High Stakes Sweeper

Someone shared this video with me and I had to laugh because once upon a time this was me. Well me without access to the internet because no one had access to smart phones and the internet back in the late seventies and early eighties when I used to play radio contests all the time.

Ah those were the days when I would often call my three favorite radio stations almost every day and wind up winning something from one of them almost every day.

I was winning multiple concert tickets, albums, T-shirts, and so much more. Back then there were no hard and fast rules against winning multiple times even multiple times a day.

I took a break radio call-ins when I went back to college but that didn't keep me from going to Live remotes where there were always opportunities to win something.

After I graduated from college and moved to Richmond, VA I picked up where I left off and began playing radio call-ins yet again as well as live remotes. It appeared that I hadn't lost my touch.

During college I began entering mail ins but it seemed much more difficult to win but with small wins here and there I continued to dabble in my favorite hobby.

That's why even though I am interested in the new TLC show, "High Stakes Sweepers," I'm not looking forward to the possible backlash to sweepers like myself.

Sweepers, like myself have been under the radar to a certain extent because most people honestly believe that they will NEVER win anything. When they learn that you actually win things like trips to Disney, Scotland, St Lucia, New York, etc. or things like four laptops, three iPods, portable DVDs, digital cameras, etc., they convince themselves that you "must just be lucky."

In truth I am not very lucky at all. In fact I lose way more than I win but people don't see the time I put into my hobby. I don't believe that this new show will demonstrate that it actually does take time and it's not as easy as it looks. Saying that someone puts in 60 hours a week isn't really processed in someone's head when they are thinking "Wow look at all that stuff this person has won."

According to the Direct Marketing Association, 55 million Americans per year enter sweepstakes and approximately 15 million enter four or more sweepstakes per year.

“High Stakes Sweepers” will air in the latter part of this summer! ”High Stakes Sweepers” will show viewers the lives of five of the most passionate sweepstakes connoisseurs to ever fill out an entry form.

TLC is hoping that “High Stakes Sweeper” will share the same success as the hit show “Extreme Couponing” by adding yet another avenue for people across America to get something for nothing. ”High Stakes Sweepers” will show the strategies that these everyday people use to increase their odds at winning big in sweepstakes and also show some of the amazing prizes that they have won. The five participating sweepers will tell their stories of how they spend up to 60 hours per week filling out entry forms to thousands of sweepstakes and contests. Viewers will get to peek inside their lives to see how sweepstakes have affected their day to day lives and the lives of their family members.

The five High Stakes Sweepers being profiled in the TLC special are:

Ron: A loving father who will stop at nothing to save money on his daughter’s wedding by winning everything from sweepstakes!

Carolyn: An out of work women who is striving to win enough from sweepstakes to earn a living!

Barbara and Patricia: These sweeping sisters have won everything from cases of beer to boxes of tampons, and are in the hunt for more prizes!

Robert: A sweeping father that involves his entire family in entering sweepstakes including his two youngest children that help decorate the envelopes.

Ret: A man that has won over a million dollars and will let us in on a few of his secrets!