Holiday Spectacular #1816 Moves To The Top

Bonus Cash For Life surrendered the fourth of its five Grand Prizes last week knocking it out of top spot again. Twenty percent of the Grand Prizes remain with only an estimated 12% of the float left to sell. The game is coming to an end soon.

Replacing it at the top is Holiday Spectacular. It is in a similar situation with only one of its three Grand Prizes left and an estimated 12% of its float left to sell. Posters have indicated that these tickets are hard to find. In raw terms, only 100,000 are left versus 1.2 million Bonus Cash for Lifes so I can well understand how difficult they are to find. If you can find some, almost twenty-four cents of every dollar you spend on the game will go to the outstanding Grand Prize and you should expect a return of 60% on the dollar even if you don't find that big prize of $250,000.

Top Rated Games

1. $10 Holiday Spectacular #1816 - Only one GP left - check before buying.
2. $4 Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - Again, only one GP remaining.
3. $4 Cash For Life #1161 - Same comment as the first two games.
4. $10 Fortune #1779 - Slow selling Inter Provincial game. Worth a try.
5. $4 Double Cash For Life #1170 - Promising game.

Games to Avoid

1. $3 More Lucky Lines #1794 - Please make it stop.
2. $3 Crossword #3206 - Two prizes of more than $100 left and 1.3 million tickets.
3. $1 Lucky Lines #1770 - A truly horrible game.
4. $3 Crossword #3207 - Two Grand Prizes of 10 left, but over 7 million tickets too.
5. $3 Keno #1415 - 52% of top prize money remains but 72% of the tickets remain.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Holiday Cashout is the best choice, by far, in this area.

$3 Game Update

Top rated game is Scrabble #1821.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Lots of good choices here. Avoid Hit Jackpot and Merry Money.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Avoid Instant Gift Pack and Classic Ruby.

Comings and Goings

Not much action here. Cash In was retired as OLG policy dictates. All the Grand Prizes had been claimed and the Grand Prize was $100,000.

A post to last week's update indicates that a new game is coming soon for those who are bored with the current offerings.

Personal Play

I am in transition at present in terms of my evaluation method. As such, I am expanding my play to various games and was rewarded last week when I hit for $20 on 20X Lucky on the only ticket I bought, and another $20 on Bonus Cash For Life. (3 purchased). Three Crossword Triplers included 1 - $5 winner and my Lottomax ticket went pfft, as one would expect.

I'm looking at playing a combination of games again this week.

In Conclusion

I'm curious to know what readers thoughts are about this story: http://bit.ly/1uJ0YxF .

A friend and I are of differing opinions. He sides with the player and I do not. What do you think?


Doug

Bonus Cash For Life #1168 Reclaims Top Spot

After taking a week off, Bonus Cash For Life returns to take top billing. An estimated 13% of the float remains while 2 of the initial 5 Grand Prizes remain to be claimed. Your chance to win one is slightly more than 600,000 to 1. That is pretty good to win a $675,000 prize when you consider that you  can expect to get a return of 56.5% of your money even if you don't win a prize of $100 or more.

Top Rated Games

1. $4 Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - time is running out. 
2. $10 Holiday Spectacular #1816- 1 Grand Prize left and 110k tickets.
3. $10 Fortune #1779- ticket sales have dried up. Not a poor choice
4. $4 Cash For Life #1861 - Game is gutted below last Grand Prize. Skip. 
5. $2 Holiday Cashout #1812 - All 3 Grand Prizes left and half of float sold. 

Games to Avoid

1. $5 Cash In #1807 
2. $3 More Lucky Lines #1794
3. $3 Crossword #3207
4. $1 Lucky Lines #1770
5. $3 Keno #1415

$1 - $2 Game Update

Holiday Cashout is the strong choice.

$3 Game Update

Not much to choose from. Just avoid the three Games to Avoid.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Stick with Bonus Cash For Life

$10 - $20 Game Update

Holiday Spectacular is the choice before it retires or the last prize is claimed.

Comings and Goings

A new $10 Interprovincial game, Classic Ruby was introduced. It is a little low on the top end and a few too many "Win your Money Back" prizes for my liking but it does come out OK according to the formula I use. There are 6 - $500,000 Grand Prizes but your chances to win one are currently over 1 million to 1. Watch.

Personal Play

An encouraging start to the year was met with an immediate dip. I won $11 on 3 Cashingo Tickets and $6 on 3 Holiday Cashout tickets but the three big Holiday Spectacular Tickets were all duds. Very disappointing.

In Conclusion

I'm looking to change my evaluation method. After reading comments from folks I find that I need to provide more emphasis on smaller prizes. We all know that we would never buy a ticket for a game for which all the Grand Prizes had been claimed nor would we buy a ticket for a game for which all the money went to one Grand Prize winner. More next week.

I am reading with interest the comments from those who are playing on PlayOLG, the on-line casino. Keep them coming.

I noticed that the game sheet for Double Cash For Life indicates that the total return for the game is 69.63%. When one crunches the numbers it only totals 64.6%. A call to the OLG resulted in a return call from a very helpful employee, Sam. Same tells me that the Marketing Department has provided him with and explanation that makes no sense to me. He sent the inquiry back to the Marketing Department so they can have another try. Stay tuned.

Best to All.

Doug

Holiday Spectacular #1816 Gets Its Day In The Sun

Even though Holiday Spectacular is down to one Grand Prize from its original three, it takes over top spot given that only 14% (+/- 2%) of its float remains to be sold. You presently have one chance in 120,000 to get the last prize. The game has also reached its deactivation date meaning that retailers can no longer activate new packages for sale. Will a player manage to snag the last prize somewhere or will the OLG claim it indirectly? Time will tell. At present, $.21 of every dollar spent on the game will go to that Grand Prize winner.

Top Rated Games

1. $10 Holiday Spectacular #1816 - One Grand Prize left and the clock is ticking. 
2. $4 Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - Two Grand Prizes left, 2 million tickets left to sell. 
3. $4 Double Cash For Life #1170 - $1,350,000 prize for a $4 play. 
4. $10 Fortune #1779 - Nine $1 million prizes left. Can't find these tickets in my area. 
5. $2 Holiday Cashout #1812 - 450,000:1 to win $35,000. All three Grand Prizes remain and half the tickets are sold. 

Games to Avoid

1. $5 Cash In #1807 - Largest prize left is $2000.
2. $3 Crossword #3206 - Three $10,000 prizes left and 1.4 million tickets. 
3. $3 More Lucky Lines #1794 - I'm tired of beating this drum. Turns out the OLG can peddle these losers. 
4. $1 Lucky Lines #1770 - De-Activate these dogs, please!
5. $3 Crossword #3207 - 1 chance in 2.7 million to win $50,000? No thanks. 

$1 - $2 Game Update

Holiday Cashout is a remarkably good game for $2. 

$3 Game Update

Cashingo #1820 is new and is the best rated of the $3 games. 

$4 - $5 Game Update

Bonus Cash For Life #1168 still tops the list but I'm tired of losing with it. 

$10 - $20 Game Update

Instant Gift Pack has become a poor choice. Avoid. 

Comings and Goings

Four new games have come on line to start 2015. Check out CL66's reviews on the games in the comments to last week's update.

Double Cash For Life offers a lump sum payment of $1,350,000 which is attractive for  $4 investment but the 40.4% return to winners of more than $4 and up to $100 is the lowest of any game for sale. The cash rate of 1 in every 5.83 tickets for more than the cost of the ticket is also good. How can both things be true? The answer is that there are many small prize winners and not much else other than the Grand Prizes. 

The new Cross Word Tripler #1810 has potential but the older version (#1791) is a better choice at the moment. 

Cashingo #1820 is an odd game in that there are no prizes offered between $500 and $75. The prize structure at the top end is good for a $3 game. I did not get a chance to play the older version of the game as its ticket became scarce when it became a recommended game. I may try some of this version early on. 

Diamond 7s #1822 is hot off the press. Not crazy about the low Grand Prize of $77, 777 but the game does return 51% of its total revenue to winners of more than $5 and less than or equal to $100. That's a big plus. 

Personal Play

Started the year out with two Crossword Triplers and two 20X Lucky tickets. Also threw in a Lotto Max just for fun. I struck out on the 20 X Lucky Tickets but both Triplers were winners returning $15. Lotto Max won a free ticket. I must confess that the ticket that won $10 was one that I thought was a loser until I checked it at the store. Based on blog commentators, I'm not the only one to whom this happens. Always always always check your losing tickets with a scanner in the store. 

In Conclusion

There have been several media stories lately of mistake tickets showing up. Check the comments to last weeks posting for more. Here's one:

http://news.yahoo.com/not-fast-mexico-says-lottery-winner-213732609.html?soc_src=copy

I love these stories as they remind us that these games are not foolproof and forums like this one can serve to keep interested folks updated on glitches as they occur. 

I had occasion to call the OLG yesterday concerning the new Double Cash For Life game. The game sheet indicates that 69.63% of total revenue is returned to players. As part of my analysis of new games I always multiply out the prize structure for my purposes. According to my calculations, the return rate for the game is 64.6%. This is more in keeping with games that cost $4 or $5. I spoke to a very helpful young woman at the OLG. She indicated that someone would call me back within 48 hours. I think that there is a typographical error on the game sheet. I'll let you know the outcome next week. 

I hate delving into the political arena but I would recommend that more businesses and government departments set up their call centres in communities outside of major metropolitan areas. The OLG Centre is in Sault Ste Marie and I have never failed to have a positive experience when I call them. It makes sense to me that there are young people living in such communities who would choose to stay there instead of moving to the city if they could obtain employment. I imagine that the OLG jobs are good jobs and that the people who hold them, appreciate them. I also suspect that they stay with their employer for longer periods of time thereby becoming better assets to the employer. Frankly, I don't see a downside. 

Best to all. 

Doug

Bonus Cash For Life #1168 Strengthens Its Hold

The best of the new year to all who visit this blog. I had an update ready for Christmas but decided not to post in honour of the season. My family each received a Bonus Cash For Life ticket in their respective stockings from Santa. There were two known winners totaling $12 and four unknown results. If anyone leaves town shortly I'll know why.

Thirteen Grand Prizes were claimed over the past two weeks including two from the brand spanking new Bejeweled game. Alas, none was claimed from Bonus Cash For Life #1168. The game presently has three of its five $675,000 Grand Prizes left to be claimed and only 19% of its float left to sell. The odds to win one are now only 640,000:1 which is as low as I have ever seen for a Cash For Life game. $.264 of every dollar spent on the game will go to those three lucky winners.

The problem, for me, is that I am fed up with the game. And I'm not alone - several posters have also reported poor results. I'm going to take a week off from the game just to sooth my injured resolve.

Top Rated Games

1. $4 Bonus Cash for Life #1168 - Clear top choice
2. $10 Christmas Spectacular #1816 - 1 Grand Prize left and only 140,000 tickets
3. $10 Fortune #1779 - Nine $1 Million dollar prizes left - Inter-provincial game
4. $4 Cash For Life #1161 - main secondary prizes gutted - pass
5. $2 Holiday Cashout #1812 - 40% of float sold and all 3 Grand Prizes are left

Games to Avoid

1. $5 Cash In #1807 - All Grand and Second Prizes claimed
2. $3 Crossword #3206 - All Grand and Second Prizes claimed - less than 10% of float remains
3. $3 More Lucky Lines #1794 - the unethical sale of these dogs continues
4. $1 Lucky Lines #1770 - stunk since its debut
5. $3 Keno #1415 - 2 of 5 Grand Prizes gone in first 20% of tickets sold

$1 - $2 Game Update

Holiday Cashout is a very good choice in this group.

$3 Game Update

Scrabble #1821 is the best of a scraggy lot of games.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Bonus Cash For Life is much the best

$10 - $20 Game Update

Lots of Grand Prizes lost over Christmas. Go with Holiday Spectacular if you can find any.

Comings and Goings

Wild 10's and Horseshoes were both retired over the holidays. Each of the games had 15-20 % of their float remaining and were well rated games. I would like to have seen each stay in play longer and some of the games mentioned in the "Games To Avoid" section retired instead.

New on the scene is a $2 Blackjack, $5 Hit the Jackpot, and a $10 Bejeweled game. Please see the comments to the previous blog post for detailed descriptions of the games. It is noteworthy that Bejeweled has already lost 2 of its 6 Grand Prizes. That's enough to throw me off. The Blackjack game scores well on the rating formula. The Hit The Jackpot is a new brand of game. Comments are encouraged from any players who give it a try.

Personal Play

I extended play in the last fortnight purchasing two Holiday Gift packs, two Holiday Spectaculars and four Bonus Cash For Lifes. My total return was $20 and that was scored on the first ticket I scratched. I ended the year with a cash rate of 30% and a return on investment of 58%. This is the worst result for the three years that I have been playing. In 2013 I cashed at a rate of 37% with a Return on Investment of 72%. In 2012 I cashed at 38% with a return of 63%.

There were four games during the year for which I purchased more than 10 tickets. Of those, More Lucky Lines was the kindest yielding 37% winners and a return of 76%. The worst was our current top rated game, Bonus Cash For Life, that included 24% winners and a return of 49%.

In the end, my biggest problem in 2014 was that I enjoyed no cashes for more than $20. You have to hit a $50 or $100 winner if you want to boost the results. Of course, a nice little 4 figure win like Shelley enjoyed would be deeply appreciated.

Still, It's a new year and all the numbers are re-set to zero. Let's get out of the box like a lithe greyhound chasing "Sparky".

In Conclusion

I appreciate the growth in our little community over the past year. The current posting of this blog receives over 100 visits per day. The more folks who post add to the dialogue and I very much enjoy reading what people have to say. I also like that people post pictures of their $50 and up winning tickets. There is something very encouraging when I see that winning is possible. CL66 posted a $50 winner in $2 Cash For Life this past week. Now that's impressive!

My thanks to all. May 2015 be good to each and every one of us.

Next week I'll be taking a look at the new OLG on line platform.


Doug