Scrabble Retired - Crossword #3212 Resumes Top Spot

Last week saw the end of the top game with Scrabble being retired with only an estimated 7% of its float left. Resuming the top spot is Crossword #3212 that only has 5% of its float left. This game's time at the top will be very limited. The game has only one Grand Prize of $50,000 left so be very careful when buying to ensure that the prize remains outstanding. The game has a Top Prize ration of 1.86 which is the best of any game. The game is not great with the chance to win a prize greater than the cost of the ticket of 1 in 6.93. The game offers 56.1% of its revenue returned to winners of $30 or less. Your odds to snag the Gran Prize are 665,000:1 and your chances to win $100 or more are 5325:1.





Top Rated Games

1. Crossword #3212 - its light is fading.
2. Keno #1417 - new version may make this one harder to find.
3. Lucky Dragon #1843 - 1 of 3 Grand Prizes left and 15% of its float.
4. Golden 7's #1824 - it's rare to get a $2 game this highly rated.
5. Fruit Explosion #1866 - the golden era of $3 games continues.

Games to Avoid

1. Lucky Lines #1826 - terrible game, no sales, why?
2. Jackpot #1857 - retire this game, OLG. What's the hold up?
3. Hit 100 #1849 - save your dollar.
4. Bingo Doubler #1850 - 2 or 15 Grand Prizes remain and 1/3 of the float!
5. Quest For Gold Crossword #3213 - sorry Olympians - it's a dud!

Games Devoid of Grand Prizes

• Lucky Lines
• Jackpot

Best Grand Prize Games*

1. Wild 10's
2. Extreme Millions
3. Golden Treasure
4. Money Multiplier
5. 7-11-21

* I took CL66's list of grand prizes and divided the odds of winning into the dollar value of the grand prize. i then divided that number by the cost of the ticket. The result is the best dollar for dollar value play for the available grand prizes.

Comings and Goings

A remarkable five new games came on line this past week. Two of the games (Keno and Bingo) do not have game sheets yet. The other three games were $10 Platinum, $5 Black Pearls, and $3 More Lucky Lines.

Lucky lines provides a lot of differing prizes for $3. If I have any complaint about Triple Platinum it would be that the game offers more Grand Prizes than either the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th prizes. I prefer a pyramid structure of prizes. It would bug me to win $5000 knowing that it was three times as unlikely as winning the $500,000 Grand Prize.

Our top game, Scrabble, was retired. No surprise.

Personal Play

Nothing to report.

Post Script

I received a comment last week from a friend about the ineffectiveness of the ticket checkers. That struck a chord with me. Why are they so frustrating. Another posted informed us that Alberta has "An App For That". Could it be that the OLG is looking to sell the Instant Ticket part of their business and until they do they intend to make no further investments? Comments welcome.

I noticed in the North Bay Nugget that city council is now having second thoughts about signing up for a casino. A game of cat and mouse is taking place with the OLG who is saying the right things but you know they must be gritting their teeth. There are other communities in the zone that may be interested but the OLG and any future operator only want the major community in the zone, and that is North Bay. Interesting to watch.

Also of note was the winner of $50,000 in Shanty Bay. I'm sure that is Shanty Bay's second large win. I remember looking it up on Mapquest previously.

Good luck to all.

Doug