--his wife. They are getting a divorce. He also had a loving relationship with his granddaughter, but she died from drug abuse and excessive living. He threw away his family to be a big shot around strangers.

 If Jack had not been on a selfish ego trip, he could have used his money to do good. He could have set up his family for generations to come and funded charities that would have made a difference. You see people like Warren Buffett, Michael Milken, and Bill Gates doing things to help society. They have more money than Jack, but I’ve never heard of them bringing wads of cash to strip clubs and casinos.

 Jack has hit the bottom.  I hope he gets to AA or finds some other kind of help. I hope he doesn’t get a shotgun, but he really needs to have a serious confrontation. With himself.   

 Don McNay is Chairman of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond Kentucky.  He is the author of the Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher.  You can write to him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com    His award winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service.   He is on the Board of the Directors for the National Society of  Newspaper Columnists.