Wow,that's great! Congrats on your winnings. I so totally agree with you that a dollar and a dream is a joke except for those VERY RARE occasions when someone will hit on a quick pick or two. Good answer here, if you are planning on winning any kind of jackpot you do have to step it up and be willing to invest some dough, that's all there is to it. And it can't be "scared" money, I think that's what they call it in the gambling world, money that you aren't afraid to lose. It has to be money that you don't need for anything else. When I think about my own playing habits and how tentitive I play it is no wonder I've never won a jackpot. You gotta have guts, LOL.
I always remember going to the casino with my cousin who is not a gambler in any sense of the word. He stood in front of a machine and while he was feeding in quarters he was laughing and saying, "I'm not going to win anything". That moment always stuck in my mind because he DIDN'T win anything. He didn't BELIEVE. His mind set was all wrong. How many of us have thrown a dollar over the counter for a ticket and inside our mind thought, "ah well,I probably won't win but I'll give it a shot."
How about when we give that dollar over we start thinking,"THIS will be the winner!" Wonder how much more you would win?