Saw a commercial on tv the other day promoting scratch & win tickets as good Christmas presents.
Which led me to wonder if any Dopers have ever given or received lottery tickets that turned out to be large winners?
Sort of. When I was 18, my best friends little brother was over at our house. He was fourteen and loved scratch off lottery tickets but was not old enough to buy them. I agreed to take him to the store if he would by me as many as he did himself. I believe I purchased six tickets of the same type and he allowed me to tear off the three that I wanted. I tore mine off and scratched them and didn’t win a thing. He scratched his and I heard “I won!” loudly. I asked how much and he said “Four thousand dollars”. I thought he was kidding until I verified that it was, in fact, true. I was kind of glad that he was the winner because I would have felt bad since he paid for them. Later, he got his older brother to cash the ticket, spent all the money, and didn’t even pay the tax bill that later came due.
When I first moved to AZ I stayed with a co-worker for a couple of weeks until I found an apartment. He asked me to pick up a lotto ticket for him when I bought mine. I wrote his name on his and put them on the kitchen counter. He won $35 and I won squat.
IMHO, off the top of my head, there’s no funnier gift to give than something likethese Fake Lottery scratch off tickets. If the person you give them to has never seen them, the get a wild emotional roller-coaster ride. They dance around, think of ways to spend the money & then read the small print on the back that says something along the lines of: “To claim your winnings, please call 1-800-BULLSHIT”.
JohnBkWLD Those tickets are SO mean!
I actually used to work for the customer support line of a lottery corporation, and customers would phone in absolutely IRATE that those tickets were legal.
I personally cannot imagine giving one of those and thinking it’s funny to trick someone into thinking they’ve won.
I can’t think of a meaner gift to give, either. Especially around this time of year, oy. Anyone who gives a gift like that deserves a fat lip.
I used to give tickets out for birthdays, Christmas, etc. But then I thought, damn, what if someone wins a zillion dollars on the ticket I gave them? I quit giving out tickets a couple years ago. 