WICHITA FALLS, TX (EAP) -- A Texas man lost all of the $20,000 he
recently won on a scratch-off lottery ticket after his brother-in-law
bet him $1 that he couldn't do it again.

WICHITA FALLS, TX (EAP) -- A Texas man lost all of the $20,000 he
recently won on a scratch-off lottery ticket after his brother-in-law
bet him $1 that he couldn't do it again. After losing the bet
yesterday, the man threatened suicide and said that God had forsaken
him, and had to be taken to a local hospital for what appears to have
been a panic attack or nervous breakdown.

"When my brother-in-law started boasting that God had lead him to buy
the winning scratch-off ticket, I wanted to knock the wind out of his
puffed-up sails," said 32-year-old Leroy Wingstrom, who claims that
gambling goes against the Bible and is one of the deadliest sins,
right up there with greed.

"When he started talking about some 'mysterious feeling' he got at the
checkout stand which told him to buy the winning ticket, I knew it was
the Devil at work, not God," he said.

"I bet him $1 that he couldn't do it again, and he took the bet, just
like I knew he would, since it was obvious that he was being
controlled by Satan and had gambling fever."

After taking the bet, Wingstrom and his 34-year-old brother-in-law,
Oliver Renquest, drove around Wichita Falls, visiting different stores
which sell scratch-off lottery tickets.

They had $15,250 in cash to start with, after taxes were taken out of
the original winnings, and they ended up with only $25 left, which
Renquest had to give $1 of to Wingstrom to pay off their bet.

"We won $2 and $5 and $10, and even $200 on one of the tickets, and I
felt like God was giving us hope when those tickets paid out, so we
kept going, hoping for another $20,000 payout," Renquest said.

After over five hours of driving around and scratching tickets, the
two found themselves at one convenience store, almost out of gas,
arguing over whether to spend the last $25 on gas or start walking on
foot to the next store to buy more tickets.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, handing over that last
$1 and admitting that God forsook me, or doesn't really exist, or
doesn't approve of gambling or lotteries."

"I thought of suing Leroy for the $15,250 I lost, since he tempted me
into gambling it away, which he says is wrong in the first place. I
could've used some of that money to pay off some of my credit card
bills and set up a college fund for my daughter, but now all that
money's gone," Renquest said.

WICHITA FALLS, TX (EAP) -- A Texas man lost all of the $20,000 he
recently won on a scratch-off lottery ticket after his brother-in-law
bet him $1 that he couldn't do it again. After losing the bet
yesterday, the man threatened suicide and said that God had forsaken
him, and had to be taken to a local hospital for what appears to have
been a panic attack or nervous breakdown.

They had $15,250 in cash to start with, after taxes were taken out of
the original winnings, and they ended up with only $25 left, which
Renquest had to give $1 of to Wingstrom to pay off their bet.