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Steven Myers
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Joined: 10 June 2004
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Posted: 24 February 2026 at 4:53pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

On the topic of winnings costing you. The $2500 of free furniture added a little over a hundred dollars to our income taxes that year, as I recall. Also, I have a friend who won $25,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire when he was in college. His financial assistance that year was cut by about $23,000 due to his winnings.
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John Popa
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Joined: 20 March 2008
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Posted: 24 February 2026 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

In second grade over the course of one month I won both a 10-speed bicycle and a moped. I assumed this was setting up a lifetime of lucky breaks ... it's been downhill ever since :)

A friend won a car on 'The Price Is Right' and it's a whole thing with those taxes, you have to be able them right there that day!


Edited by John Popa on 24 February 2026 at 4:59pm
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 03 March 2026 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Looking again at this thread, I find myself for the first time realizing that $25 would have been a HUGE prize in 1961. Somewhere around $250 in today’s money.

It may have been a typo!

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Evan S. Kurtz
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Posted: 03 March 2026 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I don't enter a lot of contests, but back when I was in Teacher's College and doing my practicums, I won an iPod Touch. Then when I did my next placement two months later - the final internship before completing the program - I won a second iPod Touch. Gave that one to my wife.
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Samuel P. Barden
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Posted: 04 March 2026 at 11:44am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I haven't won many contests. A Dancing contest in gym in 12th grade with a bunch of kids who couldn't dance. A prayer book I did with my mom. But....

My big win was for my public access show on BRIC TV, Brooklyn public access. My team did an episode on the Black Panther and Christopher Priest which I must say needs a lot of work now. The people at BRIC liked it. So they put it in their B Free Awards show. We were up for the B Informed award. The Plan was to stay for that award and leave. So they show the nominees of the award and it's all of these important documentaries.... against my little fair use Documentary on Christopher Priest...There was no chance we would win, but we did.

The whole place is silent. I cursed a little to myself thinking this was ridiculous. My friend and co-producer was so excited. He took the lead when we got to the mic. We weren't even dressed up. So my friend asked me to say something. I responded... "I want to give a moment to all of the nominees..." and that got a reaction. The people clapped. Then since I had them I did a joke about having to leave the stage cause we will miss our scheduled video on BRIC TV. We did the Wakanda forever signal and they applauded when we got off stage.

We stayed the rest of the night.

Then on their website, they had a picture of me looking like I was giving a State of the Union address, with my faded jeans on.
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Michael Murphy
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Posted: 04 March 2026 at 6:52pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

When my youngest brother was in high school in the early 1990's he would frequently call in to radio stations when they had contests and won tons of stuff, usually concert tickets.
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Josh Goldberg
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Joined: 25 October 2005
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Posted: 05 March 2026 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

The only thing I recall winning was two tickets to the Van Halen reunion tour c.2005.
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Trevor Smith
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Joined: 21 September 2006
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Posted: 06 March 2026 at 11:17am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

That was one hell of a prize, Josh!
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