Strategic Raffling

I've expressed opinions previously about my belief that winning big in the lottery is a curse, so I never buy into the hype when Powerball gets into the hundreds of millions. I find it interesting that people will wait in long lines for a chance to win 600 million but 125 million is simply not worth their time. When you get to that level of wealth, what's the difference really? This boycott does not however cross over into raffles and small gambling opportunities. I've employed some strategies through my extensive observation of these drawings. It's pretty simple and logical, but surprisingly not very many people do it.  The first rule of thumb is to look out for poorly attended events such as the boys' elementary school spring carnival. The weather took a nasty turn and was windy, cold, and rainy. Perfect raffle conditions! These items have been donated and someone has to win. It might as well be me. The second thing you must do is differentiate your entry. Do not fold it once and slip it in the box like everyone else. Roll it into a ball or fold it as many times as you can. The person who draws for some reason always goes for the different one. It also makes it more likely to fall to the bottom of the bucket and they usually dig deep for the lucky winner. Also I've found that late entries have a higher probability of being drawn for some reason. This of course is totally unscientific, but it works for me often. My latest win was a prize package including a Build-a-Bear workshop gift card, $25.00 worth of Little Ceasar's pizza (which is dinner often during baseball season) and a free deluxe car wash. My cost? $1.00. 

So the boys crashed our old Mesa ward's Father and Son's outing this weekend, so Sophie and I had our own little outing in town. We dined on Mac and Cheese at Logan's Roadhouse then went shopping where she had to have a purple cowboy hat with a tiara attached to it. She recently got her ears pierced so now she is feeling like she needs all kinds of accessories to compliment her new fanciness. She is constantly on the lookout for earrings that she must have for certain outfits and of course high heel to match. (She's going to have to get a job to support this habit.)

 Our next stop was Build-a-Bear which is a giant rip off if you don't' have a gift card that you won. (Also according to Wes, one of the founders of Build-a-Bear is a real piece of work. She was a client back in his Charles Schwab days and they used to cast lots over who would have to take her call.) But the kids dig it. Predictability, Sophie wanted her bear to be as fancy as she would like to be. They offer high heels for their bears (for $7.50! I could get real high heels at Payless for that much.) It seemed like a good idea until I walked in on this later in that night.

It was very disturbing on many levels. This bear we adopted is going to be trouble. Maybe the whole bad luck thing does extend beyond big lotteries.