For those club members on the fence about purchasing raffle tickets, here's 2 points --

1. I was lucky enough to win a raffle bag last year. Very pleased with it. Kept 30-40 chips that fit my collection, or as traders. Included was a $25 "live" chip from Mandalay Bay, which I cashed and completely paid for my 3-for-$25 ticket purchase. Anything I didn't need, I was able to sell / trade, and some stuff I re-donated for the raffle this year. It's definitely a "win-win".

2. I think the raffle may be an economic "overlay", maybe even a strong overlay, to use a gambling term. An overlay is when you get more than $1 of value in return for $1 purchase price. Depending on how many tickets are sold, the total raffle tix purchased may be around $3000-$4000, and the total value of all the raffle donations may be $5000 or more. Just guessing on these numbers, but regardless, it's definitely better odds than purchasing lottery tix.