Survey says jackpot winners pick mom first — who would you call?

There's something about lottery wins — those improbable, life-changing, heart-pounding moments — that demands immediate sharing. You check your ticket, realize the numbers line up, and in that instant, your old life ends, and a new one begins. And in that sliver of suspended disbelief, a decision looms: who do you call first?

According to a recent Jackpocket survey, nearly one in four people already have an answer — and it's Mom.

Who you gonna call?

According to the survey, which polled 2,000 recent lottery players, 25% of respondents said their mother would be their first call after hitting the jackpot.

Interestingly, men were slightly more likely to call Mom than women — 25.8% of men compared to 23% of women. Women, on the other hand, were more inclined to call their best friend (9.9%) than men (6.2%).

That's sweet. Heartwarming, even. This question stuck with me because, well, it's such a simple question with surprisingly complex implications. Who would I call first? And what does that answer say about me?

Who would I call?

Let me admit something: I didn't know right away.

My own mom, wonderful as she is, probably wouldn't pick up if I called at 9 p.m. on a weekday — especially if I sounded manic and breathless. She'd assume it was a spam caller or one of those “your son is in jail” scams.

Still, I like to think she'd be my first call once I had the composure to explain the situation. After all, this is the woman who sat through high school band concerts, bad breakups, and existential crises. Surely, she'd want to hear about the life-changing jackpot, too.

But would she be the first? Maybe not. That might go to my partner, my sister, or — if I'm being honest — my group chat titled “TikTok WAP.”

We don't always think of those people first. But when you've just won hundreds of millions of dollars, the urge to share with the people who'll scream with you, laugh with you, and dream up ridiculous things to do with the money — that urge is powerful.

The people who the lottery winners really call

Of course, speculation is fun, but actual winner stories are better. And over the years, plenty of newly minted millionaires have revealed who they called first. Spoiler alert: it's not always mom.

Take the case of James Bruno, a Michigan man who won almost $100K playing Fantasy 5 from the Michigan Lottery in 2020. He told lottery officials that he called the winning number hotline:

I checked my ticket right away, and when I saw it was a winner, my first call was to my ex-wife, who is still a close friend. Then I called my sons and told them the good news!

Not all stories are so linear. In 2012, a Canadian couple, Allen and Violet Large (yes, really their last name), won a $11.2 million lottery jackpot. Instead of keeping the money, they quietly gave most of it away to hospitals, charities, and people in need.

Their first call? A financial adviser. Not exactly sentimental, but maybe smart.

Another Canadian winner took a different route after his lottery win. Noah Fanor, a 22-year-old transportation worker, won $700,000 on an Instant Supreme 7 ticket.

After his shock wore off from discovering the big win, who was his first call to? His boss! No, not to quit his job, but to just let them know he won the lottery and would be late for work.

Why Mom?

But let's return to the 25% — the ones who do call Mom. There's something undeniably wholesome about that statistic.

At its core, it's a testament to the enduring emotional centrality of mothers in our lives. Whether they're helicoptering or hands-off, indulgent or pragmatic, they are often our go-to person for life's extremes: heartbreak, triumph, panic, pride.

Maybe it's because we subconsciously want to give back to the person who gave us everything. Maybe it's because we know she'll love us whether we win $2 or $200 million. Or maybe we just crave that grounding voice to say, “It's going to be okay,” when our world starts spinning too fast — even in the best of ways.

That instinct crosses generations. It makes sense that younger players — ages 18 to 25 — were most likely in the Jackpocket poll to choose their mother as the first person to tell. In your early adult years, before you've built a family of your own or even figured out who you are, you default to the person who's been there the longest.

That was the case for 18-year-old Juliette Lamour, who won $48 million playing Lotto 6/49 in Canada. She discovered the big win while at work and couldn't believe or understand what was happening.

She then had to call her parents to share the good news. Lamour was sobbing while on the phone, and her mother couldn't understand, but thankfully, her father was able to decode the message. She couldn't concentrate any longer at work, and her boss told her to go home, so she had to have her parents come pick her up. With the big win, she could now afford her own car.

The flip side of jackpot whispers

Of course, not everyone picks up the phone at all. Some winners go radio silent — for good reason. The moment you tell someone, the genie is out of the bottle.

That someone tells someone else, and suddenly you're fielding calls from financial planners you've never met, relatives you forgot existed, and friends with oddly specific “investment opportunities.”

One New Hampshire woman who won $560 million in a 2018 Powerball drawing went to court to remain anonymous. Her lawyer said she wanted to “live a life free of heartache, harassment, and undue influence.”

In her case, the first call wasn't to mom — it was to a lawyer. Probably the right move, but definitely not as warm.

Meanwhile, a woman in California won $1.3 million playing the lottery in 1996. She attempted to hide it from her husband, whom she filed for divorce just 11 days after the big lottery win.

Her ex-husband didn't find out about the win until about two years after their divorce. He took her to court, and a judge ruled in his favor, so the ex-wife was ordered to pay him the full $1.3 million.

Those choices reflect something deeper: while winning the lottery is seen as the ultimate freedom, it can also be a burden. And the moment you say it out loud, your old life ends. That first call isn't just about celebration. It's about trust.

A modern-day confession booth

The question of who you call first is like a Rorschach test for your priorities. Some people go to their spouse or partner. Others call a sibling, a best friend, or even their accountant. Some use the moment as a confession, like one Florida man who called his ex-wife to say, “Guess what? We're both rich now.”

There's a kind of honesty in that first call. The shock loosens you up. You're not calculating or filtering yet — you just need to share. In that sense, it's almost like a spiritual experience: a burst of truth aimed at the one person who might understand what this moment means.

Maybe that's why people so often call Mom. She's the one who can handle the raw, vulnerable, unfiltered version of you — the you who's ugly crying over good fortune, the you who's terrified of messing it all up.

A call that changes two lives

I like to think about the second life that begins when that phone call is made. It's not just your world that changes — it's theirs, too.

Imagine being on the receiving end of that call. Imagine your kid saying, “Mom, I won the lottery.” What would you even say? “Congrats?” “Don't tell anyone?” “Did you eat today?”

More likely than not, you'd say something only a mother could: “I'm proud of you. Now, don't spend it all in one place.”

That moment, shared between two people, becomes part of a new origin story. And in a world where jackpot wins often feel distant and impersonal, where the narrative is all about the numbers, the odds, the taxes — that one intimate call is what makes it real.