Liquidshokk Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Whilst dreaming about winning the lottery yesterday as I do quite often, I wondered what other chances to win some big dosh we're passing us by every day. Thinking about making an effort to sign up for as many competitions as possible that you can win lump sums of cash in. Do any of you do this out of desperation or as a hobby and have you had any luck? Any regular free/paid ones actually worth entering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatch Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I do randomly enter competitions , but they have to be the ones that require very little effort from myself. My daughter entered a Sony competition where you had to send in a quick video of yourself doing a mexican wave , and she won a week in South Africa, for the 2010 WC, including flights and a 5 star hotel and tickets to one of the QFs. It turned out, they only had 52 entries in total. So, the more work you have to put in in entering, the more likely you are to win, as they will have very few entries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 3 April, 2012 Author Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I do randomly enter competitions , but they have to be the ones that require very little effort from myself. My daughter entered a Sony competition where you had to send in a quick video of yourself doing a mexican wave , and she won a week in South Africa, for the 2010 WC, including flights and a 5 star hotel and tickets to one of the QFs. It turned out, they only had 52 entries in total. So, the more work you have to put in in entering, the more likely you are to win, as they will have very few entries. Bet that prize seemed too good to be true at the time. I've just had a look around online and they all seem to want your address (Cue heaps of junk mail) and you have to consent to be harrassed for marketing purposes. So much stuff I just don't think I can trust filling out online.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Bet that prize seemed too good to be true at the time. I've just had a look around online and they all seem to want your address (Cue heaps of junk mail) and you have to consent to be harrassed for marketing purposes. So much stuff I just don't think I can trust filling out online.... had a bad time away at work once...on the night I got back..got wasted and bought £100 worth of lotto tickets online won £77 quid mind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 3 April, 2012 Author Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Just filled in loads of surveys on myoffers.co.uk and my iPhones just gone on mental one as the emails fly in APPARENTLY people do actually win on there........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 3 April, 2012 Author Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Definitely make your own luck with stuff like this. I've won a few competitions, nothing that big but free football tickets at least. So many say I'm unlucky so no point entering, missing the point that you stand slightly more chance of 'luck' if you actually try. I'd suggest anything like that if it doesn't cost you money and doesn't take too much time. I once won Saints tickets from Bet 365... Shame I was made aware of it after I had ended up buying one. My mate was pleased though.. Guess its about finding competitions tucked away that don't get many entrants. Might stick with myoffers.co.uk for a while, although can imagine thousands of other people are sat filling in the mind numbing surveys everyday too lessening my chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintscottofthenortham Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I entered a competition with NME Magazine years ago and won a 32gb iPod which was worth a fair few quid at the time. That week I had a day off work with a bad back and the missus was watching Loose Women or some sh*t like that and the competition was for a 32gb iPod. I can't remember the question but the answer was David Seaman so I text in and... won my 2nd iPod in a week. I should have done the lottery that week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Not a means to 'win' as such, but I do find that taking a Shotgun into HSBC can result in a windfall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Just filled in loads of surveys on myoffers.co.uk and my iPhones just gone on mental one as the emails fly in APPARENTLY people do actually win on there........ I'm not too sure anyone actually wins anything on there either, but I set up an alternate account and just entered everything for a while. I dread to think how much sh*te is in that inbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampersound Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I won the Fanta win an ultimate games room from texting in on a can of Dr Pepper. I won a wii, 26" HD TV, mini fridge and 120 cans of Fanta/dr pepper/sprite. Having just purchased a wii at the time (2007) I sold this one on eBay for £300 just before Xmas. Happy days. Won nothing since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Gambling on sport can be a quick winner. Always back the favourite. Your returns won't be massive but you're guaranteed to win far more than you lose and be well up over the season if you dont get greedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Gambling on sport can be a quick winner. Always back the favourite. Your returns won't be massive but you're guaranteed to win far more than you lose and be well up over the season if you dont get greedy. There's been research on the topic: supposedly people overvalue favourites and consequently the odds are ****** poor. Over time, its been shown that betting on underdogs, esp home teams that are large underdogs and away teams that are even larger underdogs is a more profitable strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasgow_Saint Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Just filled in loads of surveys on myoffers.co.uk and my iPhones just gone on mental one as the emails fly in APPARENTLY people do actually win on there........ Haha how many? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 (edited) If you play Blackjack perfectly in the UK (just look up online when to draw, split, stick etc) your odds of winning are 103% - so for every £1,000 you stake you win £30. The casino wins from those people from people doing dumb things like getting a card on 18. Doesnt work in the US because their rules favour the house. Its not actually much fun to do though, playing to a formula, and you need to play a lot of hands to make it worthwhile. Edited 3 April, 2012 by buctootim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I won £5K off a Natwest student prize draw about 10 years back. It was open to anyone with a student/graduate account and I hadnt been a student for nearly 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu0x Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 If you play Blackjack perfectly in the UK (just look up online when to draw, split, stick etc) your odds of winning are 103% - so for every £1,000 you stake you win £30. The casino wins from those people from people doing dumb things like getting a card on 18. Doesnt work in the US because their rules favour the house. Its not actually much fun to do though, playing to a formula, and you need to play a lot of hands to make it worthwhile. Not true. Perfect Blackjack returns 96.5%. There was a time a couple of years back when the sudden explosion in online casinos created a good opportunity. They were all offering things like First Deposit Matching up to £100 with very few conditions, other than a fairly high churn rate to prevent hail-Mary style tactics from being profitable. Because of the churn, low stakes perfect Blackjack was a very efficient way of ensuring the 'free' money remained in your account until you could withdraw it. I made about 3k for five evening's 'work'. Unfortunately since then they've gotten wise and introduced a whole host of conditions to prevent you from doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSixty Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 Won an iPod mini from Walkers, a Dreamcast from a pub and a few grand from Poker. Though i consider the poker money earnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 There's been research on the topic: supposedly people overvalue favourites and consequently the odds are ****** poor. Over time, its been shown that betting on underdogs, esp home teams that are large underdogs and away teams that are even larger underdogs is a more profitable strategy. Risky though. If you'd bet on Man U to win every time this season for example you'd have won 24 out of 31 times. You might not win as much as a one off big outsider but you'll definitely be up over the course of a season. I know a bloke who has a pretty decent extra income from backing big favourite. Sticking a 500 sheets on every week for United, City or whoever to Win. £200-£250 up most weeks. Of course you've to be able to affors to lose the £500 in the first place mind.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintscottofthenortham Posted 3 April, 2012 Share Posted 3 April, 2012 I won £73 on my accy tonight. Bout feckin time one come in. I was over £500 up last year, I think I'll struggle to break even this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 4 April, 2012 Share Posted 4 April, 2012 If you play Blackjack perfectly in the UK (just look up online when to draw, split, stick etc) your odds of winning are 103% - so for every £1,000 you stake you win £30. The casino wins from those people from people doing dumb things like getting a card on 18. Doesnt work in the US because their rules favour the house. Its not actually much fun to do though, playing to a formula, and you need to play a lot of hands to make it worthwhile. Nonsense. There is no way to beat Blackjack long term. Perfect Blackjack strategy will reduce the dealer's edge to about 2% so you'll win more than most Casino games and keep yourself going throughout the comped drinks and whatnot but believe me when I say that Blackjack is not beatable. I could spew a load of stuff about how I know several professional gamblers (most being Poker players) and am well-researched on the subject of odds and gambling but if anyones in doubt just use common sense. Do you REALLY think that a Casino would offer a game in which the house had a losing edge?/Do you really think that if Blackjack were beatable that the vast majority of people wouldn't find the strategy and have no difficulty applying it? Using correct card-counting with a one-deck table it is possible for the player to have a +ev of about 0.2%. But no casino online or live does that. They use an 8-deck shoe precisely to prevent that. Besides which even then you'd make literally £2 on average for every £1000 bet. Thing is, obviously the whole thing with gambling from the point of view of the casino is that whilst the house always wins, that doesn't mean EVERY gambler HAS to lose, so naturally there are loads of people ready to pop up with cute little stories about how they finished £200 up for the night that one time. Whilst yes there are few ways of making a quick buck, there are also scams and things which seem too good to be true because, quite simply, they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctoroncall Posted 4 April, 2012 Share Posted 4 April, 2012 I've won a years supply of pot noodle! It turned out to be about 90 pots though. I can't stand them now and I didn't eat them all. Otherwise, I've won a plenty of things at conferences by putting your business card 'in the hat' from F1 tickets to a class with a top chef, the job title helps though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 4 April, 2012 Share Posted 4 April, 2012 whenever I have joined a new online betting website and you get a nice juicy free £50 bet or whatever I always go for women's volleyball and bet on some massive odds on cert. The chances of an upset seem slight to me as that game is all about the quality and very little about luck. The return is small, but its still a return. If that doesn't float your boat then £5 Lambert first goal scorer seems to do the trick every time my brother in law comes to watch Saints. Never seems to work for me though so I've left that bet alone. No need to to thank me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 4 April, 2012 Share Posted 4 April, 2012 I've won a years supply of pot noodle! It turned out to be about 90 pots though. did you feel robbed that it wasn't 365? I think I would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctoroncall Posted 5 April, 2012 Share Posted 5 April, 2012 did you feel robbed that it wasn't 365? I think I would have. Initially I was but then after a dozen or so iwas very glad it wasn't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 5 April, 2012 Share Posted 5 April, 2012 Go to the competitions board on the Money Saving Expert forum. There are 100s of comps posted daily all free to enter with answers. This includes all the ITV ones: Daybreak, This Morning etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 5 April, 2012 Author Share Posted 5 April, 2012 Go to the competitions board on the Money Saving Expert forum. There are 100s of comps posted daily all free to enter with answers. This includes all the ITV ones: Daybreak, This Morning etc. That's a great shout. I've just given myself a dead arm filling in loads of forms on my iPhone :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 6 April, 2012 Share Posted 6 April, 2012 That's a great shout. I've just given myself a dead arm filling in loads of forms on my iPhone :S Download robbo form then you can fill in forms with a single click Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draino76 Posted 10 April, 2012 Share Posted 10 April, 2012 Won £5 in a bag of walkers crisps. Pretty chuffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pap Posted 10 April, 2012 Share Posted 10 April, 2012 Poker is my most frequent means of winning money. I finish inside the bubble on most live games I play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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