I'm from South Carolina so the maximum price a pack/book of lottery tickets (from $1 - $10) can cost is a total of $300. I have only brought whole packs of $10 tickets and usually only when they are doing special books with 2nd chance opportunities and $1 million top prize pay outs (i.e. Diamond Millionaire, Money Money Millionaire and currently Millionaire Madness). The most I've made on a profit from buying a $10 book was $400. It was a Money Money Millionaire pack that had a $500 instant win ticket plus several smaller tickets that help add up to the $700 prize for the book. I reinvested that money back in by buying 2 additional books and 10 tickets from the lotto bin.
The worse I've ever done was only winning $120 (I think that's the lowest amount per book, but SC doesn't publish those stats like say the Texas lottery) and it too was on a Money Money Millionaire pack.
Going back to what I said earlier, I only tend to buy whole books (when there isn't a 2nd chance promotion or $1 million top prize) when I have a collection of tickets that equal $300. I'm the kind of person that buys tickets here and there like if I'm at a gas station or grocery store that sells them. If I have a winner, I hold on to them since some games here tend to last more than 12 months then once I reach that $300 limit I cash in on a book.
The only time I will go flat out and buy a book withing using the above strategy is when I get my tax return. I usually take $300 from that, set it to the side, check the lottery website and see what current game is out there and what new game is coming up. If I like the new game I will usually take that money and buy a book. I usually reinvest that money back into buying books depending on the amount. If my winnings from a book is between $250 - $300, then I will add the difference my own pocket to get another book. If it's under $250 then I will just buy the tickets from the bin of the value of my tickets and hope for the best while starting my strategy over of reaching $300 in win tickets before buying a book again.
This year, I've been lucky (but not as lucky as I want!) on the Millionaire Madness ticket. After spending the initial $300 from my tax return to buy a book, I haven't had less than $250 in a book for that game which has allowed me to reinvest the difference back into buying another book. So far I have purchased 4 books of Millionaire Madness and excluding the initial $300 I don't think I have invested more than $120 total.