Mr. Anon
Have you ever been so desperate for something that it takes over your life?
This is my experience of playing the brilliant BOTB dream car competition.
What it’s about
If you’ve never heard of BOTB (Best of the Best) then it’s a twice weekly competition to win your dream car.
I was a bit skeptical at first as the game is spot the ball which I thought had died off with the 90s! Also the winner is decided by a panel of judges and not by referring to the original photo.
At first I thought this is impossible but then I see the videos of the winners and with the amount of people who enter these competitions then this would easily pay for any car that they could give away that week. It was a good business model!
There are lots of different cars to play for. From super cars such as the Lamborghini Urus to the humble VW Up! Cars for everyone basically!
When you first play you get that disillusion just like when you first play the lottery that you are going to win first time. But obviously you don’t.
After a while it became a strange kind of addiction not because I’m addicted to gambling but because I was so, so desperate for a new car!
The reality
I don’t think anyone knows how desperate I was for a new car!
All my life I yearned for a brand new car because it’s just something I could never afford. The only car I could afford was second hand ones and I’m not talking a few years old. I mean I could only afford cars that were 10 years old or more. The first car I ever owned was only because I inherited an old car from a dead relative that’s how sad I was but that got me on the ‘car ladder’!
I’ve never been a lucky person and you can guarantee that if I’d ever been lucky enough to get a windfall of cash any time in my life it would always come just as something needed to be repaired, replaced or a big bill came through the door. So it would all have to be spent in one go and there was never any time for treating me or the family and we would have to continue to eek our way through life while watching on as friends and family just seem to sail through. Their new houses, their new cars. Their holidays after holidays. Sorry to rant but it’s true.
Last year was so hard when Covid-19 hit. I work for the NHS so I was working more and harder than ever. People who got to stay at home and also work from home moaned about how hard life was. I worked throughout with holidays cancelled and even called in over the Christmas and New Year time. I never got to spend endless days and weeks with my family or work from home. Yes, life was tough and there wasn’t any break for me. I didn’t moan how hard life was in lock down. I’ve been out in the car all the time over the last 12 months and just as my life usually goes my car did pack in last summer.
Knackered and frustrated I plowed more money into entering so I could win a car to replace my now broken car. A car I could use for work. A new car that was now my goal to replace my now borrowed car that is to replace my actual broken car.
Anyway back to BOTB. Yes I admit I was addicted and it got so bad I would be dreaming and daydreaming every day about the cars I was entering to win. I needed this… Please let it be me!
I don’t know if my mental health was suffering from the pandemic and being overworked but I would spend any spare time I had looking on the cars websites and picking the colour and configuring the exact spec car I would have if I was to ever win. I watched YouTube review videos and saved endless photos of the cars on my computer.
I went for the more practical car. One that the insurance and running costs wouldn’t bankrupt me. Ones that were family friendly, good for work but also very sporty to boot. The Mercedes A45S, Mercedes CLA35 and BMW M3 Competition were my top choices.
Every Tuesday and Friday I was expecting that special call off Christian but it never came. Deluded I know! The days, weeks, months and now years have gone by and I’m not any closer now than I was when I first started playing. I am actually waiting right now while I am writing this. Although I have been close at times. As close as a hairline and what did I win back? Just my money from playing in ‘dream car credit’. This means I can once again have another go for free (and lose again)!
The conclusion
So, if you are expecting a happy ending then there isn’t one I’m afraid. No, I haven’t won and the sad reality is I most likely will never win either as the competition is all about your dream car and that’s all it’s going to be for me – a dream car and nothing else!
Also let me say that I wasn’t paid to promote this game and this is my personal experience of BOTB.
I do keep playing but a lot skinter and a bit wiser I only play when I can afford to and it’s a now matter of choosing to waste money chasing a dream that will never come true or feeding my kids!
Now when I play it’s not as often and my addiction and delusion has subsided before it got out of hand.
I wish anyone luck who plays this game. You can enter this contest at botb.com
Good luck because if you are anything like me you will need it!
Now if you excuse me as the the scrap man has come to retrieve my old car and I’m about to hand my borrowed car back. I’ll be carless, but try and treat my kids the best I can with any money saved and daydream about one day owning my dream car – a Mercedes AMG A45S!
