I've handed out more than $2.5 billion in lottery cash. Not everybody reacts the way you'd expect.

• Andy Carter's job is to advise people who win big in the lottery. 
• Some hide it from their families, he said, and others don't believe him when he says they won.
• The tabloid image of sudden, lavish spending is a rarity, he said — most winners are very careful.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andy Carter, who advises lottery winners for Camelot, the operator of the UK's National Lottery. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When someone wins big on the UK's National Lottery, they get passed to my team. We deal with people who win £50,000 ($63,000) and upwards.