No doubt a players age at the time of their huge win is a significant factor in deciding whether or not to take the lump sum or annuity.
That said, while it does seem as if a young player would be smart to take the annuity, tomorrow is not promised to anyone. So there is that to think about too. I hope it's never happened, but what if a young person with no heirs gets a windfall only to tragically pass away a short time later? But I dont think the fact that a young person could die soon after becoming wealthy should be a significant factor in their decision. IMHO it's far better to be optimistic about your future than it is to be pessimistic about it.
Would a 25 year old blow it all each year over the life of the annuity? Maybe they would, but what I think is more likely to happen is early in the annuity, they'd out spend the amount they received. (Receive $300,000 in the first year, but spend $1,000,00 that same year.) Back in the day when there was no lump sum option, there were more than just a few lotto jackpot winners that could tell you all about how they went nuts in the first year of their annuity, and woke up to find they'd spent much more than they had received. It takes almost all of the remaining years of the annuity to fix that problem. G5