People may give you funny looks, you might feel embarrassed and you most certainly will get something gross on your hands(so bring sanitizer) but the payoff could be huge. I became interested in this "hobby" I'll call it when I read a story about a guy finding a million dollar texas holdem ticket in the trash outside of a White hen pantry. I became further enamored with the idea when I realized there are many tickets which offer a 2nd chance drawing. Most people like myself at one time just discarded these tickets and I would venture to say over half of all 2nd chance eligible tickets are thrown in the trash. So 2 months ago I started checking the trash at all the local stores I played at. Next thing you know I'm finding winners almost everyday (usually the face value of the ticket) while piling up entries for 2nd chance drawings. Until the other day the biggest winner I had found was $30 and I had won 3 bruins prize packs for the $5 bruins 2nd chance. Then I found a $1000 winner the other day! I can only imagine the millions of dollars in winners being missed across Mass on a daily basis as I only frequent a handful of stores and have only done this for about 2months now.

 Some people may take exception to this practice as they look at it almost like stealing if you happen to find a winner they threw away but I look at it like this. If I miss one, I would much rather someone find it than it go back into state coffers. It isn't like they're giving anyone refunds. And with as much money as I'v dumped into the pot I deserve to find a winner now and then. I've paid my dues in THOUSANDS every year. Before that winner the most I had ever won off of a ticket I bought was $100. And I spend anywhere between $20-$100 a day on average.