Increase Your Luck in Winning, Part 1 of 3

Sweepstaking has evolved from ancient games of chance, played by the upper classes of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and other cultures. Games combining luck with skill have been found in such places as King Tut's tomb, and in numerous other ancient ruins and civilizations. As with the ancients, the modern-day form combines luck with skill in order to win. In this way, it can be considered as somewhat of a science, or an art form, if you will. It just depends on what way you play it.

If you play for luck, then you rely on the chance that you will be receiving that winning sweepstakes letter some day. If you play to win, then you will do whatever you can to increase the odds, which is where the skill part comes in. In this sense it is still the same as it was in its ancient art form.

So, what skills are used to increase the odds? Aside from simple things such as brightly colored envelopes for mail-in entries, utilizing alternate forms of entry, and entering often, there are still more and even simpler ways to bring on good luck.

Enter the Second Chance Drawings

This has to do with search-and-find skills... searching for and finding instant win drawings. Many instant win games will have a second chance drawing with new and improved versions of prizes offered in the original sweepstakes, and will even include prizes that were not offered in the original in order to use up the sweepstakes budget. The odds of winning will generally be increased because they may not include using the original game pieces, (some are done by mail-in entries), they will just as often as not allow an increased amount of entries, and many times the second chance drawings are just overlooked by potential entrants. These drawings can sometimes be found in the official rules of the original instant win game.

Fill Out Entry Forms Neatly and Completely

This skill is based in form. When filling out a form that requests your name, address, and zip code, don't forget to fill out your complete address. This most often will mean your official street address, spelled out fully (for instance, use "Street" instead of the abbreviated "St."). For delivery purposes, a P.O. box is often not allowed, though if it is (check the rules), use it, too as some prizes are mailed.

If a day and evening phone number requested, be sure to use an entry for both, even if they are the same one. If an email address is an option, fill it in. These things not only help to avoid disqualification, they can give an added bonus of "good luck" by someone noticing that you put the extra time and effort into filling these things in neatly and completely. Also, with both a phone number and email address, you give them multiple ways to contact you for a win.

Next Friday we will look at more ways to use skill to increase your luck in winning sweepstakes.




Continue to Part 2 here

Good Luck!