What have you won?

[Asimovian]

Call it a bragging thread, if you like. Talk about the things you've won in your life. It can be any type of contest. A lottery, Jeopardy (I know we've got more than one of those here), a radio contest, a tournament, a big screen television, a trip to Maui, a free Dope membership...whatever. Tell us what you've had the luck (or intelligence or physical skill) to win in your life.

[Johnny L.A.]

Two KCBQ Streak Team T-shirts when I was about 10 years old. The Moody Blues Days of Future Past album from KCBQ. A ski package to Lake Tahoe (where I destroyed my right knee). Small amounts of money in Reno and Las Vegas. A $25 gas card at a company Christmas party. 'Scariest Costume' at another workplace's Halloween party.

On a tangent: I like the dialog from the old computer game Blood where your character says, 'I won! I won, I won, I WON!' at a carnival.

My dad went to the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, NV, went to a café, and pulled out the Keno brochure. It said, 'How to win $100,000 playing Keno'. So he followed the instructions on his first game, and won $100,000. He didn't gamble the rest of the trip.

[Alice The Goon]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

My dad went to the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, NV, went to a café, and pulled out the Keno brochure. It said, 'How to win $100,000 playing Keno'. So he followed the instructions on his first game, and won $100,000. He didn't gamble the rest of the trip.

That's an awesome story!


I have won concert tickets to the Foo Fighters, several pairs of movie tickets, a $100 Circle K (convenience store) gift card, a $250 gift card to Victoria's Secret, a $50 gift card to Academy Outdoor and Sports, several $25 Visa cards, several hundred dollars from local casinos several times, the entire product line of Softlips stuff, a skin brightening system (lotions and such to remove brown spots) and a few other small things like stuffed animals, various $5-20 gift cards, music downloads, etc.

[antonio107]

Two weeks ago I e-mailed in the local sports station in light of the controversy around Ilya Kovalchuk. They ran an online poll, "Besides DiPietro, what the is the worst long-term contract in the NHL today?"

I complained that Alexei Yashin's contract was worse than any of the options they had there, even DiP, and that Mike Milbury is a clown. They said they wanted "current" contracts, upon which I replied with proof that he was still getting paid by the Isles. Well, I guess they ate crow, 'cause they gave me a fishing rod and a hat.

[toofs]

Two days ago I won a pair of Oakley polarized sunglasses for shooting the highest score in my unit on the M4A1 carbine. My wife likes the glasses, so all is good!

[OttoDaFe]

I was putting gas in the car one day in Sea-Tac (or what would have been Sea-Tac had it existed then) when a man walked up to me with a watermelon under each arm. He asked me to pick a number between one and ten, and when I gave him an answer off the top of my head he exclaimed "Hey! We have another winner!" and shoved a watermelon at me. He then walked off before I could tell him I hate watermelon.

I suppose you could also say I "won" my first cat by being in the right place at the right time — namely, the cat food aisle of the Buttrey's in Helena, Montana. Actually, I was just passing through on the way to the back of the store when I noticed this tiny ball of fur sitting on the shelf, looking wistfully at the packages. I took her up to the customer service desk, and they said they would put her outside; but when I went back through the same aisle, she was sitting in the middle of the floor. At that point I figured someone was trying to tell me something, so I took her home. The next day the adoption was confirmed when I woke to find a pair of blue eyes (she had quite a bit of Siamese in her ancestry) staring quizzically at me from about a centimeter away.

[Superhal]

Pool tournaments, chess tournaments, video game tournaments, baseball tournaments, martial arts tournaments, volleyball tournaments, speech contests, poker tournaments, etc. Some were 2nd place finishes, I forget. You stop caring after a while, especially for stuff sponsored by the school.

Probably the one I'm proudest of was winning the inaugural speaking contest in middle school. The teacher who sponsored the contest was my favorite teacher and she and her husband took me out for ice cream once. The trophy in the office still has my name on it.

The most I won was $600 for first place in the pokerstars $11/180 turbo.

[septimus]

I won a bottle of Johnny Walker Red in the New Year's raffle at the old One Way Bar on Sukhumwit 25 years ago. No special luck was required -- the poor One Way Bar had very few customers and soon went out of business. I wasn't a Johnny fan, and asked a co-worker if he liked Johnny Red. He shook his head and said Black. The Red didn't go completely to waste; I came home one afternoon to find my live-in language teacher and her friends particularly mirthful.

I won the 1000-baht prize in the Thai lottery for any ticket with a number xxxx13. When I sold it to a dealer for 950 baht, I had a little fun, since the full number on the ticket I had was 131313. I covered up the last 4 digits, and tried to sell the ticket. He shook his head, probably afraid he'd have to explain the rules to a foreigner with poor language comprehension. I revealed another '13'; but by now, he probably guessed the punchline.

Such a pretty number for just 950 baht. Maybe I should have asked for a bit more....

I've won $1000 a few times at Blackjack, but doubt that counts since I had to wager $1000 to get it. By the time my bets got that big, my heart was beating very fast! I'd have to take prednisone (or some such medication) if I tried this today. (I became a multi-millionaire after play in one casino. But in a currency whose unit value was much less than an American cent. I was already in the airport departure lounge before I finally understood it was non-convertible currency, ran around the tiny departure-lounge shopping area buying things. )

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

I won a trip for two to New Orleans back in 2003 or so. It was from work. We were doing some sort of Monte Carlo themed pep rally for the employees, and they'd pull you down out of the audience to spin a prize wheel for various reasons. I believe I had yelled out 'Apathy!' in response to some question like 'Name something keeping us from serving our customers better..."

I was more interested in taking vacation time to fly home and visit my family, so I asked if they'd work with the travel agency and just apply the money to tickets from Atlanta to San Francisco, and they agreed. As much as I was glad that I got to visit my family, I still have not been to New Orleans to this day, and I kinda wish I had had a chance to see it before Katrina, but I do still plan on going someday.

[Asimovian]

When I was 8 years-old, my grandmother and my mom and I took a train trip from LA to Vegas (Amtrak still had that service back then). There was some sort of trivia contest on the train, and I ended up winning a steak dinner.

When I was 15, I won a tennis bracelet for my mom in a radio contest where I had to submit an essay about why my mom deserved something special for Mother's Day.

I also won tickets to a Raiders game in a radio contest once -- I think I just had to be the right caller, or something.

I've won a variety of bowling trophies from league play over the years. And just yesterday, the inspiration for this thread: a friend and I were doubles partners in the beginner's division of a tennis tournament, and we won! We're both very jazzed, and I have a new trophy to display.

I don't think I've personally won more than $10 on a lottery ticket, and the most I've won gambling was about $250 on a video poker machine. I did win $100 playing Bingo in Vegas last year, though.

[Al Bundy]

I have won a long and healthy life or the Jabez Blessing if you will.
Respectfully, nobody can top this.

[BrotherCadfael]

A six-foot tall electric blue bunny.

Our kids were small then, so Big Blue Bunny would come out each Easter ever since.

My youngest is now taller than BBB.

[Glory]

I've never really won anything, I tell myself I am saving up karma to win something BIG (like the lottery!)

[pendgwen]

Won a DVD player from a radio contest back when they were new-ish and not everyone had one.

More recently I got hooked on online sweepstakes & instant win games. Yes I know the odds are horrendous and it's a complete waste of time. I actually won a very nice wallet from a luxury accessories place. Probably the nicest one I will every own since I'd have to have a lot of money before I'd ever consider spending $125 on a wallet of all things.

[Musicat]

I recently attended a conference and in spite of google maps, had a terrible time finding the route thru the backroads in the dark.

At the conference, I won a GPS unit as a door prize. Could have used it before, haven't used it since.

[Bearflag70]

A cake in a cake walk when I was 6 years old.

About 5 years ago, I won a raffle prize of a week at a time share in the Caribbean. However, I couldn't afford the cost of getting there and back plus the time off work. So, I gave the trip to someone else in the organization.

[blondebear]

I won the "Last Man on Earth" contest put on by Bob Wilkins, legendary host of the Creature Features TV show here in the Bay Area. To go along with the showing of the 1964 Vincent Price classic (?), Bob asked viewers to send in their ideas for the "best" last person on earth.

My entry was Willard Biscuit--a character from a satire magazine called Grump (edited by Roger Price of Mad Libs fame). According the magazine, he was the "last remaining Out person in the US". I can't imagine that anyone submitted a more obscure idea, but it obviously piqued Wilkins' interest. The funny thing about winning the contest was that I got 4 free movie tickets for just entering, but only 2 tickets when I won. I suppose the bragging rights (such as they are) are worth more than the actual prize.

I won a bag of candy in a snail race back in elementary school...but the actual credit should probably go to the snail itself.

[kushiel]

Three years ago I attended a conference where I won an iPod Nano in a random draw. This is the first time I'll be going back to it, and the prize this year is an iPad. I swear, if I win this year, I'm asking my boss to let me be the offical company rep.

[Johnny L.A.]

Oh, I won a pair of Kneissl skis in a raffle when I was in high school.

[dhkendall]

This winter, the Olympic torch run ran through our city (Winnipeg). In fact, since we live at the east end of the city we weren't that far away from where the torch was officially entering the city, so we went there to watch that. (Got a picture of the kids holding the torch before it was lit with the incoming one).

After that, we went to a nearby McDonald's for a quick dinner on the go, and were treated to the first torch handoff in the city right outside the restaurant! (I guess I shouldn't be surprised as McDonald's is an official sponsor and all). At McDonald's, the kids were real pleased to see that "Ronald McDonald" himself was there greeting people and handing out Olympic cheering paraphernalia to cheer on the runners. "Ronald" also announced he had a big prize to give away to anyone who could answer a trivia question about the Olympics. Of course, my ears perked up, and I listened to the spokesclown:

"This is a two part question: In 1948, the Royal Canadian Air Force put together a team to compete in the winter Olympics in St. Moritz that year. What sport did they compete in?"

SPOILER:

Nearly the entire restaurant got the answer "hockey" right.

Then he gave the rest of it. "What was the name of the team?"

SPOILER:

Someone answered "Falcons", as that's a famous Winnipeg ice hockey team that won the first Olympic gold in hockey in 1920. "Ronald" said he was wrong, "but it does begin with 'F'!"

The restaurant was silent. Meanwhile I was thinking: "A team of airmen that begin with 'F'? Couldn't be that easy, could it?"

I answered "Flyers?"

It was that easy. I got an iPod shuffle from Ronald McDonald himself. My kids were proud of me, my wife was real proud of me (as I already have an iPod touch, I gave her the shuffle), and I was pleased at my trivia solving abilities to suss out the correct answer while not actually knowing the answer.

I ate my Quarter Pounder with a smug smile the whole time and since my wife, who never thought she'd really want an iPod, has gotten much use out of hers (according to iTunes, her songs have been played much more frequently than mine ... )

[Patch]

I recently won an insulated travel mug with lid.

I don't drink hot beverages.

[Maastricht]

Second place in a drawing contest when I was 8 years old. Won a binder and 10 postcards of my drawing.

a big bunch of flowers in a lottery in a movie theatre.

A statuette for playing (and reaching second round) in the Dutch version of Jeopardy, five years ago.

[DMark]

Living in Las Vegas, sometimes good things happen.

About 7 years ago, my SO won $12,500 playing a quarter video poker machine - you had to get the Royal Flush, in exactly sequential order. Not an easy feat. Without even being aware of it, he hit it.
Nice surprise, well-needed - he had just been informed he needed major dental work and it cost over $10,000 to have it done. Perfect timing for the win.

About 5 years ago, I won $10,000 on a video Keno machine.
I used the money to go back to school (UNLV) and take some additional courses, which allowed me to start teaching at a local college. I also bought a laptop. All in all, money wisely invested from the winnings.

Granted, as is the case here in Las Vegas, it takes lots of losing to finally win something. Winning big doesn't happen often enough as far as I am concerned - but I think we were both at least smart enough to take those windfalls and do something practical and good with the money.

Living here, I have met others who have had their share of "magic moments" with winning large prizes - one older guy (the mail delivery guy at the Law Firm where I used to work) won $85,000 on the big football pool at the local casino. Again - this is a guy who has been playing regularly for years - so it was not like he just walked in and won first time out. Other locals all have great stories - a woman I know got two Royal Flushes, back to back, on the same video slots - for a total of $4000. Many other stories, but people generally recall the good times, and don't mention the 6 months where they didn't win squat...Welcome To Vegas!

[Lobsang]

an easter egg in a maths competition, which had nothing to do with maths. It was to do a 'study' on pet food. Mine was the best.

[Lumpy]

I won a free handgun, a Beretta 96, simply by registering my name at the semiannual gun show hosted by my local gun range.

Only in America

[Hello Again]

$100 bond and a casiotone keyboard, on a game show when I was 7
5G iPod Nano, at a fundraising raffle. That was especially sweet because my old Nano conked out 3 days before!

[tumbleddown]

In monetary value order:

I won elected office in student council every year from 2 - 10th grades.

I won a commendation from the mayor of Pittsburgh for chairing a community revitalization project.

I won 52 $5 gift certificates ("free lunch once a week for a year") from a local Wendy's for dropping my business card in a fishbowl.

I won a fairly nice (for 2001) 28" color TV by dropping a business card in a fishbowl.

I won a $500 activities grant and a pizza party for the floor of my dorm at college by conceptualizing and creating the artwork for our holiday "open house" contest entry "Old Fashioned Country Christmas."

I won a variety of prizes in about 40 different contests from a radio station, ranging from CDs to nominal amounts of cash ($15 - 50) to mani/pedis, front row concert tickets ($105/seat) and eventually a DVD player. Then they changed call letters and formats, fired all the DJs and stopped running contests. The weirdest of those prizes was a haircare set including a curling iron, straightening iron and blow dryer. The most useful of those prizes, beyond the DVD player, is George Foreman grill that I still use at least twice a week, though mostly as a poor woman's panini press.

I won a half-scholarship to college based on being a National Merit semi-finalist.

I won one year's lease of a Cadillac Escalade in a talent competition, for singing. I declined the lease and instead got the "real cash value" which was several thousand dollars.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Patch

I recently won an insulated travel mug with lid.

I don't drink hot beverages.

Does it not work with cold ones?

[Maiira]

My alma mater has this late night breakfast in the main dining hall just before finals week (to help relieve the stress of studying). They have a raffle, and the prizes range from the cheapo (plastic frisbees) to the fancy (iPods and laptops).

I won an electric guitar one year. I don't play. I ended up giving it to my brother, who declared it a piece of crap. Actually, the last I heard he was fixing it up so that it'd be more playable.

The next year, as they were doing the raffle, they held up a package of KY Intense lube as the next gift. I turned to my friends and went "wouldn't it be funny if I won that?"

Guess whose number they called?

It turned out to be kind of a crappy lube. I used it once and then stashed it away in a drawer.

[Clothahump]

Bowling tournaments, Taekwondo tournaments, the occasional lottery ticket.

But the most valuable thing I've ever won was SWMBO's heart.

[Yorikke]

A couple of moderate slot prizes in Reno or Vegas, $750 and $1250, IIRC. Smaller ones as well.

A few hundred dollars a couple of times on California Lottery and Scratchers games.

A pair of Wrestling tickets in a radio contest - I didn't go.

A few very small and insignificant consolation prizes in sweepstakes.

Joe

[OpalCat]

I've won several 1st place and 'best of show' prizes for my artwork, as well as a several-thousand dollar scholarship for my art. I won over $5,000 playing Bingo on my honeymoon. Other small things here and there.

[panache45]

When I was a kid, one of the local newspapers often had art contests for kids. I won (or came in 2nd) several of them. I won things like a stack of great books, circus tickets, sports tickets, and a cooler that I still use.

[neuroman]

I won a 42" widescreen TV at a charity raffle. That was awesome.

[pulykamell]

I won a bunch of radio contests as a pre-teen/teen. The prizes were:

Pizza
Pizza
Pizza
Pizza
Pizza and Gallagher Tickets

I told my friends in college about my apparent talent for winning pizzas on radio station contests. One day, while we were listening to the radio, a pizza contest comes on. I calmly proclaim, "I'm going to win that pizza," call in, and, sure enough, win the pizza, along with a pair of tickets to see Princess and the Pebble or something animated film with a similar name. I don't remember, as I never picked up the pizza (it was two frozen pizzas) or the tickets for the movie, since it required me being somewhere at some ungodly hour for a college student like 8 a.m.

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever cashed in on any of the pizzas I won, as they were always for some local place on the other side of town from me, and my parents were not about to trek fifteen miles for a pizza.

My pizza radio contest streak ended about four years ago, when I won some Harry Potter book-on-tape for answering a trivia question to which Jim Rice was the answer. (I believe it had something to do with what Red Sock Hall of Famer wore #14, or something to that effect.) I ended up donating whatever it was I won to a local school for the blind.

I won 200 pounds (Sterling) on the slots on the ferry from Dover to Calais on my 21st birthday. That was cool. I then won an additional 20 pounds minutes later explaining to my American tourist acquaintances how to play the slots.

I've won awards for my photography, a National Merit Corporate Scholarship, a bunch of academic bowl-type crap in 8th grade, and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. But pizza, most often.

[jsquire]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.;

My dad went to the Flamingo Hilton in Laughlin, NV, went to a café, and pulled out the Keno brochure. It said, 'How to win $100,000 playing Keno'. So he followed the instructions on his first game, and won $100,000. He didn't gamble the rest of the trip.

I've played one spin of roulette in my life. Put $40 on 17 and it came in.

Last year I won a prize pack in the fantasy league run in conjunction with the track & field world championships. This year I was third (out of 3000+ people) in USA Track & Field's season-long fantasy league and won $100 and a prize pack...I was one dumb pick away from first place and its $2000 prize.

I've won more meaningless trinkets at road races than I can possibly count (although not a thing for any of the four I've won outright). Once my roomate beat me and got something useless while I won a gift certificate to the local pizza joint. I razzed him for weeks and didn't even share the pizza.

[Student Driver]

Mostly petty things. Donkey Kong Jr. shirt and shoelaces in an arcade competition when I was 8 or 9, a giant pumpkin for correctly guessing its weight (which actually caused a small cheating investigation at my school, because I submitted an absurdly accurate answer as a joke, and it turned out to be correct), an album for setting a high score at an arcade that I wasn't aware was running a competition, $50 on a scratch-off lottery ticket someone gave me as a gift, several albums for calling a radio station.

I'm absurdly bad at losing door prize draws; my work runs a door prize draw each Christmas, with ~100 prizes for ~300 employees, or around 1 in 3 odds. I've been there for 16 years and have never had my name pulled. A local convention that I attended twice annually for around 10 years awards door prizes with fairly good odds, and again I never win, while every time I take a friend, they win.

Since starting college part-time in 2002, I've amassed a ridiculous number of scholarships and awards, despite never being proactive enough to apply for anything (makes me wonder how much in scholarships I could have amassed if I'd actually applied for some). I've actually turned a profit on going to school since 2004 because of these things; it's kind of nice to not have to worry about tuition or book costs.

[PoorYorick]

My wife and I won the first time we ever set foot in a casino. We were driving near Atlantic City about 12 years ago, decided to see what casinos were all about, and stopped in Harrah's. We had been playing the quarter slots next to each other for about 5 minutes when my slot machine started going ding-ding-ding and coins came tumbling out (this is when the winnings were in actual coins instead of vouchers). I turned to my wife to tell her, and her machine started going ding-ding-ding, coins tumbling, etc.

That detour paid for our trip, and for a while I thought casinos were the greatest thing in the world. I didn't know why everyone didn't play. I've become a bit more savvy since.

[BigDadWolf]

I won Carl Kasell's voice for my home voice mail from NPR's Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me.. I played the "Bluff the Listener" game and was able to correctly guess the true story.

[Arrendajo]

When I was in college I guessed the number of coffee beans in a jar and won a Melita travel coffee maker, with mug and carrying case. It's one of the best things I ever owned. I used it until it literally fell apart.

[dhkendall]

The mentions of slots and other type of winnings remind me of one of the first things I "won".

When I was about 10 years old my sister and I were walking to school when we saw an instant lotto ticket on the ground. The play area was scratched off, but the play area revealed the ticket was a $2 winner! I'm thinking the person who bought the ticket didn't think it was worth it to cash it but, to a couple of 8 and 10 year old kids, it's the coolest thing ever! Since we couldn't very well cash it like normal people (ie walk in somewhere and present the ticket), we mailed it in, and got a $2 cheque mailed back to us a few days later. It was a very cool moment to a kid.

[saje]

Originally Posted by BigBadWolf

I won Carl Kasell's voice for my home voice mail from NPR's Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me.. I played the "Bluff the Listener" game and was able to correctly guess the true story.

OK now that's pretty neat

I never win anything, except classes in horse shows occasionally. And even then all I get is a $1.25 blue ribbon.

My Dad though won a brand new Saab in a raffle when I was about 18. Ten years later he sold the car to me for $10.

[El Nene]

I won a trip for two to London for the premiere of the last Superman movie. My wife took her sister and I had to take time off work to care for our son.

[Dung Beetle]

Age 5(?): Trophy in a Halloween game which involved biting an apple hanging from a string.

Age 11: Participant trophy in a pre-teen beauty pageant.

Age 19: Limbo contest in a bar. I got a t-shirt.

[Alice The Goon]

Add to my list a box I got the other day from UPS containing a Tim McGraw CD, hat, tshirt, keychain, and license plate holder. Also, I hate country music. Fortunately, I know lots of people that love it and so I can give it away and make myself look soooo nice.

[Boyo Jim]

I've won tons of stuff: TVs, stereos, and hundreds of smaller items. The most expensive was a pair of emerald earrings I was able to sell for $2,000.

Entering sweepstakes and contest was virtually a second profession for my dad, as a Brink's guard he had the perfect job for it. The would drive around Chicago picking up cash from grocery and drug stores, and while one guy would be handling the money transfer, Dad would stroll up and down the aisles stripping the store bare of entry forms from all kinds of retailers. He would fill them out on the drive between the stores. He was actually on the clock being paid while he did all this. And he entered these things using all our names.

He won at least three $10,000 cash prizes, a Ford Explorer, and god knows how much other stuff. One contest he won more than 100 times -- the condolence prize, a basketball. So there was a spare bedroom literally filled halfway to the ceiling with basketballs, which we eventually gave to a local community organization. When he died we found 4 TVs in his basement that he'd never even taken out of the boxes.

[Slow Moving Vehicle]

Originally Posted by BigBadWolf

I won Carl Kasell's voice for my home voice mail from NPR's Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me.. I played the "Bluff the Listener" game and was able to correctly guess the true story.

Winner! I'm totally envious - I listen every week.


I don't know if it counts as "winning", but I've gotten a perfect 800 score on the Verbal section of the Graduate Record Exam. Twice.

Too bad I sucked so badly at the "math" section.

[Yarster]

Well, the most expensive thing I ever won was a $2,300 tanzanite on a Mexico cruise.

However, the best thing I ever won (which is an iPod) comes with a story. The story is that at an industry tradeshow, our competitor, who had effectively stolen some of our technology through a key employee leaving many years before, was bragging about a certification his (stolen) technology had gotten. This certification was of no value to the defense customer community who he was trying to sell it to, and the guy in general was a jerk. Someone in the crowd even asked me, "what does that certification get them?" To which I had an awesome comeback that the competitor heard, which was "it gets them two things, Jack and Shit". He then proceeded to hand out prize tickets to everyone in the crowd to raffle off an iPod and I had the winning ticket. So having just insulted the guy, he then had to give me his main giveaway prize. The best part was that the organizers of the tradeshow where this occurred took a picture of the event and the expression on the guy's face was priceless - it looked like he just ate a shit sandwich. We printed it and I had it up in my office for close to a year after that.

[ENugent]

I had the highest score in California for an eighth grader on the SAT combined and verbal in 1982. (I later dated the guy with the highest math score.) I won a dictionary which is still in my office and used fairly regularly, and a one-volume complete Shakespeare that I cannot read without a magnifying glass.

I was a National Merit Scholar.

I was the New England and Eastern US Amateur Smooth ballroom dance champion in the 90's (don't remember the exact years).

[Stauderhorse]

Third place in my college's art show and $50.