Trash diving

Reply #31

PrisonerSix — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:25:52 GMT

Here in Louisiana, there are some lottery scratch off tickets that offer prizes in a second chance drawing. Basically, the player sends the losing ticket in and they draw for prizes from them. The ticket I mentioned, $100,000 World Series of Poker, offers prizes of a package of World Series of Poker merchandise or a trip to Las Vegas with a chance to play in the poker tournament.

There was a game recently called the $1,000,000 Super Draw, a $10 scratcher with a second chance prize of $1,000... [ More ]

Reply #30

lottolaughs — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:37:15 GMT

Wow,kids,what's next? Geese! I think I'll pass. Keep trash in it's place, in the can

Reply #29

emilyg — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:09:39 GMT

Good! Nothing wrong in that.

Reply #28

tnlotto1 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:54:09 GMT

well today after i left the gym i went to the gas station around the corner and i asked the clerk if anyone comes by to trash dive and she said that the store saves up all the tickets that are discarded and a woman comes in once a week and buys the trash bags of tickets because he has found $1000 and $300 winners in there. i dont know how much the woman pay for the bags each week.

Reply #27

stavros — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:16:15 GMT

Lived in MA 20 years and we had 2nd chance drawings. In FL now for several years and no 2nd chance here.

Reply #26

four4me — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:55:51 GMT

9 out of 10 trash cans in stores that sell tickets usually only have tickets in them maybe in the farm stores and food shops there might be some emptied sugar packs and lil milk containers, rarely is there any foul debris in them.

Reply #25

justxploring — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:50:35 GMT

I never heard of second chance drawings, although I think MA had them. Not sure, since I've lived here for 13 years. (my mind can only hold so much stuff, like a tupperware container) I once suggested that would be a good idea. Maybe someone else in FL on this board can tell me if I'm missing something.

Reply #24

justxploring — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:42:12 GMT

I think Raven's link was to a story about the man. That turned out to be a nasty battle. The man who claimed he bought the ticket and accidentally through it away had a heart attack and died. The family kept trying to stop the payment to the winner and there was a settlement. Otherwise he probably would have died before the case was settled. I think that's a very, very rare situation. But it's a warning too. If you find a ticket in the trash, don't go back to the same store to validate it... [ More ]

Reply #23

DoubleDown — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:41:39 GMT

I agree with Bryan and Rick G -

I was standing next to a trash can in a store and looked down and there was a huge pile of the $20 Million Dollar scratchers there and these are eligible for second chance drawings. I took them and sent them in along with mine.

Oh, the good news is one of them was a free ticket winner that was overlooked so I redeemed it for a free ticket and the free ticket hit for $100.00.

I wasn't dumpster diving - these were right on top kinda like the eclair that... [ More ]

Reply #22

Rick G — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:14:51 GMT

Me too, Bryan. This is an excellent way to get into the second chance drawings. I did that last year and sent in 35 entries each containing $30 ($1050) in losing tickets. The store owner didn't mind a bit...I was helping him empty his trash and if I won, it would most likely have originated at his store. Other players never paid attention to what I was doing.

I never even double-checked them to see if they were winners...my main concern was to get a lot of entries into the second chance d... [ More ]

Reply #21

Bryan — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:25:34 GMT

I was wondering if anybody was going to bring up second chance drawings. Can you imagine how many extra tickets people get by trash diving? A buddy of mine from work's wife works at a convenience store and trash dives all the time when they have second chance drawings. In a period of 3 years they won 2 trips on the second chance drawings thru the lottery. One of them was a full week paid (with spending cash) to Hawaii. I can't recall where the other was to but I know they went twice on the lotte... [ More ]

Reply #20

PrisonerSix — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:01:56 GMT

One day when I when to a buy a $100,000 Hold 'Em Poker scratch off, the clerk behind the counter told me he had fished losing tickets out of the trash and sent them in for the second chance drawing and won a prize package of World Series of Poker merchandise. I also have a coworker who plays that game and give me the losers to send in. I don't know why she doesn't send them in herself, but I don't mind. Hard to believe how many don't participate in second chance drawings when they are offere... [ More ]

Reply #19

mylollipop — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:41:29 GMT

Remember the old guy thta got the $1,000,000.00 or so dollar ticket from the trash and the other guy sued him, had a heart attack anad died a few months later, then his son took up the lawsuit? It was here on Lotto Post last year, I think. The older man always made a habit of scavenging and he hit it big. I can not remember what he ended up settling the suit for. Anybody remember

Reply #18

awwcrap — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:21:54 GMT

No way, I'll be diving into a dumpster,,,95degrees and 80% humidity,,,the discarded mashpotatos will stew into whole new biosphere

Reply #17

four4me — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 03:53:15 GMT

When i read stories about people who have scratched a ticket saw that they might be a winner but weren't sure so they show the ticket to someone else who says yes it's a winner then the person still doubting they have a winner takes it to the ticket counter to get checked and when told it's a winner still doesn't believe they have a winner. Like they are dumb struck.

I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that many people have tossed a winning scratch ticket into the trash. Either because they... [ More ]

Reply #16

Raven62 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 03:14:01 GMT

That's too bad!

You might miss out on:

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/121277.htm

Reply #15

stephi — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 02:49:05 GMT

Thanks y'alls, i appreciate it. I've decided it against it.

Reply #14

tnlotto1 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 02:23:16 GMT

well anyone looking in a trash can has to realize that the odds arent good that a winner was sold there and the winner checked their ticket in the store, somehow overlooked it and thought it was a loser and then decided to throw it in the trash and on top of all of that you would have to get there before the trash is emptied or before another person who goes through the trash for tickets gets there. i have seen people get free tickets from scratch offs that way in the trash can but no jackpot wi... [ More ]

Reply #13

pacattack05 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:54:59 GMT

I tell this to as many people as I can.

The Odds Are The Reality.

Dedication is one thing. Reality is another.

The odds are the reality. Read into it whatever you want to...bottom line...it's the odds.

You can have the best system in the world....with only ten sets of numbers to play. It doesen't matter. There are still many many many more possibilities out there not taken into account. As in the p-3, playing the best top ten sets, there are still 990 other possibilities that can com... [ More ]

Reply #12

emilyg — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:52:42 GMT

I hope you're not talking about dumpsters. The store i buy my ticket at - a guy goes through the discarded scratch-off tickets (with the store's permission). Sometimes he finds free tickets - sometimes tickets worth cash.

His biggest find was a $100.

Reply #11

pacattack05 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:45:56 GMT

I'm sorry Mike...lol

There are exceptions to every rule. And in the case you presented, I wish to say I would gladly go for it.

I can shower afterwords knowing i made the quickest 50 bucks in history. Just imagine if 5 people offered the same challenge everyday?

That's $250.00 a day....

I'm sure there will be plenty of antibacterial soap for scrubbing...lol

Reply #10

tnlotto1 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:41:28 GMT

some people will say you are a gambling addict if you will go through trash looking for winning tickets and some others will say that you are really dedicated to winning the lottery one day.

Reply #9

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:39:20 GMT

if someone told me right now there was a scratch off worth 50 dollars in the dumpster i would not go in to get it.you'll never catch me in a smelly nasty dumpster no matter what.....

Reply #8

pacattack05 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:36:45 GMT

In my opinion, If someone is sifting through garbage, they need to reflect on their situation and do something about it.

They're at a really strong crossroads at that point in their life.

Trying to find a winning lottery ticket in a dumpster is as likely as beating the astronomical odds at a lotto game or powerball. Not to mention unappealing to the neighborhood in which you live.

Just like Jarasan says.....Is it worth the grief

Reply #7

jarasan — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 00:45:56 GMT

It's not worth it.

Reply #6

MIlottoplayer — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 00:14:55 GMT

You must have A LOT of free time on your hands if you're seriously contemplating doing this. I mean seriously...why waste your time. Those tickets are in the trash for a reason. I mean what are the odds of finding a winner? Probably worse than the odds of winning the Powerball or Mega Millions and if you do find a winner it will probably be a low dollar amount and definitely not worth the time and energy you put into it. I wouldn't do that on my worst day

Reply #5

tnlotto1 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 00:07:26 GMT

i also heard that tax story before so as long as the losing ticket wasnt already signed by someone else then anybody can claim it on taxes and say it was a gambling loss...

Reply #4

LuckyLilly — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 00:06:09 GMT

I recently saw a story along these lines. It said that many stores have a special trash can right by the place customers congregate to play their scratch-offs. In their down time, store employees go thru the discards and check for winners that were missed. I guess they can make a bit of cash doing this.

Reply #3

justxploring — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:58:46 GMT

When I've watched Law Order they always say discarded items are no longer personal property. However, I think the actual container (trash can, dumpster) is so you need to ask permission to dive into it. I can't stand washing my own toilet. So I guess I'll never put my hands into a strange trash can. I had a neighbor who was a garbage collector for Waste Management and, after hearing the stories, I never want to even think about it. He told me about some of the things people put in their... [ More ]

Reply #2

Coin Toss — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:55:59 GMT

There's a term for this, something beside scavengers , but there are people that hang around horse racing tracks (and OTB parlors) that go through all the tickets thrown away, looking for winners.

I guess lottert ticket dumpster diving ( or really 'trash can' diving) just takes that up one level.

Or maybe the people you rad about were trying to collect as many losers as they could, for taxes

Reply #1

tnlotto1 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:44:45 GMT

i have seen people check trash cans for scratch off tickets so they can check for winners someone accidentally threw away but i havent seen anyone checking for winning lottery tickets like powerball. i think the people who do it ask the store owner or the clerk first because some regulars who see them doing it may get mad and not want to play there anymore, one guy called it sharking and he intentionally tears his old scratch offs to pieces then throws them away...

Trash diving

stephi — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:40:09 GMT

I've read about others collecting tickets from trash cans and i've thought about it. I don't currently do it because i figure someone would say something to me. Do the store people or police mind? Thank you.