Wild 10s - For The Time Being

Wild 10s surrendered ten of its Grand Prize winners last week while selling 50,000 tickets. There are 77 Grand prizes left to be claimed and 594,000 tickets left to sell. Your chances to win one are one in 7,700.

I have been thrown a curve ball by the OLG. Every time I devise a mathematical system to determine what the best game is to play, they come out with a game that exploits my method. This time it is Double Cash For Life. The game only began this week but it already computes as a top game. Further explanation to follow.

I am considering tweaking my system. Before doing so, I'd be interested to hear from any readers as to what you look for in a game. I know what a bad game looks like but the best game can be difficult to define - different tastes and all. Do you want large Grand Prizes, many Grand Prizes, lots of middle prizes, lots of smaller prizes, most winning tickets? For me, the Grand Prize is important but if that was all, I should be buying 649 tickets where a large part of every draw goes to the winner. Other winners fight over the scraps. Instant Games are more democratic and ostensibly more fun to play. So drop me a line, I'd be interested to hear of personal preferences.

Best Overall Rated Games

1. Wild 10s
2. Double Cash For Life - 1162
3. $200 Million
4. Pick 3
5. Cleopatra

Games to Avoid

• Quest for Gold Crossword
• Tetris
• Cash for Life - 1159

Note: Be very careful with the Cash for Life games. Game #1162 is new and a good choice. Game #1159 has no Grand Prizes left! Check with the retailer if you get to the store and forget which is which. Or you can check on your mobile at www.scratchodds.com .

$1 - $2 Game Update

Pick 3 continues to be a good game. If you don't like the tiny $500 Grand Prize, then $2 Silver Gold is the next best game in this group.

$3 Game Update

Texas Hold'Em is the best pick in this area. Your odds to win one of the two remaining $75,000 Grand Prizes are 1:390,000, down from 1:852,000 when the game began.

$4 - $5 Games

Double Cash For Life springs from the gate as a good choice here. Of the games that have been selling for some time, Cleopatra or Jacks are Wild are both good games.

$10 - $20 Games

Putting Wild 10s to the side, $200 Million still has seven $2 Million Grand Prizes to be claimed. Sales of this game are poor. The OLG (this is actually an inter-provincial game) are learning that we Canadians have trouble slapping down $20 for a ticket.

Comings and Goings

Each game available for sale has its own particular character. Double Cash for Life was introduced this week. It is a game that is rich on the top end with 4 Grand Prizes of $2000/week for life and at the bottom end where there are many prizes of $4, $6, $8, $10, and $12. The prize distribution for anything else is very poor. So if you're hoping to snag a middling prize, chances are that you will be disappointed. Here is the prize distribution. I have indicated the same percentage breakdown for last week's new game (20X Lucky) in parentheses.

Grand Prize - 14.7% (4.3%)
Prizes between $100 and the Grand Prize - .9% (2.4%)
Prizes Greater than Ticket Cost and <$100 - 40.4% (51.1%)
Prizes for the Cost of the Ticket - 9.8% (9.2%)
OLG Profit - 30.2% (33%)

You will note that the percentages do not tally up for Cash for Life. I suspect that there is an error on the detail sheet and that the OLG profit percentage should be higher. That number is higher the cheaper the game but this game is listed with a player return rate equivalent to $10 and $20 Games.

We say good bye this week to the venerable Bejeweled. This was the recommended game for several weeks this year. During that time I purchased 31 tickets, cashed 14 of them for a total of $300. Not bad. The OLG sold this game longer than it should have, according to their own policies, but I'm going to assume that they had a defensible reason for doing so.

Personal Play

Four Wild 10s tickets contained one winner for the grand total of $10. Grrrr. I guess it is better than being shut out, but not much better. I now stand at a cash rate of 38% and a total Return on Investment of 78%. I'm trending down and need a boost soon.

Happy Canada Day to all.

Doug

Wild 10s Continues Its Run on Top

Wild 10s sold over 5% of its float last week while surrendering 16 of its 150 - $10,000 Grand Prizes. Those results hurt the game's rating somewhat but it remains the recommended game. There are 87 Grand Prizes remaining to be claimed. Your chances to win one are 1 in 7,600. The second rated game is $200 Million. If you want a shot at a Grand Prize of $2 Million, then this is the game for you. There are 8 Grand Prizes left to be claimed. Your chances in that game are presently 1 in 1.5 million. Not sure if that is better or worse than being hit by lightning.

Best Overall Rated Games

1. Wild 10s
2. $200 Million
3. Pick 3
4. Classic White
5. Cleopatra

Games to Avoid

• QFG Crossword
• Tetris
• Cash for Life
• Bejeweled

QFG Crossword has no Grand Prizes nor Second Prizes left to claim. The same is true for Tetris. Bejeweled has none of the top three levels of prizes left. The most you can win in that game is $10,000 and there is only one of them left to claim. The OLG is hardly selling any tickets for Bejeweled and they are continuing to violate their own policy of cancelling games with Grand Prizes of $100,000 or more once all the Grand Prizes are claimed. On the other hand we mourn the demise of Instant Millions. I'm seeking information from the OLG on the decision-making process for that game.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Pick 3 continues to be a very good $1 Game. Lots of cashable tickets and 102 - $500 Grand Prizes left to win.

$3 Game Update

Texas Hold'Em is the best game in this category. Two - $75,000 Grand Prizes are left. Small wins are less frequent with this game than other $3 games but the 450,000:1 odds to win the Grand Prize makes the game a reasonable play.

$4 - $5 Game Update

I know that folks love the Cash for Life games. Sadly, both remaining grand prizes were claimed last week. Your "Cash for Life" now stands at a one time payment of $10,000. Not quite the same rush. It will be interesting to track this game. Fully 75% of its float remains to be sold and all the Grand Prizes have been claimed. So much for my conspiracy theory of how Grand Prize tickets are released! There are lots of other $5 games that one can choose from. The current top rated game is Cleopatra.

$10 - $20 Game Update

The top two games stand out. Classic White is moving up and may become a recommended game in time.

Comings and Goings

A new 20X Lucky Game was introduced this past week. I like the prize distribution for the game:

Grand Prizes - 4.3%
Prizes of $100 or more - 2.4%
Small Prizes - 51.1%
Prizes equal to cost of ticket - 9.2%
Profit - 33.0%

There are six Grand Prizes to be won and lots of action at the low end. The 51.1% is a high number for that category. You'll have lots of action and the chance to win a good Grand Prize of $100,000. I'm hoping that this game eventually becomes the recommended play.

Personal Play

Six Wild 10s contained two winners totaling $25. Poor. My cash rate has slipped to 38% and my return on investment stands at a low point of 80%. I need some luck.

Thanks to Shelley for her posts to the blog. She's had some recent success with Wild 10s. Here's hoping that  her luck continues this week.


Great weather for "scratching" outside.

Doug

Wild 10s Retains Top Billing

There was no movement in the top five rated games over the course of the past week. Each game surrendered some secondary prizes. Wild 10s and Pick 3 surrendered some of their respective Grand Prizes but there are many to be won in those games. Wild 10s has 103 of its $10,000 prizes left to claim whereas Pick 3 has 119 of its $500 Grand Prizes. Your chances to win one of Wild 10s Grand Prizes are presently 1 in 7,100, down from the 1 in 9000 when the game began. In Pick 3, you have 1 chance in 8,200, down from 1 chance in 8,300 - not much of a positive move.

Best Overall Rated Games

1. Wild 10s
2. $200 Million
3. Pick 3
4. Extravaganza
5. Cleopatra

Games to Avoid

• Quest For Gold Crossword #3201
• Tetris #1737
• Bejeweled #1724

Note that Bejeweled now only has 1 - $10,000 Top Prize left to claim. The OLG claims that any game with a $100,000 Grand Prize or higher will be canceled once all the "Top Prizes" have been won. Do they consider the one $10,000 prize left to be a "Top" Prize? There are almost 400,000 Bejeweled tickets left to be sold and the OLG continues to flog them. On the other hand, they canceled Instant Millions with 1.3 million tickets left and 2 - $1,000,000 Grand Prizes left to be claimed. A tad inconsistent, I'd say.

Top Selling Games Over the Past Week

1. Crossword #3200
2. Super Bingo #3012
3. Classic White #1749

Worst Selling Games Over the Past Week

1. Extravaganza #1709
2. More Lucky Lines #1733
3. Bejeweled #1724

Note: Extravaganza may be headed to cancellation territory but is also the 4th rated game.

Comings and Goings

No new games this week although Money Mult #1692 and Cross Tripler #1720 were retired. Each had a $100,000 Grand Prize left to be claimed. Money Mult had 15% of its tickets left to sell and Cross Tripler had 8%.

Here are the winning locations for the Grand Prizes for the two games retired last week:

Cash For Life #1160 - Almonte, North York, Wingham, Glouster, Scarborough, Windsor, Mississauga.
Cash In #1736 - Innisfil, Thunder Bay, Welland, Thorold, North York, Owen Sound.

I'm hoping that our Frank in Scarborough was the lucky winner!

Personal Play

Five Wild 10's tickets included two winners totaling $45. The cash rate is now just a hair below 40% and the total return on investment crept up to 84%.

Thanks to the readers who messaged me over the past week. I always enjoy reading what you have to say.


Have fun.

Doug

Wild 10s Holds on to Top Spot

After my little temper tantrum of last week, I'll try for a more conventional entry this week.

Wild 10s surrendered 10 of its 150 Grand Prizes of $10,000 last week while selling over 9% of its ticket float. The one downside to the game is that it is not the best among its class of $10-$20 tickets in terms of the likelihood to "Win Any Prize" or to "Win a Prize Greater than the Price of the Ticket". The game scores well on my rating system but don't be afraid to experiment with other games.

Best Rated Games

1. Wild 10s
2. $200 Million
3. Pick 3
4. Extravaganza
5. Cleopatra

Games to Avoid

• Tetris
• Bejeweled

$1 - $2 Game Analysis

Pick 3 is a high rated game due to the large number of small Grand Prizes. Your chances to win "Any Prize" or "Any Prize Greater than the Price of the Ticket" is the best among these games. If you want a $1-$2 game that has a better Grand Prize, try Bonus Banco #1641.

$3 Games

Bonus Keno #1413 is the best game in this group if you're looking for the best rate of cashing. The problem with the game is that only 2 of the original 8 Grand Prizes of $50,000 remain to be claimed and almost half of  the ticket float remains to be sold. Texas Hold'Em and More Lucky Lines are the best rated games in this price range. If you're buying a More Lucky Lines game, be sure to buy game #1733 and not #1734. The latter was introduced this week so I'm sure that sellers are featuring that version of the game more prominently.

$4-$5 Games

There are no bad games in this group. The best rated games are: Cleopatra, Cash for Life, and Poker Multiplier.

$10 - $20 Games

Apart from Wild 10s, $200 Million is a good game. Lots of prizes available and 8 of the original 12 $2Million Grand Prizes remain to be claimed although only 15% of the tickets have been sold to date. That's a problem. One reader has reported bad luck with the game while another has indicated that they are in positive territory after twelve tickets. Losing streaks are tough when the ticket costs $20.

Comings and Goings

CFL Blowout and Cash In were both retired this past week. Cash For Life Blowout had no Grand Prizes left and 20% of its ticket float outstanding. Cash In had 1- $100,000 Grand Prize left and 14% of its float.

Two new games were introduced: $3 More Lucky Lines #1734 and the Inter-provincial Lottery Corporation game Classic White #1749. Classic White is a jumbo affair with almost 8 million tickets of which 3.7 million are destined to Ontario. The game has 7 Grand Prizes of $500,000. The cash rate for "Any Prize Greater than the Cost of the Ticket" is poor at 1:6.57. This is the worst rating for $10-$20 games. Prize distribution is as follows: 4.4% Grand Prize(s), 5.1% Prizes down to $100, 45.3% prizes down to $15, 15.1% Prizes for the cost of the tickets, 30.1% profit.

More Lucky Lines is almost identical to the previous version of the game that remains on the market. The prize breakdown looks like: 2.4% Grand Prize(s); 2.6% prizes down to $100, 46.5% prizes down to $5, 13.5% prizes of the cost of the ticket, 35.0% profit.

Personal Play

Four Wild 10s tickets yielded two winners totaling $40. Not a bad start on this game. My cash rate YTD stays just a tad below 40% and the Return on Investment is 82%.

Sorry about the late posting this week. I hope that I didn't cause you too much frustration.


Doug