>I'd try to find and solve one of the secret puzzles Google was hiding, to get a chance to buy a reserved ticket.
I find it amusing that giving money to Google is almost spoken in terms of privilege. "Today, Google will allow users to buy Google Glass for $1500" or in this case, solving a puzzle for the opportunity to buy a $900 ticket outside of the if-you-win-you-pay lottery.
More amusing is that I/O is a conference of how to use Google services and platforms[0]. Really, look at it. It's almost entirely talks on how to build products for their platforms and pay-to-use APIs.