I think my story Friday evening was kind of funny. Where I live, there isn't a Chase bank for at least a 50 mile radius. After getting off work, I was trying to figure out ways to get a good amount of money because I wanted to buy several books of Super Millions, a $20 ticket. I've been playing that ticket for a while with other people on the FL Lotto thread. This was going to be my "final splurge" as I was getting a "bonus paycheck" from my job that I initially didn't factor.
Four books costs a whopping $2,400. What did I resort to doing to bypass the ATM limit of $500? I went to Walmart, and kept buying a Snickers/pack of gum and taking $100 cash back. Fast forward 30-45 minutes later when I finally had enough money (and enough candy for the rest of the year). I was annoyed because my debit card had the fraud prevention kick in after 5 transactions, so I had to call to spend 5-10 mins to get it reactivated/approved. I had alot of annoying setbacks on Friday that would have told the average lotto player "Just go to another store nearby, or maybe buying these books isn't meant to be". Before coming up with the snickers cashback plan, I had the brilliant idea of buying 2 money orders for $1k+ each. I stood in line at Walmart for about 20-25 mins and when I was finally helped by the money services desk, I was swiftly told "money orders aren't even active until the following day". If that gives further context, the Snickers cashback solution was the saving plan. Although, I'm pretty sure I looked like a total weirdo buying through so many snickers to get cashback. The Walmart staff members were really cool about it, and the girls at the self-checkout thought it was a smart idea. I had researched these two particular stores, called a bunch to see all their book numbers, and I was really hopeful.
I drove to a couple of nearby cities to get those books (Lake City, FL and Anthony, FL). Probably about 2.5 - 3 hrs of driving when all was said and done. It was 10PM after I got back, and I decided I was determined to scratch through those books. My overall returns looked like (in the order I scratched each book, not ordered by book number)
Book 1 (733829)
Total return: $101,340/$600
Found a $100k winner on ticket #12, and $1k winner on ticket # 17. Aside from that, the $340 return is what would be an "average" payout aside from the two big winners. I still found it crazy two big wins would be in a single book.
I stopped scratching for at least an hour after this book for obvious reasons.
Book 2 (733850)
Total return: $935/$600
Found two $100 winners (#9, and #11) and a $500 winner (#21)
Book 3 (725602)
Total return: $335/$600 (Your average book, 1 $100 winner and nothing over that)
Book 4 (734260)
Total return: $335/$600 (Your average book, nothing over $100)