What is the most money (or other) that you have ever won?

I won 10 lobsters at a road race in Portsmouth NH, and when i went to the store to get steamers to go with em, they were going for 11 bucks a pound, so i figure i made out pretty well in that race.

$ 4,600 playing craps at Sams Town in Vegas. Won $ 1,800 playing craps at the Tropicano during Superbowl weekend in Vegas last year.

A guy in England (2:14 marathon man) won £25,000 ($50K) for winning a man versus horse race over 23 miles of rough muddy terrain. The prize for the first man to ever win had been building £1,000 a year for 25 years before he did it. Several Kenyans had tried and failed a couple of years earlier (apparently they ran in flats and had a bit of trouble on the muddy uphill bits!).

500$ online gaming tournament a few years back, age of empires 2, DM.

$52,500... online poker tournament.

I bet you guys are a lot of fun to hang out with.

I was the top American at the Prefontaine memorial 10k and won a trip for a week in Finland to run the Lasse Viren 20k. I got to hang out with Viren and other Finns.

normal person wrote:

I bet you guys are a lot of fun to hang out with.

I think the other guys are a bit older than myself, but seem like pretty well-adjusted posters. Chess, like running, is great for teaching discipline, and while I don't play chess or run at the moment, I've found that the dedication I learned in those pursuits transfers easily to other endeavors (for me that currently involves grad school, lifting weights, and frequent games of beirut).

AN, approaching master rating, that is quite impressive! I played my junior year of high school a bit, quit with a 1265 rating due to those brutal scholastic tourneys, then played three or four more times my freshman year in college when USCF had introduced a "bonus points" system to get underrated people up higher. My performance ratings were consistently in the 1800 and 1900's during that time, but I stopped after not long with a mid-1600's rating. That next summer I picked up running, found I was a little better there than chess (sub 15) and have since moved onto other hobbies. But both chess and running (the latter especially) have had huge impacts on my life and way of approaching things.

[quote]normal person wrote:

I bet you guys are a lot of fun to hang out with.

Actually I believe in the population of tournament chess players there were a significant number of people who tended to be both arrogant and have poor social graces. (Of course there were a lot of great people too)

However I think serious chess playing, particularly for kids and teenagers, develop the cognitive skills or concentration, reasoning, visualization and problem solving. Its serious cognitive training.

Your comment is kind of ironic though because its the same thing many "normal" people would say about distance runners.

$125 for 8th place in a 20K three years straight. I also won a one night stay for two at a gaming resort, which included dinner at some sort of buffet. It was easily worth over $100. I sold the gift certificate for $75. This past fall, I missed a cash prize by several seconds but finished first in my age group to win a jack-o-lantern carved by the world champion pumpkin carver; I was thrilled.[quote]drdrdr wrote:

I once went into a casino and played 200 straight dollar coins in a slot machine one coin at a time and didn't get one single payback.

I also have bought approximately 5000 lottery tickets over the years and have not won a dime.

I have won as much as $5,000 in a race and have won more than $1,000 on many other occasions.

After winning the prize money I always had a medical or dental problem and ended up giving the money to a doctor.

The races I won money in, I had to run fast times because everyone and their brother showed up the years I ran and I finished down the field. Previous years the times were weak and the money easy if I wasn't there.

I did win a game of BINGO last week at the senior citizens recreation center..

I was mugged and robbed of my winnings shortly after leaving the senior citizen center.

free plane ticket to anywhere in the US. Used it to go to Puerto Rico for a wedding. Last minute too so it was over $1000.

About $800 in a beerpong tourney in 2003...split with my partner. Nobody at the tourney had ever seen my partner and I play, and we had about 100 people rooting against us at the end of the 32 team tournament. One of the dudes we beat threw a beer bottle at my head after we won...definitely one of the best experiences I've ever had(winning the tourney, not ducking).

Its interesting how so many people buy lottery tickets knowing that they are one of the poorest returns on investment.

People deny can reality quite easily sometimes.

i hit 4 aces on a $1 video poker machine at max bet and made 2000. switched to a .25 and made 1000 hitting a royal. it was a good day in vegas... a very good day

I think your's has to be the top prize for the average guys on here. Not many people get to meet a legend like Viren. Did you get to run with him?

Yes, I did get to run with Viren. He also ran the 20k.

I spent the week at Ari Pononen's (spelling) house (he held the world junoir 3,000 record for over 20 years).

It was a fun trip; Viren's race is a 20k almost all on ski trails.

Hey Avacados,

Since your name has no email attached I assume you want to remain unknown but you achieved a 2200 rating. Did you happen to play in the KC area in the 90's? RP?

$1000 in a YouTube contest. Saved my ass when I was in Hong Kong...