What's the biggest prize you've ever won

In order not to disrupt the sweepstakes thread...

Outside of casino gambling, what's the biggest or most expensive prize you've won?

Back in the 80s (and I won't be more specific than that), the English department in high school had an essay contest; curiously the essays were to be written in Spanish. First prize was 4 weeks at language school abroad (just the school tuition plus room and board). I wrote an essay about the prospects of artificial hearts and inter-species transplants. I won first place.

From what I recall about it, I was too optimistic and completely missed the boat on gene-based therapies (I did mention stem cells, though).

Anyway, I wound up spending 4 weeks at Cambridge, England. By then I was already fluent in English, but it was a great opportunity to practice it for an extended period, and to ransack every bookstore in Cambridge for SF books.

Now that's a prize ( scholarship ? ) ! 'grats.

$10,000 on a scratch off lottery ticket! I went straight to the nearest office to get my check, they kept $3100 for state and fed taxes. Next stop was my bank to deposit it, and then to the PGA Superstore to order my new set of Pings. Not bad for a $10 ticket.

A Rolex Oyster Datejust, and I did it twice. Best part, the second one was a ladies', so Mrs Mosca got one.

I won a bellyflop contest at 1310 AM The Ticket's SummerBash in 2007 at Lake Lewisville, near Dallas, TX. The contest was sponsored by Bud Light and I got a mini fridge and Bud Light stylized portable hammock. I thought we were going to jump into the pool from a diving board but an hour before they told me it was going to be from the second deck of a pontoon boat anchored just offshore in the lake...I started drinking heavily which helped my form immensely.

I earned a 2,000/yr scholarship from my mother's employer, a very large tech firm. That plus Stafford loans plus summer jobs was actually enough to get me through school with minimal debt (the Stafford loans only, no CC or additional loans).

I was unknowingly entered into a free drawing at a work party 2 years ago. I was deep into a $10 Hold Em game when I heard my name called and groans of disappointment. After about the third person yelled for me to come up, I hurried to the podium, grabbed something with thanks, and hurried back to my "hi stakes" game. On the way back I had people yelling out offers to buy what I had won...$50!...$100!...$150! I had no idea what was going on. Someone ran up to me with $200 cash and I almost took it, except a friend of mine stopped me and clued me in. I won a 32g iPad back when it was still a new thing, and I had no idea what it was lol. I ended up selling it on eBay for almost $700, got me not one but two (!) new fishing poles and gave the remaining $600+ to the then-wife.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Now that's a prize ( scholarship ? ) ! 'grats.

Thank you.

Yes, that was quite a prize. It also taught me to write about something that's topical and controversial. At the time thre had been recently two attempts at permanent artificial hearts, and a pediatric case involving a heart from a baboon (that's where I mentioned stem cells as a far-off alternative to perhaps grow organs). I mostly tackled the ethics and the practical implications.

And of course I couldn't have done it had I not been subscribed to Discover magazine at the time.

Oh, BTW, at the office's anual xmas party, there's a drawing with several prizes, ranging from flatware sets to televisions and the big prize is a refrigerator. One of the most imortant rules in drawings and sweepstakes, is that the family of the poeple organizing it or managing it cannot take part. It does help keep things on the upa nd up, right? It's important to know one fo the owners is my brother in law.

This drawing works by 1) they pull out a name from a bowl and 2) the person whose name is called pulls a prize out of another bowl. Well, my first year there I told the woman in charge to leave my name out. Since my name wasn't called, I thought she'd done so. The next year they do call my name. Is tep up and tell her I can't draw for a prize. She insists that I do, and out comes a 40" plasma TV (which was the big prize that year). Of course I gave it back.

They have left my name out since.

OK, I am going to be a bit sappy, and I can already hear the comments. But, the truth is, my wife was the biggest prize I have ever won. She has given me a pretty cool step-daughter (18 yrs) (a term I despise), one beautiful little boy (3 yrs), and one gorgeous little girl (3 mths).

As for anything not sappy, biggest prize was probably two wrist radios back in the late '70s for answering two trivia questions. They were big and clunky, but fit on my wrist. Oh how technology has evolved.

Well, I just "won" a trip to the Bahamas. Atlantis, actually. I'm not sure if something like that is "won" or 'earned", though; it's a performance incentive that we hit, but the actual choice of who goes is random, in that there are close to a dozen eligible for two prizes.

But anyhow, there you have it!

I've had 2 substantial wins outside of casino gambling.

Trip to Disney World for 8 nights from a draw supporting our CFL team and also a $25,000 win on a $2 scratch ticket. Both tax free up here in Canada.

I won $45,550, plus a guided tour of Guatemala (valued at $5,000) on Wheel of Fortune.

The worst part was keeping secret how much I won for 3 months, until the show aired. At least my wife shared the secret with me, since she was in the audience.