I am RICH! Or not? Lottery prank

Really, really mean, don’t you think? But then again: which prank isn’t? Make someone win the lottery and lose it all again can be great fun indeed. Well, you know for whom it won’t!

This prank does not work really well between a couple (except you need a revenge scheme), very close friends or family in small groups. The real fun only unfolds in a dynamic group setting where tension builds throughout the lottery or sweepstakes drawing and while the “pranked” starts to share his sheer joy after supposedly winning.

You wouldn’t like to take that away from him anymore, would you? Well you definitively should for this prank to work or do you want to be a cry baby forever?

This is a group prank really. Everyone needs to know and play along. Why? Imagine a bigger group of uninvolved to turn towards the pranked in solidarity after the prank is resolved? Ugly for you, fun gone and maybe your friends as well. For the same reason you wouldn’t really like to play this prank between a couple in a romantic setting.

Except you love getting kicked in the face in public after plotting this at a romantic dinner in the most expensive restaurant in town, rolling over laughing at the expense of your date. If you should be one of the rare individuals cracking up for being beaten publicly you might just be freaked enough to become an author at this website. We love you already!

Back to the lottery prank. The way you plot it depends on the chosen setting, technical possibilities and the group involved. If you are dealing with a gang of diehard game players it shouldn’t be difficult at all to throw in a lottery. It needs to be clear though that there are possibilities to win real cash. Don’t go overboard with the jackpot for it might seem fishy to the “pranked”.

The more realistic the material looks the deeper the impact. For a special event (like a wedding) it might makes sense to have your material printed professionally. But since most local lotteries use rather less sophisticated lottery tickets you should be fine with a regular ink jet printer. Buy some lottery tickets for preparation or even scan some original ones.

At that point of preparing the whole prank could potentially turn into a whole different ball game. Either you win a significant amount with a test ticket and would rather prefer to appear at work and kick your boss in the balls before boarding a one-way flight to the Bahamas or one of the party guests at the prank event will have you arrested for falsifying official lottery tickets.

Either way, both options would throw off the whole prank, delay it or render it the most stupid idea in human history. But you wouldn’t care for another nonsense reward in either cases, would you now?

Sealing up the ticket (don’t forget to jot down the winning code and make sure to mark the doctored ticket) should be done in similar ways as the original ones. Glue or pressure seal might be applied.

Now it’s up to the drawing. How could you successfully fake for the prankster to pick the marked, doctored lottery ticket? Depending on the setting you might have someone who’s unsuspicious looking and behaving hand out single tickets to the chosen group of people. Or you could just present the one ticket to the pranked as if you had picked it up as a gift.

Combining the ticket delivery with a personal invitation could work or put it onto the plate at a festive dinner when seating is dedicated. This might be a bit tricky as seating might be mixed up due to some uncontrollable reason. For example your prank victim might swap seats to impress someone, get closer (or the opposite) to some other events prevents the pranked to take the dedicated spot.

In order to resolve the prank you could use official announcements, the news papers (if your ticket was doctored to feature the right code) or some poster-like print out that (again) carries the pranked code.

Depending on the setting and social code your prank victim might do some really weird stuff if he found out he won. This, of course, is primarily influenced by the amount or price. Make sure there is nothing expensive close to the prank victim that might get belly up in joy upon “winning” or for opposite feelings when the prank is resolved.

Also you might want to take cover.
Seriously!

On second thought: watching with a running engine from a really fast car might come in handy. Better even: a whole group plays along and takes the blame collectively. If done right this prank could potentially result in the biggest laugh and fun your buddies have ever experienced as a group and everyone will have a great story to tell for life. Recording is always a good idea for repeated fun (and embarrassment) and proof for later law suits or liability claims.

If everything goes wrong you can start writing at this website in the hope to make some new friends and replace your lost family (but not your reputation). But this, my friend, is a biggy for us; proven (and abandoned) pranksters are highly welcome here. Because we’d know: you went all the way!

Another method without being in a big group and you could even do this being absent would be to buy a lotto ticket one day and another the day after (do it early) with the exact same numbers as the winning ticket from the day before. When the victim of your prank isn't paying attention swap the newer ticket with the old one. When the person looks in the paper for the winning numbers, he or she won't even realize the date is wrong on the ticket (especially if she or he never plays bt this one time) and will believe in the big win.

Have fun!

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