I'm playing poker tonite at my local Catholic War vets with the Post commander when he tells us this story of incredible stupidity.

Little background first- THe CVA/KofC is a private club which is legally allowed to sell pulltabs, which are like an instant lottery.
You buy them from a state licensed dealer for around $50 a book, and they contain tickets worth $750 in each book, so the organization makes $200 on each full book sold. Usually, the club has five or six books to choose from. Top prize in any book is $500.
Some books have 1 $500 prize and a bunch of $5-$10 prizes, others have no $500 prize but have more $50 prizes,ect. Each book has the same total prize money, however it is distributed by individual tickets.

So this long time member comes in the other day and wants to buy a nice present for his brother on his 70th birthday. As the brother spends a good amount each week in the bar drinking $1 beers and playing these tabs he decides he wants to buy him $3000 worth of pull tabs. The Commander is quite happy as its a small windfall for the club, when the man insists on buying only full,unopened books. The Commander tries to explain that a $1,000 book will only have $750 worth of prizes in it, so he is much better off taking 100 from one book, a hundred from another ect,ect, but the man insists that an unopened book is the best bet. In the end, he pays $3,000 for three books that will payout $2250.