Tags» lottery, Tennesse lottery
I Hit The Jackpot!
A friend of mine gave me an early birthday present. On this $1 ticket I won 4 bucks! Not bad. I’m headed to the gas station to blow it on beef jerky and a red bull.
Have you ever played the lottery? What is the largest amount you have ever won? Has it exceeded the amount you actually spent on tickets?
I’m going to do the math based off your responses and we’ll just see if it pays to play.
69 Comments:
I bought 2 lottery tickets once. and Won a total of $3. So bascially I walked away with a whopping $1. Red Bull?!? How can you drink that stuff.. Nasty.
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Adam O
4:15 am
bought some here and the. I don’t have much of that type of luck. The Most I have ever won was 20.00, and those came from about 10.00 worth of tickets that m father had given me.
I Live on Red Bull. Regular or Sugar Free?
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Jennifer
4:22 am
I won $75 one time, but, no, it doesn’t pay. I’m afraid the odds are stacked against you, Pete.
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Tommy Sircy
4:26 am
I’ve spent oh about way too much. (My husband says all I do is donate to the governor’s fund because I don’t win) and I believe I have come out with about 3 bucks.
All of you talk about the Red Bull, forget that, focus on the jerky–now that is some nasty stuff.
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pollyh
4:37 am
I won $3 on a office ticket where everyone put in $1.00. Not as good a return as when I called in a joke to a radio show and won $100. The joke was something about comparing UT football to the O J Simpson trial ( that shows how long ago it was )
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Beverly
4:43 am
@Jennifer, Always regular. You can’t even think about health if your actually buying a Red Bull.
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Pete Wilson
4:43 am
don’t play the lottery, so i can’t help your figures out…i’d rather spend my money at St. Arbucks…!
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jon mckanna
4:48 am
Never played…but many years ago we went to Florida with my parents and my dad bought my children (aged 11, 9 and 5 at the time) lottery tickets and Phil and I went through the roof. My kids carted those around and anxiously awaited the show that night or whatever. They really thought they would win. When they didn’t my dad said, “so, this is why you shouldn’t gamble – you could use that money on something else!”. I guess he was wiser than I – it never occurred to me to teach this way. I would have been terrified they would have won and wanted to buy every day.
(or every day we were in Florida as we do not have lottery in Bama) Now it’s very funny to us all. So he lost however much 3 tickets cost in 1996 or so……
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janowen
5:01 am
i’ve never bought a ticket, but i went to college for free because other people did! so i’m thankful for them
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Rebecca Moon
5:13 am
I HATE the idea of throwing away good money. It’s really hard for me to play the lottery or gamble at all!LOL Too cheap!
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Rachel
5:16 am
in 1992 my husband and i were given a scratch off. and we won. so we continued to purchase lottery tickets with our winnings and played once a week for just over a year. and then lost. which means in the end we won nothing, but for over a year we one at least a dollar on each ticket. but we learned to take turns and that it’s not fair for the same person to get to scratch the ticket every time!
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monica @ transplanting me
5:31 am
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m SO GLAD you won SOMETHING! You know me and Karl, we are TOTAL GAMBLERS….Vegas, Lottery, we do it all…and I have faith that one day, we will win and win BIG….I believe it’s ALL in God’s hands 24/7! So it doesn’t matter what this poll of peeps thinks!
Just remember, WHEN we win big, so do YOU!! FRAN!!!!! (you know that’s slang for friend!)
Here I am ON VACATION and I’m checking YOUR blog! I just love you Pastor Pete!!
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OCD-ism/Obsessive Christian Disorder
5:37 am
I’m usually right on board with you Pete, but beef jerky and Red Bull are pretty gross……..eewwwwwwwwwwwww
I’ve probably bought a total of 25-30 powerball tickets and only won $7.
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melissa irwin
5:46 am
I’ll be honest and admit that I buy 1, $1 ticket a week (usually the state lotto or Powerball). I know there is usually a huge debate on whether or not it is good to do. I get most of that. I don’t agree with gambling overall. I think if you go to Vegas you gotta play a slot for fun, just to say you did it. I think a $1 ticket once a week is ok, as a bottle of water from the gas station costs more than that. Gambling can be bad, very bad though (by the way is investing in the stock market considered gambling?) With all that said, I occasionally win $2-4, sometimes a couple more. However, once (in 99′) I was washing my car and had to get quarters. When I wen inside 7-11, I bought a Powerball ticket on a whim. I had every number except the Powerball itself. Back then the payout amounts were different, but I still won $5000.00. It was actually the first time the jackpot went over the $100 million mark. If I had won that, I’m not sure where I’d be today, most likely typing from an island somewhere, but I might not know Jesus either. So, I’m happy where I’m at. If anyone is wondering, I won this jackpot before I came to the church. If I won today, I’d most certainly do something good with a large portion of the money received. Over and out.
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aarondewinter
5:50 am
I have one a free ticket.
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Giant Idiot
6:04 am
I’ve not ever been so lucky with a gifted lottery ticket. I very, very rarely buy any type of lottery ticket (like once every 2-3 years). I don’t recall winning anything except the amount I spent on the original ticket. My stepdad buys lottery tickets pretty regularly and hasn’t won anything big. I’m pretty sure he’d have to win hundreds of dollars to make up for all the money he has spent. Totally not worth it to me. I like to waste my money on high calorie food that I don’t need, instead. Ugh.
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Jenny in Nebraska
6:15 am
never won more than few dollars on scratch off’s. my dad regularly won $40 to $50 on them. my husband contributes to the state fund for whatever. he never goes to the same place each week. he thinks that ups his odds of winning. hey if he wins…some people are going to certainly get some help. donate and set up funds for the kiddos.
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carrie-anne
6:29 am
btw…beef jerky-blech! and redbull…eeewww!!!
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carrie-anne
6:30 am
I won No Doubt tickets off the radio once.
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kristiapplesauce
6:33 am
i did pick 3 once and gave it to my dad. he won $500. and didn’t share.
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anne jackson
6:35 am
I just returned from a family vacation/reunion with my husbands family. There were 25 people in one house. My father in law is the closest thing to Chevy Chase in National Lampoon as you can get. He loves to plan the most fun activities for our family. While on vacation we had a variety of contest for everyone, including American Idol,family trivia, rock-paper-scissors,and iron chef competitions. The prizes were lottery tickets. We were all excited. They handed out approximately 30 tickets throughout the week. Some being $10,$5, and $1 tickets, with all of those only $40 was won. Mom in law had 2 tickets left and scratched them on our way out of town and won $150.00! She is the luckiest person ever. I was sad it wasn’t mine but after the week of expenses they incurred I was honestly happy she won! So close yet so far!!
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Marla P
6:36 am
I have one a couple dollars here and there a while ago…don’t play anymore. I definitely think the odds are very against you in any form of the lottery!
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Monica Hunt
6:45 am
Wow…I’m having an off day with spelling…meant to put won not one!
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Monica Hunt
6:47 am
I had a friend in high school who won $50,000 in a scratch-off game. I was so jealous… first, because he had won all that money and secondly, that he was brave enough to go out and buy a lottery ticket…
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mpt
7:01 am
and oh, the church wouldn’t accept the tithe on “ill-gained” money either!!
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mpt
7:02 am
I just want to thank the Lottery players for supporting our daughter’s college education!!
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Joe Case
7:11 am
We were on our camping (years ago) and stopped to pick up last minute items when we decided to buy an instant ticket, we won $25.00 and at that time it was enough to pay for our camping site for the weekend… whoo hoo a free weekend!
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Cheri
7:15 am
Only in the south, would you have lottery tickets called the Sweet Tea game. I love the idea of it there so much, I can’t begin to tell you.
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Kristen
7:29 am
@mpt, For the record, if you hit it big, we’ll gladly receive your “ill-gained” money!
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Pete Wilson
7:50 am
If you want to win the lottery walk in the store behind me and if I purchase a ticket then you purchase one right after me. You will be a winner and I will experience the same thing I do each time I make that purchase.
To be honest I could count on two hands the number of times I have bought a ticket in my lifetime.
I think God thinks the fuller my wallet is the emptier my heart. He may be right.
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Harold McKee
7:51 am
I won $100 on a scratch n sniff lottery ticket before. Funny though, it smelled like cigarettes and beer. Anyway, I don’t play, but it was fun to win a little once.
Heidi Reed
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candidchatter
7:55 am
No lottery, but I played the “wheel of Fortune” slot machine in Vegas…spent about $3 in nickels and won $75. I screamed like it was a million dollars
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Kelli
8:04 am
I bought 5 $2 Jumbo Bucks one time and won $100.00. But that was back when it first started and more people were winning. I don’t play much anymore, just maybe a couple a month.
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Cindy S
8:12 am
I won $4 on a $1 bet in a diner playing Keno in Puerto Rico on a business trip one time. It was all I could think about for the next 8 hours. SInce I jad a ‘can’t lose system” I wanted to move out of the hotel and into the diner and play Keno 24 hours a day until I became rich enough to rule the world. Unfortunately we had to leave the next day..
I decided on the plane on the way back that it’s probably better if I don’t gamble.
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Bill Renfrew
8:13 am
had…not jad
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Bill Renfrew
8:14 am
We don’t play the lottery…I’ll stop at that. Our son however is 7 and has! LOL. He had his wallet in his pocket at a pizza place. While we were paying he said..”mom look what I got for $2!” I cracked up and scratched it off…he won $10 I think. My husband however was NOT happy and threw it away. Poor kid…he had no idea what he was doing and go in trouble. He thought the cards looked cool!
Everyone at my husband’s office plays..he’s the only one who won’t. If he did give in they’d have a hayday. It’s actually been a huge part of his testimony at work. The guys and gals he works with look for anything to throw it in his face as a Christian. He is on guard and armored up each day.
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godzgaljen
8:17 am
I pick up a scratcher if I have a 1 dollar bill floating in my purse when I buy groceries and the most I’ve won was $20. I called my dad squealing because I was so excited!
It was part of my job at the last place I worked to go buy lotto tickets for the owner because he lived in CA and they didn’t have Lotto there. He would buy HUNDREDS of dollars worth at a time and I would always be the one to see how much he won each drawing. Sometimes he won zip and the most he “won” was about $60 (and of course he would turn around and buy tickets again with those “winnings”). Needless to say it made me a little bit more realistic about the odds of winning!
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Whitney
8:27 am
Congratulations!
I will buy a powerball ticket when the jackpot gets to $200 million plus…I figured if one day I win, I want it to be BIG. I have spent about $10 my whole life and of course I have never won
I think I have only played the scratch offs once.
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ncarnes
8:59 am
We have Power Ball up here in Massachusetts and we buy a ticket each time the pot gets big. (Like $1 Million just wouldn’t do…go figure!) The dollar bet is worth the family discussion in the car on the way home. It usually goes like this…I’d like to buy a small farm/orchard, set up a fruit stand, and retire from this high tech rat race. Our 10 year old daughter just wants a horse. Our 8 year old son wants a snake, any snake! And my husbands’ dream is the same every single time! He just smiles and says our small town will that new church we’re all praying for!
We’ve never won a dime, but we’ve shared a lot of dreams!
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Patty Dolan Tervo
9:06 am
I’ve actually bought a number in the last couple years. actually i can catagorically say that I felt God lead me to buy my first ever. I thought about it over the month or so that I had my ticket… “what will i do with this money?”
I realized that I still had too much “me” fleshy, greedy crap in me to be able to handle millions of dollars. I’ll LOVE to b a give it all away guy… but I’m not yet. But holding that ticket in my hand made me search deeper to expose some inner ugliness that I want to change…
… then I’ll win it!
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Dave Carrol
9:51 am
Most I ever got was a couple dollars……
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Randy Cook
10:35 am
I don’t care much for the lottery. But My father-in-law used to own a McDonald’s when they had the monopoly game. He used to give us bags of the little game pieces to open. It was kinda weird though because if we won anything big we would not be able to cash in being relatives to an owner. We could, however, give the ticket anonymously if we ever won. We did manage to get a lots of free fries and burgers!
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Ian Black
10:50 am
We know someone who at the age of 30 (or so) had not really done much with his life, as he was working as a car washer and renting a room from some guy. Then he bought a single ‘quick-pick’ ticket for the Florida Lotto and won 17 million!!! (….go figure) As for us, we have been big LOSERS where the lottery is concerned. Recently won $72 but I am certain we have ‘invested’ far more than that
)
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Deborah Marsh
11:00 am
Well Pete…
Beef Jerky yes, no Red tho..
I have won several times, one time for $200.00
Can you explain to me what’s so hot about sweet tea? It sounds soo I dunno..
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Heidi
11:42 am
My receptionist won $500 last week on a scratch-off. Then she turned around and sent her kids to camp (which she wasn’t able to afford prior to the scratch-off).
It was a real lottery commercial moment.
My luck with lottery….not quite as good.
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Jad
11:57 am
Hey Pete! $4 – Sweet! Years ago we went and spent a little $ at a horse race track in Phoenix, and my bride won us $90. That was such fun. Then we played a few slots in Vegas once and I felt something welling up within me that I didn’t like and kind of scared me. I think maybe if I really unleashed it, I could end up with a real serious addiction. Since then we’ve studied this a bit as a couple – I mean from a biblical view – and I know there are church traditions where nearly everything is frowned on – certainly drinking and gambling and oh yeah, dancing, tattoos, Barbie dolls, walking on the south side of the street on alternate Ash Wednesdays, etc. etc. But one thing Martin Luther wrote that stuck with me, he said gambling was essentially “two men agreeing to steal from each other.” Since I heard that quote, and I think about what the Bible says about ill-gotten gain (now there’s a King James expression for you!) my heart just can’t get into it. So now, whenever I’m looking at the scratch-offs rolled-up on the counter at the Quik Mart, and I feel that compulsion – like “Hmmm, what if I won??” – I try to turn that thought to, “Okay, Lord, help me remember that my days, and my life, and my health, AND my wealth are all in your hands. If you want to dump piles of cash in my lap – and you think I have the maturity to manage that cash well for the kingdom, well, then, have at it!” He’s never blessed us with a lot of cash – (must be a maturity issue!) – but we’ve always had enough. Praise God! That said, I think that a scratch off here or a slot machine there is not wrong for everybody – for a lot of people it’s just fun, and I get that. But for me, I think it might be dangerous. Wow, didn’t mean to go on and on – but you asked right?
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Mike in Milwaukee
12:25 pm
@jad, clearly your receptionist prays more effectively than you do.
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Pete Wilson
12:39 pm
very nice!
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cultavix
12:46 pm
I’m a definite loser in the lottery/gambling dept.
Also lost $20 on a slot machine in mere seconds years ago and so ended my promising gambling career.
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jdellis
1:13 pm
scratch offs are fun…but boy do i love a horse race. won a couple hundred bucks last time.
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Anna
1:38 pm
I worked at a gas station for years (my dad owns one) after a day of heavy ticket buyers I was able to tell which ones were due to hit. I never got more than $10…
My brother was good at it too, he won $200. Then he told my dad about it, and my dad took it from him and he wasn’t aloud to do that. (jon was only 14 at the time) kina funny…
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randy
2:21 pm
Ok, Pete, first a comment on your heartburn (saw it on your snapshot comments). Do ya think that maybe, just maybe, it stems from your diet of Red Bull and jerky. EEWWWWW…….keep it up and you’ll need more that a Pepcid!! LOL!
As for the lottery, I’m not much of a fan. When it first became available in TN, Sam was convinced that we were going to win big. He would save up his change and have me buy the $1 scratch-off tickets. I think we won a whopping $3 one time which didn’t come close to paying for the 20 tickets I’d bought/he’d bought previously.
I think that one thing that’s always bothered me is that I see people buying tickets that probably can’t even afford food and shelter – it’s always made me really sad.
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loridknerr
3:55 pm
I profitted $3 one time. Not big on playing it. Seems like mostly a waste of money.
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Rachel Rowell
4:06 pm
Wouldn’t it make more sense to buy lottery tix when they’re lower, less people play when they’re lower, your chances are higher, and I’d be just as happy with 2 million as 200 million LOL
I don’t think I’m all that lucky with the lottery, but it would be nice! Knowing me, I’d get a ticket, accidentally throw it away, and then they’d come on the news saying a winning ticket was purchased and unclaimed, and it’d be mine!
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Christina Schmidt
4:37 pm
Way to win the lottery Pastor…wait, that doesn’t sound right…hahahahahah
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Joseph
4:41 pm
by the way how much beef jerky and red bull can you get for $4.
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Adam O
5:43 pm
I have bought gazillions of tickets and I think the most I’ve won is $50.00. I keep playing because someone else keeps winning the big bucks. I always think…if them, why not me? Basically, I’m throwing away money because I like the feel of the fantasy.
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steadycat
7:07 pm
Hey friends, next time you have the urge to buy a lotto, just deposit the money directly in my paypal account. I promise you I will have fun with it and you can feel good about helping a pour soul.
It’s either that or I have to get a sign and stand on the street corner. If you see me out there, don’t drive by without dropping something in the bucket!
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archie
7:17 pm
I once won $50.00 by playing with one quarter (in the little machines across the KY border).
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outofthecleft
7:41 pm
The most I’ve ever won was $50 on a scratch off. I just won $4 today off a $1 ticket!
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Ken Storey
8:55 pm
The odds of winning are posted right on the tickets (or at least they are in VA). Regardless, I guarantee that they are less than favorable for any purchaser.
Someone once said that the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, and I wholeheartedly agree.
The people who put the most money into the system are the people who can least afford it.
I used to dabble in the lottery from time to time, thinking it was a harmless diversion, but then I thought of the people who paid for my “winnings” and I stopped playing.
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Crossbow
4:11 am
Funny how everyone here seems to forget that gambling destroys countless lives and brings false hope to people. Funny how so many so called Christians here seem to be contributing to a device that destroys lives and contributes to organized crime. Funny how we sit here and say that we “love our fellow man” but yet we are contributing to a “game” that sucks the life and money out of our fellow man. Some say the lottery is “harmless”, but yet it destroys so many lives. IF we as Christians are truly all about “Loving One Another”, then how can we say we support a device or game that can be so destructive? I am saddened that so many “Chirstians” here seem to think gambling is OK and think this is nothing more than a harmless little game – I wonder how the children of a gambling addict feel about that when their parents have no money to pay their bills or feed their kids? Do we really want to stand before God someday and watch as He unfolds before us how our lottery habit ultimately contributed to the destruction of others? Let us be about the Fathers business here and stop this!
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Prespilot68
7:19 am
$50 bucks….twice. BIG MONEY MAKER!!! It’s a $10 card but I have never lost on it. At least get to try another card.
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B.J.
9:44 am
don’t forget to the tithe.
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Crystal Renaud
10:29 am
Lori – I gave Sam a dollar to play one time headed back from Selmer…he won a free ticket, turned it in immediately, won another and then won $5!
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Whitney
12:46 pm
I won $10 but it was the only prize i won ever in lottery.
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Jordan
4:54 pm
I’m a naughty gambler. I do it behind my husbands back. I know, I’m terrible, but hear me out. Every year, he tells me we can send the kids to a Christian school if it’s paid in full by the day school starts. Here it comes, I register our oldest daughter (we only have one in school right now) and tell him it will all work itself out. And so far it has, that’s quite the gamble I’d say. Now this coming year is going to be sad, we have two going into school so he sticking to his guns and refusing to send them if it isn’t actually paid in full. So if anyone wants to pick up my gambling habit, for the sake of the kids of course, I would gladly give you the address of the school and you can send them a few bucks to “gamble” on a good Christian education. Really, the payoff is immeasurable, but I don’t have 6 grand in my pocket right now so I can’t play the game. And yes, I just solicited money from complete strangers on a blog, sue me!!! It’s a gamble, but with my luck you’ll probably win…hehehe
For the record, my best friend tells me I’m a dork all the time, I won’t be offended if you feel the need to join her! Those were some pretty lame jokes I threw in there.
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Sara
10:34 pm
Just be forwarned, if you win, I don’t have the money so good luck collecting on it.
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Sara
11:27 pm
my dad bought my mom 3 scratch offs for christmas, they were 10 dollars each and one of them was a winner for $1000. thats the most he has ever one from them
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Kelly
3:57 pm
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