@Oldghost - That's another issue with the "chase". The record keeping isn't the best. There's stores listed as having 3 books of Super Millions, and when you arrive the cashiers/representatives or even store owner say they don't have any. Trying to get books from "received" to "activated" is challenging, especially when most cashiers are going to want to try to tell you they don't have any in stock so that you can leave them alone. =p
SM 720k-737k is in that "sweet range" for where many of us expect the final jackpot to be found. Do you know how many are left in that particular book? I'm going to be in West Palm tomorrow, so I might be able to make a trip.
The reason I've stopped playing SM is because out of all books I've played through, I have been unable to find anything over $200. With the gigantic stack of duds I have on that game, one would assume I would have come across $500, or a $1k hit.
You are absolutely right, there are definitely problems with inventory. There's lots of mysteries out there regarding the whereabouts of these books. If 200 books are listed as "activated/received", I'd expect the true number to be about half of that based on experiences of interacting with stores. There's a process with "Settling" finished books, and I think some retailers or the lotto might make errors here which leads to some stores still being on the list for many months after finishing a game.
I'm also very ballsy like Krissam, and would be willing to tag along to go visit any store as well. =p