A quick recap of why I'm doing this, people always talk about their big gambling winnings but never mention their losses. I wondered what would happen if you kept track, the money you spent versus the amount you won. So this year I'm going to buy one lottery ticket a week, based upon a set of rules, and see how things turn out. Wish me luck, or don't wish me luck based on our own superstitions.
Week 6
I know the numbers don't mean anything. I know that everything is random and systems are a suckers bet. So naturally, since it was February Second, 2/02 I bought a $2 Powerball ticket at 2:02 in the afternoon. I paid for it out of the Alternative Funds, any money I happen to find that is greater than $20. The jackpot is at $65 million, way below my normal purchase amount but what the heck, I did it for fun. It would be funny if I win $2? Update, I didn't match any numbers.
Someone pointed out that Friday is 2/6/26. Once again I was tempted to buy a Powerball at 2:06 however it was my day off and I wasn't going anywhere near the job, not after this week. Plus numbers don't mean anything, the lottery is random.
This week I got new lottery tickets, just in time to put out a new pack of an existing game. There were also two games I had decided to not replace since they had been around for a while and were down to one jackpot, I figure they are going to pull the games soon. So even thought I had $8.86 in the Tip Jar and I could afford the new $5 ticket I went with a $3 game that I planned on buying last week. It had a jackpot of $1000, however I didn't win anything.
A guy came in just to use the restroom. I don't care, go ahead. He came up to the register and gave me a $2 tip because they were so clean. OK, he didn't have to take it but I'm not going to turn down money. Since it wasn't lottery related I put it in the Tip Jar but didn't count it towards my year end total.
Week 7
This week's Sunday temptation was an interesting one. I changed shifts and covered the afternoon so my coworker could go to a Super Bowl party. A customer came in and his total was $7.77 at 2:07. Then I had a customer get $11.11 worth of stuff at 2:11. I got a new lottery game, 7-11-21 and the tickets are $2 each. I didn't buy it though.
However I thought about it for the rest of the day and decided to buy a Powerball ticket at 9:21, which is 21:21 in military time. Not only that but the Super Bowl final score 29-13, the draw date was 2/9 and the jackpot $113 million. When I checked the ticket on Tuesday I was two numbers off on the majority of the winning numbers including the actual Power Ball. The fates are laughing at me.
On Tuesday a guy came in and started buying tickets, one at a time, he'd go to the end of the counter to scratch them and then buy another one. He was buying the 7-11-21 tickets, one at a time, and bought until the #7 was available. Was it a sign? I don't know but I once again broke my rule and bought the $2 ticket, which turned out to be a loser. To add insult to injury the guy bought the next ticket out of the pack and won $5. I could have just let him buy the ticket and saw if it was a winner or not. Seriously, I need to stick to the rules.
I already bought a ticket this week plus a Powerball so I didn't need to buy one, however it's February Fourteenth and I felt obligated to buy the Valentines game. The ticket costs $2 and has a potential jackpot of $5000. Well you know what they say, unlucky at love, unlucky at lottery. OK, so numbers don't mean anything so back to the rules next week. Plus there are a bunch of new games to choose from.
Week 9
I have a $5 game that is down to the last ticket, I'm always tempted to buy it so I can put out a new pack. I got out my Decision coin (one side says "Yes" and the other "No") and asked if I should buy the ticket and then spun it on the display glass, the coin said "Yes", but then I gave it a second spin and asked if it was a winning ticket, the coin said "No". Also I was checking where I keep the tickets locked up and discovered that I didn't have a replacement pack of the game so even if I bought it I'd have to order new ones from the lottery and wait until Saturday to refill it. So I didn't buy the ticket. Instead I've started planning what I'm going to buy for this week. Update, someone bought the ticket but took it with them so I don't know if it was a winner or not.
On Wednesday when I went to work I found an unscratched ticket. I checked it out it was good for a free $2 ticket. Instead of getting another $2 ticket I got two $1 tickets that I hadn't bought before, one had a jackpot of $900 and the other is $500. The first one I checked was a loser but the other one was good for a $1. So in the end I'm a dollar up today. By the way, the winning ticket was the one I planned on buying on Saturday so now I have to figure out which one I'm going to buy on Saturday.
Considering that my winning record is usually one in four and this week I found a ticket good for a free $2 ticket, which I followed up with a winning ticket I should have passed but decided to go ahead with my usual Saturday purchase. I had $8.80 in the Tip Jar and I could buy one of the new $5 tickets but I decided to go with the lower priced tickets until I went through all the older ones that I hadn't bought yet, so I got the last of the $2 tickets. The jackpot is only $50 but there are more winning tickets thus better odds, however I still didn't win. If I don't do anything stupid in the upcoming week I'll end the month in the positive column.
Week 10
My Sunday temptation was finding that three #21 tickets in a row, and the last ticket was the 7-11-21 game. It's as if the fates were telling me the ticket was going to be the big winner. However they have told me that in the past and the tickets always turned out to be losers. Later in the day some guy came in and bought a stack of tickets including several of the #21 tickers. However he left and I never got to see if the one I was going to buy was a winner or not.
This week will be 02/26/26. So there is the temptation to buy a Powerball ticket at 2:26, for $2. However that is a Thursday and I don't want to go by work. So I get a free pass on that one.
I had $8.07 in the Tip Jar so I could buy one of the new $5 tickets. However I had one ticket left in a pack and it's one that I'm not going to order again since it's down to the last jackpot and will probably end soon. Plus it's a second chance ticket so I figured if I buy it I can get one more entrance before they do the drawing. So I coughed up the $3 and bought it, and didn't win anything, and entered it on line. Hoping for that $3000 jackpot.
I had to work on Saturday night and I was tempted to try the "buy a ticket at the last second" thing again. However I got smart, I went outside and checked the trash cans instead. When I came back in it was past the time they shut down the machines during the drawings so I saved myself $2.
The good news is I'm ending the month $11 up, despite breaking the rules and buying unnecessary Powerball tickets. I need to stick to the rules in March.
Two of the Second Chance tickets are having their drawings this weekend. One already picked the semifinalist so I'm out of that one and let's be honest the odds are really high on the second one. They haven't drawn for the Million Dollar Prize yet so fingers crossed. I wonder if they'll offer a new one in the near future.
My February Total
I spent $36 on scratch tickets.
$4 on Powerball tickets.
Won $51
Found a ticket good for a free $2 ticket
I didn't get any lottery related tips.
I entered 15 Second Chance tickets on line
At the end of the month I am up $11
I also have $192.46 in the Alternate Fund
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