None of that, but in grade four I won a piece of cake. It was awesome. But in my teens, I also won a premiere screening to go watch Halloween H2O in the theaters. A contest from the radio. Being a fan of the Halloween movies, I have to say that was pretty epic. Went with my dad, and there was almost nobody in the place.

2 Tickets to see “The Book of Mormon” . Even if it was partially obscured by the balcony over hang. It was still really really fun!

I also have to give a special mention to being picked to play the Grand Prize Game on
“Bozo’s Circus” when I was ten. I got to bucket number 4. I won a bunch of Bozo hot dogs, Bozo buttons, some game called “Goldilocks” or some such thing and a Bozo doll.

I won $25 on a nickel slot machine in Las Vegas. A grocery store it was. The “Lucky Discount” market.

I was down to my last $20 at Sahara Tahoe, mistakenly bet it at the baccarat table on Tie (8–1) thinking I was getting change. I won that hand! And I won a couple hundred more playing baccarat, then $400 more playing blackjack, a couple hundred more on craps, and even a hundred on roulette as I was walking to the cashier’s window.

Instead of losing the 250 I started with, I ended up winning more than $700 altogether.

In second grade I won a huge Nestle Crunch bar in a spelling bee.

I made a few hundred dollars playng blackjack in Tunica.

I also found a silver bracelet worth a little over 100 bucks metal detecting on the beach.

I entered a contest at the LaserDisc store (think giant DVD’s from 30 years ago).
Just after entering, my LaserDisc player broke. In a couple days, I got a call from the store saying I had won a new player, which saved me about $500.

My no-good nephew was about 13 when he won a contest at a toy store. All the toys he could get into the cart and to the register in something like 60 seconds. He made out well.

When my daughter was four, she entered a coloring contest at the pet store in our neighborhood. Of course,they really take down all the names and have a drawing to determine the winner,as all the pictures were orange or purple, or green puppies. She won a hamster cage with fun tunnels and wheel, and the little exercise ball that lets them get away from the cage. We had to buy a hamster, which she had been wanting soooooooo badly. I couldn’t afford all that gear, so I told her if she won that, we could get the rodent. Gigi has been gone for some time now, but my daughter was so thrilled to have won. She liked it so much better that way than if I’d just shelled out the cash.

One year on my birthday I bought scratch-off lottery tickets and came out several dollars ahead. Tickled, I re-invested $3 in lottery tickets and one was a $750 winner. I was so excited I had to stop myself from stopping random strangers on the street and showing them!

!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super cool! I’ve had some luck with scratchers in the past too. Oh what a feeling, right?

I almost hated to cash it in! The high from winning was better than the money. I felt the same way about my $6,000 plate. If I had to choose between the money and the experience, I’d keep the experience.

Best win of my obscure interests was a best in show at a major poultry exhibition with over 300 breeds of poultry and nationwide competitors from all over. We also had Japanese Shamos and Modern game cocks in the exhibition.
The judge told me that my female white chinese swan goose ” Maybeline” was the best he had seen in over 5 years. RIP Maaabaleen

I have some success in raffles – you know, buy a ticket, tickets get drawn out of a hat. Won a flight on a random budget airline once. Last weekend I won a bottle of wine in a raffle. I used to enter competitions (there is a forum in the UK where people post the comps and answers) and won a few prizes – gold parker pen that I sold on ebay for £200 was the most I got. The little wins make me happy, and keep me playing…

@Stinley that sounds like a fun hobby!
@Coloma, You really are the bird woman! I’ve seen you mention before that you have had prize birds, but I don’t recall seeing details.
@ARE_you_kidding_me, I have sometimes wondered if those metal detectors are worth the investment. It sounds as if it was for you.
@hominid, I once saw another kid win one of those. I was SSSOOOO JEALOUS!
@zenvelo, WOW! Sometimes mistakes pay off. My boss used to play lottery tickets, and one time the cashier punched in a wr4ong number on one of his tickets. He kept it anyway. It wo $500!
@kritiper, cool discount on your groceries!
@anniereborn, @Symbeline, what cool memories to share!

Gosh….I win at a LOT of stuff! Nothing really stands out in my mind though…