Fruit Explosion #1866 Retains Top Spot - Retiring Soon

The top rated game sold very few tickets since the last update. This is more a function of scarcity than popularity. Only 11% , or an estimated 343,000 tickets, of the float remains and I have not been able to find any in the west end of the GTA.

The game sits on top as it has a Grand Prize ratio of 2.51. This means that there is 2 1/2 times the money remaining for the top prizes than top prizes themselves. The game offers one of its Grand prizes of $75,000 and two of its second prizes of $25,000. The overall revenue available for small prizes is below average but the top prize availability is very good for a $3 game.

As one can see from the ratings, there is a significant drop off to the second rated game which is significantly ahead of the third rated game. Both of these games are scheduled for retirement soon so get em while and if you can. On the good news front, each of the lowest two rated games is also scheduled for retirement.

Complete Rankings Of All Games

Rank	Cost	Game	#	Score
1	$3.00	Fruit Explosion	1866	756.9
2	$3.00	Keno	1417	658.9
3	$3.00	PacMan Slots	1867	596.2
4	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836	573.4
5	$30.00	250M Golden	1782	558.2
6	$3.00	Keno	1418	554.3
7	$10.00	Platinum	1888	549.1
8	$5.00	High Roller	1874	542.4
9	$5.00	Money Mult	1845	524.6
10	$3.00	Bingo	3016	524.8
11	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872	523.3
12	$3.00	Crossword	1866	520.7
13	$10.00	Wild 10's	1842	513.7
14	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882	506.1
15	$3.00	Bingo	3020	499.5
16	$20.00	Extreme	1780	496.4
17	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171	492.8
18	$10.00	Diamond	1781	492.9
19	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860	482.1
20	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880	479.6
21	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859	476.0
22	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837	470.9
23	$10.00	Mega Money	1878	471.8
24	$2.00	Walking Dead	1877	469.1
25	$5.00	7 11 21	1868	462.7
26	$3.00	Cash Card	1876	464.9
27	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213	437.7
28	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1850	426.0
29	$3.00	Bingo	3019	415.5
30	$1.00	Hit 100	1849	379.3
31	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1846	336.2
32	$1.00	Lucky Lines	1826	298.8

Comings and Goings

New on the scene is a jumbo $3 Crossword game, a main staple of the world of Instant Games. The prize structure is straight forward, you can only win once, with one chance in 6.84 to win more than the $3 cost of the ticket. I rate it as 12th to begin its run and that's pretty good for a $3 game. 

No games were retired. 

Personal Play

Three Triple Crown games returned $25 and six Keno tickets returned $8. I have purchased the Triple Crown tickets out of loyalty to the Horse Racing industry but the game is not faring well so I'll be taking a break to watch it for a while. 

I like the second chance aspect of the game. I wonder how many people actually create an on-line account then go in and register their tickets? I suspect that it may be lower than 50% of tickets sold. Opinions welcome. 

I was entertained by the fact that people can only register 50 tickets per day. I have two questions: 

1. Why is there any limit at all? And,

2. Who needs to register more than 50 tickets per day?

Post Script

I was amused by an article on the potential casino in North Bay. The photo of the site shows a shut down strip joint. Something tells me that it is on the wrong side of the tracks and that is not something that a future operator would like. They want a nice spot on the four corners of town. Stay tuned: https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/city-readying-the-site-of-a-new-casino-297139 .

Here is an article that describes what happens to uncashed winning tickets in lotteries. In some jurisdictions the money is returned in additional prizes for future games. In other jurisdictions the Lottery Corporation simply scoops the money and adds it to its bottom line. Guess which group our beloved OLG belongs to? http://www.gamingpost.ca/canadian-lottery-news/unclaimed-canadian-lottery-tickets-happens/ 

Great weather out there. Enjoy. 

Doug

Fruit Explosion #1866 Takes Top Spot

The previous top rated game, Keno, stumbled when it lost one of its three remaining Grand Prizes. Regardless of the loss, the game remains well rated. Ascending to the top of the list is Fruit Explosion. The game has one of its three Grand Prizes left but only an estimated 11% of its float left to sell. Its positive prize ratio of 2.39 is the best of any game and is the game of choice as a result.

The game offers a generous 9.4% of its revenue to prize winners of more than $30 but less than the Grand Prize of $75,000. One aspect of the game that I don't like is the 14.6% of revenue that is returned to winners of $3. I prefer games where that number is down around 10 or 11 percent.

Complete Rankings of All Current Games

1	$3.00	Fruit Explosion	1866
2	$3.00	Keno	1417
3	$3.00	PacMan Slots	1867
4	$30.00	250M Golden	1782
5	$3.00	Keno	1418
6	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836
7	$10.00	Platinum	1888
8	$5.00	High Roller	1874
9	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872
10	$3.00	Bingo	3016
11	$5.00	Money Mult	1845
12	$10.00	Wild 10's	1842
13	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837
14	$3.00	Bingo	3020
15	$3.00	Cash Card	1876
16	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882
17	$20.00	Extreme	1780
18	$10.00	Diamond	1781
19	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860
20	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171
21	$10.00	Mega Money	1878
22	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859
23	$2.00	Walking Dead	1877
24	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880
25	$5.00	7 11 21	1868
26	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1850
27	$3.00	Bingo	3019
28	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213
29	$1.00	Hit 100	1849
30	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1846
31	$1.00	Lucky Lines	1826

Comings and Goings

Golden 7's was retired this past week which is too bad as it still offered 2 of its 4 Grand Prizes and only 17% of its float remained. Still, there's only so much room for $1 and $2 games and there was a new one on tap. 

New to the list is the new $2 game Lucky Dog. It rates poorly. Triple Crown represents part of the OLG's attempt to promote Horse Racing. I guess I'll have to buy some seeing as I'm a racing fan but I encourage the OLG to come up with something where the proceeds are fenced to go to racing. As it stands, this is just a scratch game like any other. All proceeds go into the big pot. 

Cash Card is the other new game and I rank it ahead of Triple Crown even though it is a $3 game. We'll see how it progresses. 

Personal Play

20 Keno tickets returned $44 and three Triple Crown tickets returned zero. 

Post Script

An article that I found to be irritating 

http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/6551727-olg-betting-on-horse-themed-lotteries-to-boost-interest-in-horse-racing-innisfil-council-told/ . I would like to ask Tony Bitonti what he knows about Horse Racing. Has he ever heard of Northern Dancer or Dance Smartly? I will never understand how we have arrived at a point where scratch tickets are used to promote the brand of Horse Racing. One is the Sport of Kings, the other is a little bit of amusement during one's commute home. 

A reminder that the lock out at Rideau Carlton is still going on, http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/6551806-olg-rep-says-injunction-aimed-at-restoring-safe-picket-line-practices/ . Such situations are difficult all around. I would advise the OLG not to make any public comments other than statements of fact. Telling me that you had to lock the employees out to ensure my safety in the slot palace is ridiculous. 

I draw readers attention to a comment on the last update from Bunjoi that included links details about the frequency of numbers drawn. Interesting. 

Doug