<p>i don't know why - but ive become addicted to scratch off lottery tickets this summer. I know its horrible (granted i am up about $5 lol) but I find i've been spending like $40 or $60 a week on that stupid new york lotto win for life spectacular.</p>
<p>anyone else stupid like me.</p>
<p>I prefer cards...at least you feel like you have some control over how quickly you lose your money. And when you win you get to see the looks in the other guys' faces. </p>
<p>The occasional scratch off is fun when I spend some money at 7-11, get to the regist and feel like spending the rest of the 10. And the one time I won, I won enough to break even on the purchase. It felt really cool.</p>
<p>Dude....$60 A WEEK?</p>
<p>DON'T EVER GO TO VEGAS. </p>
<p>/I was going to say that I love scratchers too, but I spend maybe $5 on them evey 2 months or whenever I remember when I'm in a 7-11. $40-60/week is slightly...excessive.</p>
<p>well the tickets are $20 each!</p>
<p>I will say that at least i havn't lost money - i hit for $500 one time, it was sweet lol.</p>
<p>but the rewards are so great - $10,000 a week for life? ooo man I would soooo drop out of school and just live at school for the rest of my life lol.</p>
<p>You have $20 scratchers? Good god. </p>
<p>Ours only go up to $5.</p>
<p>i know - in jersey i think they only go up to $5 ($5000 wk/life)</p>
<p>new york has at least 2 $10 ones ($8,000,000 king kong and 5,000wk/life) and the $20 win for life spec (10,000wk/life).</p>
<p>generally the more expensive the ticket however, the better odds to price to prize the payout is.</p>
<p>for example $10 for $5,000 wk has approx 1/6 mil odds, while $20 10k/wk is 1/3mil odds...but if you win you get 2x as more. so its really not worth it to buy the $10 one.</p>
<p>Ours don't pay out by week. One-time payment for scratchers. One-time or annual payment for bigger tickets. </p>
<p>But yeah I think the increase in odds for increased price is standard.</p>
<p>oh well - i mean of course theres the big pay out scratchers. tax free million, 100,000 roulette, or whatever else it may be, but win for life spectacular - mmmm i would do anything for that ahaha. annuity payments don't stop till u croak.</p>
<p>I buy a $1 lotto ticket for the California lottery once a month...</p>
<p>I remember joking about how my first purchase after I turned 18 (this June) would be a scratch-off ticket...I've yet to buy a single ticket, though. </p>
<p>Mostly because I've only been in a gas station twice since then...once to pay for gas (I've gotten a speed pass since...it's heaven...no more leaving my keys with weird, chatty old men) and once in search for Sobes. </p>
<p>Eh, it's for the best...I'd surely get addicted to them.</p>
<p>i buy some scratch off tickets now and then when i have a few bucks to spare...I won 20$$ once haha..then spent it all on the strach offs and lost them all lol...</p>
<p>Katho, this is unrelated but I'm confused....Why would you leave your keys with someone if you went inside to get gas? Don't you just go to the counter and pay? And then go back to your car?</p>
<p>I may be missing something.</p>
<p>I don't know if this is just in Texas or just in East Texas, but most gas stations require you to either pre-pay or leave your keys (or license) with them so you won't drive off without paying. Apparently once gas prices started going up, this became a fairly common thing and they were losing way too much money.</p>
<p>Obviously, I had no idea how much it would take to fill up my tank, so I left my keys so they'd turn on my pump...and the whole situation creeped me out cause the old guy hit on me both times I went in...so now I have my handy-dandy speed pass.</p>
<p>Hm. Weird. </p>
<p>I haven't gone inside to pay for gas in years since I just pay by card at the pump, but yeah. I guess when I did go inside I just prepaid automatically? Hm. Mystery solved, thx.</p>
<p>I hate pre-paying!! I never know how much I need exactly, as prices are constantly going up. I love the places with pay at the pump capabilities because of this :)</p>
<p>I will occasionally buy a ticket...always 1 or 2 dollar ones though, and only when my bill comes to 8 or 9 and i'm paying with a 10 ... something like that.</p>
<p>my dad loves the scratch ems i like the just the lottery here its up to 32 million which isnt too bad</p>
<p>Full Service gas stations are best</p>
<p>i won "price of ticket" on the only scratch em i purchased</p>
<p>i felt like a winner</p>
<p>Yeah, while we were in New Jersey (I think)...could of been Penn or NY...last summer we went to a full service gas station. It was pretty cool, but they don't have any of those down here.</p>
<p>I've actually won off one of those scratch cards. It took me eight cards to get a winner, and the winner was for $10.</p>
<p>I only buy the $1 tickets, and I don't get them all that often, but I do play now and then.</p>
<p>In Pittsburgh, we had "mini-serve" stations for a while. They were like full serve but all they did was pump your gas. It was so nice, sitting in the car and not having to pump. Especially with PA winters. Unfortunately they did away with these in the early 1990s. They were really good for old people, and they continued to operate one near a large retirement village until 1999. Prices were usually a few cents more at the mini-serve stations, which didn't have self pumps. Most of the mini serve stations were BP, and they had been converted from Boron in 1991. (Boron was huge in the Pittsburgh area and also owned Sohio in Ohio, if any of you Ohio folks are familiar with them).</p>
<p>And about pre-paying: I've never done it. So many stations want this when you pay with cash anymore. Just get a debit card from your bank or get one of those student credit cards. You won't have to go inside the station or anything. I haven't used cash at the pump since March 2005 before I had my card, and I always just did the regular way ("I was at pump number five, sir"). The only time I'd even consider pre-paying is if I have a two gallon gas can and I know I will be getting two gallons.</p>