Edit to the mods: Thank you for approving this topic.
First of all, I apologise if this is in the wrong category but where it should belong to there aren’t any topics like that and all topics there being actual lotteries only which will be automatically closed after a certain amount of days. Which also means that there is no exchange of thoughts provided. This topic is about lotteries; and I have wanted to write about it for quite a while now…so please have mercy on me. Thank you.
As a participant
My experiences and thoughts as a participant are rather simple: either I win or I don’t. I have no real preference concerning the kind of lottery, chain or normal. Both are ok, although the latter one doesn’t require any effort from me later. My experiences with WTA lotteries are limitted: only participated once and I don’t know if my mail arrived.
What are your experiences as a participant? What are your favourite lotteries (WTA, chain, normal, mystery, …)? Do you have a preference how the winner(s) is/are picked? Do you mind being the first entrant in a lottery? Do you check the postal monitor before you enter?
As a lottery host
As a lottery host I’ve made the experience that I’d wished for certain participants to win, especially when they have repeatedly participated in several of my lotteries–only to realise that the random number generator or postbot picked another number. My capacities are limited (not enough samples of the same postcard, stamps, time, etc.), thus I cannot write/sent the offered postcard/stickers/whatever flat item to all the participants who entered my lotteries. Although I sometimes do wish I could do so.
Have you ever experienced something similar as a lottery host?
As a lottery host: What are your favourite lotteries? If you raffle off postcards, do you prefer your participants/winners to choose w/s or blank in envelope? What is your favourite method to pick a winner (and maybe why)? What items do you like to raffle off?
The next question is tricky and probably difficult to answer if at all: How random actually are random number generators? Sure, the drawn number(s) also depend(s) on the number of participants and how many winners there will be (one or more). I checked all my lotteries (normal and chain) and found that a few numbers were repeatedly drawn a few times (!) by either number generator or postbot.
Furthermore, I remember one participant who didn’t want to start as the first entrant (#1). This seems to be the case for quite a few lotteries. At least in all my lotteries this number hasn’t been drawn yet (as haven’t several others; again depending on the amount of participants, etc.). But same might be true for the last entrant–I don’t know and didn’t check respectively.
Additionally, as a lottery host I have some fears: Forgetting to end a lottery and pick a winner (nearly happened once–remembered the lottery a few days later than planned); that my postcard, etc. is not arriving/getting lost; that my offered item is not good enough, so no one wants to participate; that I mix up the winners and their prizes (when more than one winner is picked). What are your “concerns” if you have any?
What I would also wish for: Being able to send off fat envelopes. This is something I cannot do unlike other postcrossers and lottery hosts. Therefore, only flat items.
What is more fun for/to you: Participating in a lottery or hosting one?