10 March 2010

I'm a winner. For once.

On Saturday night, Bob and I dropped Carter off at my in-laws house and then headed to a "beef and beer" to help support March of Dimes and Team EthanG.

My friend, Steph, ran this event and what an event it was. It was held at Kildare's Irish Pub just outside Philly by the King of Prussia Mall and it was a huge success! The food was fantastic {and I heard the beer was good too}...everyone seemed to really be enjoying themselves. Overall the event raised almost $1000! Woo hoo!

One of the things that Steph worked really hard on, was getting donations from local restaurants and businesses for a Chinese Auction {you buy raffle tickets for a certain price and then can use said tickets to enter to win a prize if your ticket is selected.}

With free donations to make baskets, all of the ticket sales would go straight to the March of Dimes. Not to mention, that it makes the event even more fun since people have a chance to win some fantastic prizes.

There were over 25 baskets filled with dinner gift cards, movie gift cards, Home Depot gift cards, baby products, autographed Flyers hockey sticks and autographed 76ers hats/team pictures, etc. I mean, I'm not kidding when I say that there was a TON of GREAT prizes.

See, for yourself...One of the things I knew I was going to "bet" on was a chance to win 2 free Phillies tickets with free VIP parking. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you must know by now that I am a huge Phillies fan. I was determined to win these tickets.

Not surprisingly, 71 of the 83 Phillies home games were sold out in the first day of ticket sales for the 2010 season, so I knew our chances of getting to a game this season {especially with a new baby} were few and far between.

Before the event, my mom {who was also determined to win the tickets} and I came up with the perfect strategy for entering our raffle tickets. Yes, there is a strategy to these things, people.

We got there at 6pm and purchased our tickets right away. But did not enter them. We knew that they would be calling the baskets at 8:15, so we obviously had to enter before that time. But think about it... if you put your tickets in too early, then you risk them not fully shaking the bag. If you enter too late, you're tickets will be too close to the top. Both options gave you no chance to win, right? Right... that's what we thought too.

So, we decided to enter at 7:35pm.

I went up to the table with my 35 raffle tickets and selected which baskets I wanted to "bet" on. After considering my options, here's what I decided:

"Picture This" {gift certificate for 1 full photography session with s.g.photography, 2 picture frames, photo album, scrapbooking stuff} - 4 raffle tickets

"Dinner and a Movie" {Outback gift card, movie gift card, DVD's, popcorn, & candy} - 2 raffle tickets

"I'll Drink To That" {2 bottles of wine, wine glasses, wine stoppers/charms, 2 tickets to the theater} - 2 raffle tickets {yes, even though I'm pregnant, I still wanted to win this basket... I have about 10 weeks left, people, give me a break! I need to have a stash ready for after I deliver.}

"Soft as a Baby's Bottom" {full of J&J baby products} - 2 raffle tickets

"Phillies" {2 Phillies tickets in section 138, free VIP parking, Phillies hat & t-shirt} - 25 raffle tickets {hey, I told you I was determined to win.}

About 40 minutes later they started calling the winners by raffle ticket number. First up was the "Picture This" basket and I got my tickets ready.

And I won.

My crazy raffle ticket strategy had worked. I knew it would be a good night.

They went through the other 25 baskets, and I didn't win anything. I was rethinking my strategy... did it really work? Did I enter my tickets at the right time? I mean... I can't win everything right? I shouldn't be blaming the strategy just yet...

Then they came to the very last basket of the night: the Phillies tickets. I quickly planned my attack on the person who might win. I found the nearest exit's and I knew I could probably grab the tickets and run down the stairs. I mean, who would hit a pregnant girl? It had to work.

She started calling the numbers.

4-8-...

Hmm, this is a little like LOST.

...2-6...

I'm still in the running.

...1-0...

Okay, this is looking good considering that I had tickets 100-107, right?

...5.

It was me.

I won.

I immediately put my hands up in victory. For a second, I worried about someone pulling the same stunt that I had planned... grabbing the tickets and running... but then I knew my belly would play a role in this, now unlikely, situation. I mean, no one would steal from a pregnant girl, right? Right... that's what I thought too.

I looked over at Bob who also had his hands up in victory. {Hmm, I wonder where Carter gets this from?} The rest of our friends/family looked like they wanted to hurt me.

I didn't care. I won.

My winning ticket...
...and both my winning baskets...I certainly got my money's worth, huh? For Bob and I to attend the event, it cost us $40. Then I spent an additional $20 on raffle tickets. So, $60 total. We got dinner for 2 and beer for Bob at the event, we then won a free newborn session for Brynn {estimated to be in the $100-150 range} and free Phillies tickets with free parking {estimated to be in the $80-$100 range}.

I'd say that was one hell of a night. Hmmm... maybe I should play the lottery...

post signature

11 comments:

Sarah said...

Aww, congrats on winning the tickets. How exciting!

Jill said...

Your strategy cracked me up -- and it makes perfect sense to me.

About 20 years ago, my grandma won a turkey from the local grocery store. She swore that she won it because she folded her raffle ticket like an accordian (back and forth). She claimed that the accordian folding made the ticket stick up and it got picked because of that.

I never enter a raffle or drawing without thinking about what my strategy should be!

jenni from the blog said...

@ Jill- Your grandma sounds like a genius to me =)

I'm glad to hear I'm not crazy! Or that I'm not the only crazy one ;)

~Mrs. JMS~ said...

I swear we need to hang out in person! You are hilarious! Im glad you had such good luck! LOL!

Bathed in Afterglow said...

I cannot BELIEVE how your strategy played out! I mean, as I'm reading, I'm nodding my head like "Yes, that makes sense....." to your logic of putting them in at 7:35.

I think it's only appropriate that one of the newborn outfits involves Brynn in a Phillies onesie :)

Jeannie said...

Whoop whoop! Congrats!

MrsKBJ said...

What a fun night! I have never heard of a Chinese Auction, that is really neat. Your strategy was great too!! Congrats!! You won some awesome gifts!!
Kelly

Mandee said...

Congrats on winning!
Love your blog design, it's a little similar to mine, but I actually like yours better! :)

Following you from Friday Follow!
Have a great weekend! :)
http://raisingmy4sons.com

Debbiedoos said...

Congrats on being a winner! Now for the icecream tub...that was me totally when I was prego yum yum!!~ You look fabulous and glowing::) Enjoy! Following you from the friday hop...

Heather said...

Congrats! That's really amazing. I'm sure the photos will be highly cherished once they are taken. Have a great time at the game!

I'm a new follower.

www.growingplacesnow.blogspot.com

Heather said...

Congrats! That's really amazing. I'm sure the photos will be highly cherished once they are taken. Have a great time at the game!

I'm a new follower.

www.growingplacesnow.blogspot.com

© jenni from the blog, All Rights Reserved.

Designed by A Grande Life