If you don't mind a little uncertainty, you can get into events for very cheap by just showing up 30 minutes beforehand and walking up to scalpers and using thi

If you don't mind a little uncertainty, you can get into events for very cheap by just showing up 30 minutes beforehand and walking up to scalpers and using this line: "I'll give you half face value for two tickets." Most of them will snort indignantly. One will eventually take you up on it. When I lived in Boston last year, I got great lodge seats about center court for the Celtics after a blizzard. Sometimes a nice person will just give you tickets too - in NY, girlfriend and I regularly get great seats to the Mets. We bought a couple terrible seats once for like $10 each, then a nice older couple who had their friends flake on them gave us seats right behind homeplate for free. We were sitting a couple seats behind the managers' wife, who was yelling all kinds of things. We gave our cheap tickets to a couple young kids who were quite happy about that too. I've never missed an event I just showed up for, and have always gotten in for less than face value as scalpers get desperate to move tickets. But I've never needed to see a particular event - the plan was always to go watch at a sports bar, or go catch a movie if we can't get in. Edit: I'm in LA right now. If Japan advances to the semifinals in the WBC, I'll probably show up to Dodger Stadium and try this there too. Maybe will wind up paying face value for tickets there - but maybe not. Some scalper always buys too many tickets.