Cash For Life Family $10 Remains the Best of Three Excellent Choices

No jackpot winners from any of the top three games means that there is no change at the top this week. Each of these games is a good choice. Play Cash for Life if the big Grand Prize is your priority (one chance in 900,000 to win $2 Million for $10), Prestige if you want the maximum smaller prize results (6 - $1 Million Grand Prizes remaining and 59.6% of the revenue returned to small prize winners)  and Money Multiplier for the best chance to win a $100,000 Grand Prize at 1 in 200,000 for $5.

Top Rated Games

1. Cash for Life $10 (75% of ticket float left to be sold)
2. Money Multiplier (13%)
3. Prestige (51%)
4. Emerald 7's (36%)
5. Cash In (37%)

Games to Avoid

1. Black Pearls (17%)
2. Cherry Triple (31%)
3. Fat Cat (51%)
4. QFG Crossword (85%)
5. Bingo Express (100%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

Cash For Life $2 is a good game and great value in the $1 - $2 game area.

$3 Game Update

Keno #1412 is the top rated game here. Avoid that monster Quest For Gold Crossword game. It is a dog at this point in time.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Avoid Black Pearls. The OLG should have retired this game by now. All the remaining choices are acceptable plays.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Avoid Classic Gold.

Comings and Goings

Two new games were added this week: $1 Bingo Express and $5 Aces and Eights. Bingo Express has absolutely nothing going for it. If you don't win a Grand Prize, the next best prize is $50. Aces and Eights is interesting in that there are 7-$100,000 Grand Prizes. The game has the potential to move up the ratings. I'm not sure that I'm totally on board with the marketing of the game. Was Aces and Eights not the hand that Jesse James was holding when he was murdered?

Personal Play

Two Cash for Life $10 tickets each returned the cost of the ticket. Two $2 Cash for Life and 1 Holly Jolly orphan that I happened upon all were losers. I continue to struggle. Maybe I'll break out in a big way!

And Finally

Thanks to the posters who keep us updated on their winnings. I find it encouraging to know that winning remains a possibility. Read the comments section to keep yourself updated.


Doug

Cash For Life Family $10 Gets Its Nose In Front

$10 Cash For Life Family and Prestige are in a virtual dead heat atop the ratings. Prestige is a rock solid all round game. The Cash for Life game is the best at the top end with 3 Grand Prizes, each with a Present Value of $2,025,000. This game is poor at the low end. For the player, the choice is personal: do you want the best value for Grand Prizes or the best balanced game? There is no right answer.

Top Rated Games

1. Cash For Life Family $10 (83% of float left to sell)
2. Prestige (56%)
3. Money Multiplier (14%)
4. $200 Million (52%)
5. Cash For Life Family $4 (64%)

Games to Avoid

1. Black Pearls (17%)
2. QFG Crossword (95%)
3. Mahjong (60%)
4. Cherry Triple (38%)
5. Instant Gift Pack (23%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

My pet game of $1 CFL Family took another hit this past week and is now a poor game. The $2 version of the game is the best in this category.

$3 Games

The OLG is turning things over in this area. That's good for players. Keno and Super Bingo are the best choices at present but I would recommend looking elsewhere for the time being.

$4 - $5 Games

Money Multiplier is a super choice but tickets are scarce. The $4 Cash for Life Family is a good choice. Emerald Seven's and Cash In are also reasonable choices.

$10 - $20 Games

Avoid Instant Gift Pack and Classic Gold. The other three games are superior choices.

Comings and Goings

It's moving time! The OLG retired all of the Christmas games this past week with the exception of the $10 Instant Gift Pack. Cashingo and Crossword 3203 also were recalled. Finally, the Inter-provincial folks sent Classic White to bed. That decision was overdue. The only one of those games that I lament seeing gone is Holly Jolly. I wanted to buy tickets for that game for weeks and could never locate any.

New on the scene are two $3 Games - More Lucky Lines and Bingo 3014. Bingo is a jumbo game with 9 million tickets. More Lucky Lines has 3 million. More Lucky Lines is better at the top end with 3 $75,000 prizes versus 10-$50,000 prizes for Bingo. Both games are OK and it is my hope that one or both of them become reasonable choices for players - just not yet.

Personal Play

My year is starting out poorly. One $10 Cash for Life ticket was a loser and 3 - $4 Cash for Life Family tickets returned one winner of $4.

A shout out to Ryan who, as indicated a couple of weeks ago, intended to pound away on Emerald Sevens. He reports that he has purchased $275 worth of tickets and obtained a total return of $278. I would have thought that the law of averages would have caught up to him by this time but his head is still above water. He has achieved his results by cashing on 19 of 55 tickets with the largest prize being $34. He's getting a lot of fun for his money, that's for sure.


Here's to scratching during Sochi.


Doug

Prestige Lumbers Along On Top

Eight days, 300,000 tickets sold, and no Grand Prizes won. Prestige continues its run on top although any of the top games are playable. Eleven cents out of every dollar spent on Prestige is returned to the 9 - one million dollar prizes left to claim. This is second only to the $10 Cash For Life game and Prestige is much stronger than that game in the area of smaller prizes. Personally, I'm bored with the game but I'm going to try to find at least one of them this week.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (56% of its tickets left to sell)
2. CFL $10 Game (87%)
3. Money Multiplier (15%)
4. CFL Family $4 Game (87%)
5. $200 Million (52%)

Even after the media blitz for the $200 Million game (which the ad described as "new"), this game continues to struggle with sales. The game has now been on sale for over nine months and over half of its float remains unsold. Message to the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation - Canadians don't like spending $20 on a scratch and win ticket!

Games to Avoid

1. Classic White (8%)
2. Cashingo (9%)
3. Crossword 3203 (6%)
4. Mahjong (67%)
5. QFG Crossword (99%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

Sadly, the $1 CFL Family game coughed up a grand prize. It remains a good game but it is no longer a great game.

$3 Game Update

Slim pickens in this area. Even though Holly Jolly revealed a Grand Prize this past week, it remains the best choice. I'd look elsewhere.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Most of these game are reasonable choices. Avoid Jack Frost.

$10 -$20 Game Update

If anyone is listening in Scratch Ticket headquarters, get rid of Classic White!!! All of the top four prize categories have been won. The most anyone can win on the game is $1000 for your $10 investment. Do it now!

Comings and Goings

The OLG introduced the jumbo Quest for Gold Crossword game this past week. A massive ticket float of over 25 million tickets means that the game will be with us for most of the year. None of the three Crossword games is a good choice. Sadly, this game does not fare well in my rating system. Less than one percent of the revenue is returned to the Grand Prize winners. That is the lowest for any game currently for sale. The chances to win a prize or any prize greater than the cost of the ticket are poor. The money returned to people who win more than $3 and less than $100 is good but not good enough to overcome its drawbacks. I know that new games are popular and if you must, you must. Let me know how it goes.

No games were retired this week.

Personal Play

Five $1 CFL Family tickets returned nothing; 1 Lotto Max ticket returned nothing, and one $10 CFL Family ticket returned $15.  The net loss of $5 is about what one would expect.

Reader Lloyd found a trove of Holly Jolly tickets and scooped up all 17 of them. His return was a disappointing $42 for his $51 investment. I hope that he got $9 of scratching fun.

I note that OLG President Rod Phillips offered his resignation this past week http://bit.ly/LK7qV7 .  
Not surprising. Ever since Godfrey left I expect that things became less comfortable for Rod. The OLG's grand modernization plan is springing leaks all over the place. The centerpiece of the plan was a massive destination casino in Toronto. Nobody wants it. The plans in Ottawa fell through. The Premier forced Mr. Phillips to add the health of the horse racing industry to his list of priorities. That was pretty tough to do when the plan he was hired to implement spelled doom for that industry. I think that what surprised Rod the most was that the subject of having a casino in your municipality brings together a wide variety of public interest groups who are all united in their opposition to the idea. The only ones in favour are the OLG and casino operators. City Councillors everywhere were able to add up lost votes and opted for the safer choice. That's democracy and that spelled a dead end for Rod. Best to head off to greener pastures before you get fingered for the failure of the plan. As a horse racing fan, I'm glad that it is turning out the way that it is.

It's the dog days of winter - may the prospect of a winning ticket keep you warm.

Doug

Prestige Languishes On Top

I have to admit that I'm bored with Prestige but it continues to be the best rated game and it's low sales figures means that it will remain there until at least one more of the 9 - $1 million dollar prizes is claimed.

You presently have one chance in 950,000 to win $1 million for a $10 investment. 10.5 cents of every dollar spent on tickets is being directed to the Grand Prize winners which is second only to the CFL $10 game. Prestige also returns half of total revenue to winners of more than $10 and less than $100 which is far superior to the CFL game. Holly Jolly remains a strong second choice but I am having trouble finding any tickets for sale for that game.


 

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (59% of tickets left to be sold)
2. Holly Jolly (24%)
3. CFL $10 (93%)
4. Money Multiplier (16%)
5. CFL $1 (87%)

Games to Avoid

1. Classic White (8%)
2. Cashingo (9%)
3. Crossword 3203 (6%)
4. Jack Frost (9%)
5. Mahjong (7%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

The $1 CFL game is the best $1 game that I have ever seen. If you prefer inexpensive games, this is the choice. The $2 CFL game surrendered a Grand Prize last week thereby knocking down its rating.

$3 Game Update

Holly Jolly is a good choice, if you can find any tickets. With an estimated 24% of the float left, they should still be fairly common.

$4 - $5 Game Update

There are two $4 CFL games currently for sale. Each is a reasonable choice but game 1165 (the new one) is definitely better than 1161. Be aware.

$10 - $20 Game Update

A comment posted this week tipped us to the introduction of Classic Gold and the retirement of Classic White. Well, the first tip happened but the OLG, or more correctly the Inter-provincial Lottery Corporation, is taking its last chance to flog Classic White before it fades away. There are no Grand Prizes left in Classic White and, by policy, it should be withdrawn.

Comings and Goings

Fast 200's was retired this week. Too bad, it was a good game. The Grand Prize was only $200 but there were still over 700 of them left to claim. It was the top rated game in the $1 -$2 game quadrant, before the arrival of $1 CFL, and still had 20% of its float left to sell. Don't like the decision.

Classic Gold was introduced. It is an inter-provincial game.  With 9.6% of total revenue dedicated to prize winners of $100 or more, it ranks at the low end of $10 - $20 games. Your chance to win any prize or any prize greater than the cost of the ticket is also poor. CFL, Prestige, and $200 Million are all better choices than this game.

Personal Play

I jumped into the CFL pool this week. I purchased 2 - $1 tickets, 2 - $2 tickets and one each of the $4 and $10 games. I got my money back on the $10 game and won a free ticket on the $2 game. That free ticket turned out to be worth $2 yielding a total return of $12 for the $20 investment.

For this week, I am following the advice of a comment left by a reader that recommends Lotto Max. This weeks draw is for $50 million with an additional dozen $1 million prizes to be won. I'll buy one and add it to my Instant Win purchases for the week.

To close, I received my first critical comment this week to the blog. It had to happen. Give it a read.

Doug

It's 2014 and Prestige is Back on Top

My apologies for the delay in posting this first blog update for 2014. I made a last minute decision to spend a week in Florida with a friend and thus was unable to stick to my normal schedule. I'm very sorry to have missed the miserable weather of last week. I hope that all readers are optimistic with visions of lottery wins dancing around in their heads for 2014.

After watching Money Multiplier climb the rating scale until it reaching its apex just before Christmas, it quickly surrendered two of its Grand Prizes knocking it back down. It remains a playable game with two of its seven Grand Prizes left to be claimed. The problem is that there is only an estimated 18% of its float left to sell which means that you will be lucky if you are able to find any tickets.

In its place, Prestige regained its top billing. A lucky player in Peterborough claimed one of its $1 million Grand Prize this past week. If I am not mistaken, all three of the winners in this game have been located in Ontario and it is an inter-provincial game.  If you believe in random distribution then this should have no impact upon your decision making process. Personally, I am impacted by that fact although I should not be. I may be looking in other places until such time as the distribution of winners flattens out a bit.

   

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (59%)
2. Holly Jolly (25%)
3. CFL Family 1166 (97%)
4. CFL Family 1163 (87%)
5. Money Multiplier (18%)

Games to Avoid

1. Classic White (8%)
2. Cashingo (9%)
3. Crossword 3203 (6%)
4. Jack Frost (36%)
5. Cherry Triple (45%)

More on the CFL Family games below.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Hello to a $1 and a $2 Cash For Life game. Each is rated highly. Knock yourself out with these inexpensive games.

$3 Game Update

Holly Jolly is still looking good. Two of the three Grand Prizes remain to be claimed and only 25% of the float left to sell. That yields a one in 784,000 chance to win $75,000 for a $3 investment.

$4 - $5 Game Update

The new Cash For Life game and Money Multiplier are both good choices.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Avoid Classic White and Instant Gift Pack. Any of the remaining three is a good choice.

Comings and Goings

Five games have been retired over the course of the past two weeks. Each of them was long in the tooth and needed to be sent to Instant Game Retirement Acres.

What we have received in their place is a suite of new Cash For Life games - there is a $1, $2, $4 and $10 version of each. These are always popular games and it will be interesting to track sales of the Cash For Life brand over various price points.

Someone in the marketing department at the OLG will be receiving a gold star as the games all look attractive. I have been stumped in how to evaluate the games as each of the $1, $2, and $4 games incorporate the element of a free ticket for the next game up the ladder. Very clever. The $1 game is a terrific $1 game with chances to win any prize of 1 in every 2.52 tickets. That is the best of any game currently available for sale. Your chances to win any prize more than the price of the ticket is one in every 4.13 tickets which is second only to Instant Gift Pack which is a $10 game!

I have been trying to determine how to evaluate the games at a detailed level. I believe that the OLG is counting every free ticket as a deduction from the total revenue to the game to which the free ticket applies. I have been counting the free ticket as worth the percent return of the game multiplied by the value of the ticket. This produces two different results - mine is from the perspective of the player and the OLG is from the perspective of the seller. I'm going to have to mull this over a bit more. In the meantime, go along with the hype.

Personal Play

2013 ended with a cash rate of 38% and a final return on investment of 72%. Each of the numbers was marginally above what would be expected. On a weekly basis, I averaged $35 worth of tickets per week and cashed for $25 per week. The loss of $10/week is somewhat higher than I want. As a result, I will be paring back my level of play this year to about $25/week.

I purchased two Prestige tickets and two Holly Jolly tickets this past week. Both Holly Jolly's were losers and one of the Prestige tickets was worth $20.

There are several interesting messages in the comment section of the last blog update. A word to the wise from one reader who thought that he had won $200 only to find out when he cashed the ticket that it was worth $1350! This happened to me as well when I discovered that my $5 winner was actually worth $15. Not quite the same surprise, I admit, but the same principle applies. Be on top of what you are doing if you want to ensure that you are not a victim of another's transgressions. There should never be any surprises when you pass your ticket under the scanner and you should never throw a ticket away without scanning it. It's always possible for any of us to err.

Ryan reports that he is engaged by Emerald Seven's. He will be buying these tickets exclusively over the next little while and reporting his success. I'll be sure to pass that information along.

Now that the holiday season is behind us, lets get back into full Instant Game swing. Good luck to all.

Doug

It's Still Prestige - Unfortunately

Prestige continued with its slow sales but did not reveal a Grand Prize. As a result, it  has edged further up the rating system. Money Multiplier has continued to close and is now very close to Prestige in the ratings. Prestige currently offers one chance in 940,000 to win $1 Million for your $10 investment. By comparison, Money Multiplier offers one chance in 216,000 to win $100,000 for your $5 investment. It's a tough call.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (64%)
2. Money Multiplier (28%)
3. Frogger (15%)
4. Classic White (9%)
5. $200 Million (56%)

Even though Frogger and Classic White are on this list, I would recommend avoiding these games as the secondary prizes are hollowed out. Frogger has none of its $10,000 second prizes available. You can either get the one $75,000 or the $500 third prize. Classic White has none of the $100,000, $50,000, nor $10,000 prizes left. You can either win the one $500,000 outstanding grand prize or the next best prize of $1000. Not a good proposition for your $10.

Games to Avoid

1. Cash Blast (23%)
2. Cashingo (13%)
3. Crossword 3203 (7%)
4. Crossword 3202 (16%)
5. Peppermint (88%)

Comings and Goings

Praise the heavens - Keno 1410 is no more! After an entire year of being on the market, during most of which it was a game to avoid, the OLG has finally decided to retire the 17% of the float that remained. Thank goodness I don't have to rail about the game anymore. Cross Tripler 1743 also met its end over the course of the past week. It had one Grand Prize left at the time of its demise but I had it rated as only a middling game.

No new games were introduced.

Personal Play

I got sick of beating my head exclusively against the Prestige wall. I bought one Prestige ticket and 4 Money Multipliers. The result was one $5 win for Money Multiplier. Annoying. I am now very close to my expected financial result and slightly ahead in the cash rate.

Readers have been messaging me that they have been having success with $200 Million. It is a well rated game and its cash rate is excellent but, as reader Jay points out, it is much harder to buy a single $20 - $200 Million ticket than it is to buy 2 - $10 Prestige tickets. It's true! Some psychology major should study why that is. It defies logic but there is no denying that it is the case. Next week I'm switching to $200 Million to see if I can switch things up.

Ryan has messaged me about a seller near him that was well stocked in Crossword 3203, Horseshoes, Cash Blast, Cash For Life 1662 and a few Prestige tickets. My goodness! With the exception of Prestige, those are all terrible choices. It almost makes me think that the great OLG brain in the sky has been asking sellers to actively flog those losers. I hate thinking that way.

Given that it is the Christmas Season, is it incumbent upon well informed players to advise the unsuspecting  buyer as to avoid the bad games? Maybe, but I can tell you that I have done that twice and each time the benefactor of my advice looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head.

Here's hoping that the Holiday Season brings you good luck.


Doug

Prestige Still #1 - But Not By Much

Welcome to the 100th edition of this blog. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. If you have any suggestions for how it could be improved, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Prestige remains a highly rated game but Money Multiplier is quickly closing the gap. It would not take much for the two games to reverse positions. Prestige currently is returning $.10 of every dollar spent on the game to the ten Grand Prizes left to be claimed. Your chances to snag one is just under 1 million:1. This is second only to Fast 200s that returns $.12 to its 951 unclaimed Grand Prizes of $200 each. Money Multiplier returns $.085 of every dollar to the Grand Prize winners.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (66%)
2. Money Multiplier (30%)
3. Frogger (15%)
4. Classic White (9%)
5. $200 Million (56%)

Games to Avoid

1. Cash Blast (24%)
2. Keno 1410 (17%)
3. Cashingo (14%)
4. Crossword 3203 (8%)
5. Monopoly (94%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200s is a strong choice but I can understand folks who are turned off by the $200 Grand Prize. The next best game in this group is Stock Stuff.

$3 Game Update

Cashingo has become a public menace. Its a dog for which all 3 of the $25,000 second prizes have also been claimed. At present, the most you can win is $508, and there are only 18 of them. Fast 200s looks awfully good by comparison. The best game here is Frogger but be careful as only one Grand Prize remains in this game. Check with your retailer before you buy.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Money Multiplier is the best game by a significant margin, in this area. If you dislike the game for some reason, then choose freely among the other games - they are all about the same.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Cash Blast joined the "dog" list this week when its last grand Prize was claimed. Instant Gift Pack is also rated as being a poor choice given the small Grand Prize for the game ($50,000) and the small number of Grand Prizes (6). For $10, I would expect more.

Comings and Goings

Cash For Life 1162 and Bingo 3008 were retired this past week. Cash For Life was a dog of a game and Bingo 3008 had been milked to its maximum by the OLG. May they both rest in peace.

A new version of Monopoly was launched this week and immediately went to the bottom of the list due to one of it's three $75,000 prizes being claimed right away. The game will be popular but resist the temptation faithful readers - there are better choices out there.

I mentioned last week that the $10 Instant Gift Pack was launched. Players get a pouch of tickets and a voucher to get a free ticket in the 20 million ticket jumbo Crossword game. The game provides you with good odds to win a Grand Prize of 260,000:1 but you really have to pay a lot for that privilege. The game is good insofar as your likelihood to win a prize and any prize greater than the cost of the ticket, but I cannot recommend the game. If your goal is to open the packet and put a ticket in the Christmas stockings of your family members, then go ahead - you get lots of tickets for the money.

Personal Play

Four Prestige tickets contained two winners worth $30. Barely a blip to my bottom line for the year. This week I'm going to search for some Money Multiplier tickets and maybe get one Prestige ticket. I'm not winning at the game and I need a change.

Congratulations to Vic who picked up an orphan $200 Million ticket that was worth $75 this week. I'd take it. I have been watching the OLG ads for this game closely this past week. Boy do they go out of their way to avoid telling you that the ticket costs $20.

I received an interesting comment from Jay in Scarborough this week. He is vexed about the splash that the OLG made this week when it found the rightful owner of a $50 Million Lotto Max ticket that had been unclaimed for a year. He maintains that the rules require the winner to produce the ticket and that had the money not been claimed then it would have been added to future draws therefore representing more opportunity for him to win. 

The OLG Brochure on claiming large prizes can be found here http://www.olg.ca/assets/documents/responsible_gaming/howto_check_claim_prizes.pdf .

He may have a point but we need to remember the history of the OLG insofar as rightful winners is concerned. A new era began for them post Ombudsman's Report http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Resources/Reports/A-Game-of-Trust.aspx . They have come a long way since this report was issued and I applaud them for completing what amounted to a culture change in their organization. That takes leadership. Regrettably for them, it does not stop me from criticizing them when I think it appropriate. As for Jay - I think that he needs a little more seasonal spirit.

Good luck to all.

Doug

Prestige Weakens But Remains the Choice

A lucky player in Welland won one of Prestige's Grand Prizes last week. Another one was claimed since the last time I updated my data for this posting. The cumulative effect of the two wins will be to bring Prestige down to the territory of the other top games currently for sale. Players can now feel that any of the top five games are good choices. As of November 27th, the game with the largest imbalance of Grand Prizes to tickets sold is Frogger. But be careful - it only has one Grand Prize left to claim.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (66%)
2. Money Multiplier (33%)
3. $200 Million (33%)
4. Classic White (10%)
5. Fast 200s (26%)

Note: Have you seen the ads on TV for $200 Million? Lots of information on what you can win but nary a mention of the $20 cost of the ticket. This game is being sold nationally and sales are lagging (see below). Further, the game has been in the marketplace since early April. It's curious that the OLG would decide to push an old game for which the public has demonstrated resistance.

Games to Avoid

1. Cash For Life 1162 (30%)
2. Crossword 3203 (10%)
3. Cashingo (16%)
4. Keno 1410 (17%)
5. Bingo 3008 (14%)

Note: Percentage numbers represent the estimated amount of the ticket float left to be sold. Once the number is less than 20%, tickets become more difficult to find.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200s remains a strong choice in this area. Note that the Grand Prize for this game is only $200 but there are over 1000 of them left to be claimed.

$3 Game Update

Frogger is the best choice. This is a tricky area as most players prefer $3 games yet 4 of the 5 games to avoid are also $3 games. Be careful if you're purchasing $3 games.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Money Multiplier is becoming a better and better choice every week. Four - $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Three of the top five rated games come from this area and the lowest rated game, Cash Blast, is not a bad choice either. If you're willing to pay $10 for a ticket, play whatever game tickles your fancy.

Comings and Goings

The OLG did us a favour by deleting Horseshoes this past week. It was a lame duck. Wild 8s was also retired with one of its Grand Prizes left to claim. It was the second rated $1 - $2 game at the time of its demise. That's annoying.

The OLG introduced its annual "Gift Pack" game this past week. It is a $10 play with several smaller games included. I haven't rated the game yet as those clever marketers at OLG have structured the game such that if any ticket in the envelope wins a small prize, there will be other winners included. The minimum total win is the $10 cost of the pack. I like that. There is also a free ticket for another game included. I don't like that as it stretches my limited mathematical evaluation model.

Personal Play

Six Prestige tickets contained one winner of $20. Not good. There are only four weeks of play left for this year. I am presently right about where I should be, in terms of results, and that is not good. I need some luck.

Thanks again to the folks that post comments on the blog. There is an excellent post by Trinitron on last week's update that describes what our actual chances of winning are in terms that humans can understand. Reading it helped me to not feel bad about my inability to hit a decent score. Go give it a read.

Game Sales

The following is a listing of all games for sale, as of November 27th, and the estimated number of ticket sales for that game over the course of the past month. The percentage is the percentage of the original float that was sold over the period measured.

Game	Tickets (000's)	% of Float
SuperBingo	2115	20
Cross Tripler 1755	1269	15
Cashingo	711	27
Prestige	643	4
Cash For Life 1162	513	5
$200 Million	480	3
Black Pearls	470	18
Money Multiplier	463	15
Keno 1412	460	9
Classic White	449	6
Crossword 3203	366	10
Cross Express	356	11
Fast 200s	329	10
Cherry Tripler	317	10
Bingo 3008	272	3
Frogger	267	11
Cash Blast	226	16
Cross Tripler 1743	196	2
Black Jack Tripler	187	7
Cherry Jubilee	185	6
Keno 1410	165	3

Comments: Keep in mind that Classic White, Prestige, and $200 Million are all being sold Interprovincially. In terms of percentage of their float, the sales for all of those games are low. I am also at a loss to explain why Keno 1410 continues to be sold. The OLG has a blind spot when it comes to this game when you consider that it has been for sale for all of 2013, all the Grand Prizes have been claimed, and it is the worst seller of all games. Pull the plug on this dog, I say.

Doug

Prestige Maintains Its Secrets

Prestige is in a holding pattern as its sales are languishing. The result is that it remains the top pick. A meager 3% of its float has been sold since late October. As you would expect, low sales equals few Grand Prizes being revealed. Eleven of the twelve Grand Prizes remain to be claimed and a little more than two thirds of the tickets remain to be sold. This is an Inter-provincial Lottery Corporation game which means that I'm not sure how long they will continue to pursue an unpopular game. Prestige is not alone as $200 Million and Classic White are also slow sellers. Maybe the buying public has a significant resistance to spending $10 on a scratch and win ticket. Next week I'll prepare a chart for the active games indicating how many tickets each game has sold over the past month. But for now, Prestige remains the top pick.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (67%)
2. Money Multiplier (36%)
3. Fast 200s (27%)
4. $200 Million (59%)
5. Classic White (11%)

Games to Avoid

1. Cash for Life 1162 (30%)
2. Cashingo (18%)
3. Keno 1410 (18%)
4. Horse Shoes (12%)
5. Crossword 3203 (11%)

If you're buying $3 games, take care! All of the above games are devoid of Grand Prizes and four of them are $3 games.

I'm sad to see Cashingo fall "below the line". It was a popular game and rated highly but its last Grand Prize was revealed this week making it the newest of the lame duck games.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Apart from Fast 200's, which is a game with many small Grand Prizes, Wild 8's is the best choice.

$3 Games

Frogger is the top choice here but be careful - there is only one Grand Prize left to be claimed.

$4 - $5 Games

Money Multiplier is a very good choice and it is flying under the radar. If you don't want to shell out $10 or $20 for a ticket, this is the choice.

$10 - $20 Games

Prestige is rated to be so much better than the other three games that I can't justify steering you elsewhere.

Comings and Goings

I was surprised to see a new game this week after the roll-out of the Christmas games. Fat Cat is a $2 game that has potential. Almost 5% of the revenue is returned to players who win $100 or more. That is second only to Fast 200s in the $1-$2 game category.

Personal Play

Four Prestige tickets began with a bang as the first one was worth $50! The remaining three were all losers. My year to date return on investment is now 74% and I have cashed on 38% of tickets this year.

Thanks to readers who posted messages this past week. I always enjoy hearing what you have to say and I'm sure that is also true for other readers.

Lotto Max

Here is my little essay on Lotto Max. Instant Game players are on one end of the spectrum - Lotto Max players are on the other end.

My office has the habit of creating a lottery pool every time the Lotto Max reaches $50 million. Everyone contributes $5 to the cause. I suspect that the main reason most people play is the fear that the others will win. The organizer does a great job of collecting the money, having people sign the group sheet, and providing everyone with the numbers in advance of the draw.

For the last big draw, there were 36 participants. With three lines per play, we had 168 lines in play. The results --- four free tickets! Based on the published odds, we should have reasonably expected to have won $20 once and picked up 7 free tickets. We had one chance in 80 to get five numbers right. Had we been so lucky we would have won $130 for our $180 investment. One of our free tickets won another free ticket to Friday’s draw so it required one additional week to wipe us out.

The bottom line is that games like Lotto Max are essentially winner take all propositions. The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation takes $.52 out of every $1.00 spent for its share of the pie. Once the free plays and $20 prizes are deducted from the $.48 that the lottery chaps put into play, 87% goes to the jackpot winner. In other words, the winner of Lotto Max wins over 40% of all the money spent on tickets. Compare that to Instant Games where the lottery gods take about one third of the money and the Grand Prize winners generally split, depending upon the number of grand prize winners, less than 10% of the revenue generated by the game.

One other minor complaint that I have about Lotto Max is that when the pot exceeds $50 million, the lottery corporation offers a series of single line winning numbers, each one worth $1 million. It is extremely difficult to verify 168 lines of seven numbers against a series of 20 - $1 million lines of numbers. The result is that people are left checking their tickets at machines to see if they won. I don’t like that – I want to know that my ticket is a winner (or a loser) before I check it.

Lotto Max has a large audience of people taking their fling at a monstrous prize. As for me, I prefer scratching my tickets and getting maximum action for my dollar. I'm prepared to pay the cost of not being able to win a monster prize. It’s a matter of preference. 

Hats off to the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. They were deserving winners.

Doug

Prestige Continues to Dominate

Prestige's rating increased this past week as 3% of its float was sold and nary a Grand Prize was revealed. To date, only 1 of the 12 Grand Prizes has been revealed and 32% of the tickets have been sold. We should have expected to have seen 4 of the prizes claimed by now which puts us three to the good. This is a significant imbalance that makes the game a top pick. The game also offers a very high 50.0 % of its projected revenue returned to players winning more than the $10 cost of the ticket and less than $100. This is a strong number that yields one winner of more than the cost of the ticket from every 4.80 tickets sold. If you can scrounge up the $10, this is the game to play.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige (68%)
2. Fast 200s (32%)
3. $200 Million (60%)
4. Money Multiplier (43%)
5. Cash For Life 1161 (100%)

Games to Avoid

1. Cash for Life 1162 (31%)
2. Keno 1410 (19%)
3. 20x Lucky (15%)
4. Horse Shoes (13%)
5. Crossword 3203 (19%)

Note: It is treacherous at present as three of the worst five games have co-existing sister versions for sale at the same time. Be careful not to play the poor version.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200s is a top choice. Of the rest, Wild 8s is playable.

$3 Game Update

This has been a wasteland for games of late. Things are beginning to turn over as of late. Frogger 1757 is the best choice of the $3 games, followed by Cashingo.

$4 - $5 Games

Money Multiplier is the best choice but a new Cash For Life has been initiated at it already ranks as the second best game in this group. If you play it, be careful to play game 1161 and not 1162. There are no Grand Prizes left for 1162.

$10 - $20 Games

Prestige is the clear choice in this area.

Comings and Goings

The holidays are upon us. Four new games were launched last week in recognition of Christmas stockings everywhere: $1 Peppermint, $2 Stock Stuff, $3 Holly Jolly, and $5 Jack Frost. The OLG also introduced a new Cash For Life and Crossword 3202. That's a lot of new action. Of all the new games, Cash For Life begins with the best rating, followed by Jack Frost.

Crossword 3200 was retired from play with 1 Grand Prize and only 4% of its tickets left to be sold. That is the lowest such figure I have seen so I can't fault the OLG for retiring the game with the single Grand Prize left outstanding. Who knows, maybe it has been purchased and is just waiting to be scratched.

Personal Play

Three Prestige tickets contained two winners totaling $40. Not enough to bump any of my numbers up significantly. I continue to cash at a higher than expected rate but I can't seem to snag anything other than little prizes. My return on investment to date this year is 72%.

I was in Tim Horton's on the weekend. Beside me was an elderly lady who was carefully scratching her Horse Shoes ticket. After she was finished she passed it to her daughter who double checked to be sure that it was a loser. They even read to rules on the reverse side of the ticket. Hats off to the pair of them. As players, we must be in control of how we are playing. To ignore those considerations is the first step in allowing for potential chicanery by others. I didn't have the heart to tell the two ladies that Horse Shoes is a terrible choice. None of its Grand Prizes were left to be won. I think that they would have been too upset by that little nugget.

In my next blog posting I'm going to dig into Lotto Max but before I do that I'd like to provide readers with a mini analysis, written by Peter Gross, as part of his bi-monthly editor's column in "Down The Stretch" newspaper that covers activity on the horse racing circuit (www.downthestretchnewspaper.com):

"Have you tried the 'new' Lotto 649, which promises 'more ways to win'? One of the new ways to win is to have 2 out of 6 numbers plus the bonus. The odds are 1 in 81.2 of doing that. The OLG pays you $5 on a $3 ticket. At the track we call that 3 to 5...and don't get me going on about 3 of 6. Used to be you paid $1 for a 649 ticket and if you got 3 of 6 you were paid $10. Now if you get 3 of 6 on a $3 ticket you get... $10."

Good points by Peter. These games are essentially "Winner Takes All" propositions. We Instant Games players are much more democratic than that. Sure, the prospect of the big win is enticing but we need to have fun while we're playing as well as have the chance to win a Grand Prize, albeit a smaller one.

I hope all readers had the opportunity to reflect upon the lives cut short and the families left in mourning on this important day. The British Expeditionary Force lost 64,000 men on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916. Reflect on that for a minute.

This will be a short week as you can look for the next update before the coming weekend.

Doug

Prestige Dominates

During my absence,Prestige continued to assert its authority over the rest of the field. The game is a dominant choice with 11 of its 12 Grand Prizes remaining to be claimed and 30% of the ticket float sold. The game provides 10.6 cents out of every dollar to the Grand Prize winners which is the best for existing games and 50% of total game revenue is returned to prizes of less than $100. This is the second best game from that perspective. I'm going to have to come up with lots of titles for future blog posts as this game is going to remain on top for some time to come. My only complaint about this game is that the tickets are too long! They're hard to fit into any sort of pocket. Pretty lame complaint, no?

Best Rated Games

1. Prestige 71%
2. Fast 200's 36%
3. Cash Blast 43%
4. Cash For Life 35%
5. $200 Million 61%

Games to Avoid

1. Keno 1410 21%
2. 20X Lucky 15%
3. Horseshoes 14%
4. Crossword 3203 28%
5. Cross Express 33%

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200's continues to be highly rated. It is the clear choice in this area and a good choice overall.

$3 Game Update

There has been nothing worth playing in this area for some time but Cashingo is beginning to look good and one of our readers did have a $500 cash already on this game.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Cash For Life is a good choice and Money Multiplier can also be played.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Prestige is dominant. Reader Trinitron also likes $200 Million due to it's high rate of winners at 1 for every 3 tickets. No argument there.

Comings and Goings

While I was away the OLG was busy getting rid of five games. Two of them were games with no grand Prizes left to claim and two others were games that were rated as being poor choices so I have nothing to gripe about. Scrabble 1754 was one of the games and I have been whining about that one for some time. Interestingly, Bingo 3009 was retired while Bingo 3008 was not. The former game was only introduced in early July and had two thirds of its float left. Bingo 3008 has been on sale since late January and has 17% of its float left. How does one explain that decision? A call to the OLG call center provided the answer: A number of the tickets had been voided and were being used for demonstration purposes by the OLG. Those voided tickets somehow were sent out to retailers. Once the OLG learned about the problem, the game was cancelled. Anyone with a winning Bingo 3009 ticket is able to cash it.

Super Bingo 3013 was introduced recently. It is a jumbo game with over 10 million tickets available. I'm not crazy about the game as only 3.3% of total revenue is returned to winners of $100 or more. That is very poor. There are lots of prizes of less than $100 but I would like to see more going into the grand prizes of which there are 10, each worth $50,000. That's 10 out of 10 million tickets.

Personal Play

Four Prestige tickets contained one $10 winner. Sucks. My overall results are now down to where one would expect after starting the year well. I feel that I'm due for some better luck.

I'll write about the US games next time. I lost on all tickets with the exception of a free ticket on a $1 game. My foray into Powerball also yielded nothing but it is hard to turn your back on a $216 Million jackpot. That's crazy stuff!

Good to be back.

Doug

Prestige Looks Best

I'm heading off to the USA tomorrow and will miss my next scheduled blog update. I will not be doing a complete update for another two weeks.

A quick glance at the OLG site tells me that Prestige is certain to continue its reign as the recommended game.

I offer thanks to the posters who leave messages on the site. I encourage visitors to read them as they are just as useful as anything I might have to say. Ryan reports that he is having trouble finding Keno 1412 at his local seller. However, there are lots of Keno 1410 tickets for sale. That is the difference between night and day. I fail to understand why the OLG thinks that people who buy $3 tickets don't care about their investment. Its insulting and players like Ryan highlight that point. He was the lucky winner of $500 in Cashingo last week. There are only 184 of those prizes offered in the game so hats off to him.

Lloyd reports zero luck with either Prestige or Cash Blast. He is going back to $3 games where he had more luck. I know how he feels. In my personal play this week I went 0 for 5 Prestige tickets. That stings.

Patrick had better luck than either of us but still nothing to brag about. I think it goes without saying, but I will, that the absolute best strategy is to keep your money in your pocket. Any game where the house collects 30% - 40% is going to run you into the poor house if you get too serious. The idea is to play a bit, play smart, and hope to get lucky. Oh, and to avoid buying games that we should all be avoiding.

For this weeks entry I am providing a chart of all the games that are currently for sale and have been for sale for at least one month. They are ranked by the estimated average ticket sales over the past month. Many factors affect this number such as the size of the float, percentage of tickets left to sell, the quantity supplied by the OLG to sellers, cost of ticket, and the attractiveness of the game.

Game                            Quantity (000)
Crossword 3203              216
Prestige                            66
Cash For Life                    50
Crossword  Tripler            40
Frogger                            36
Bingo 3008                       33
Bingo 3009                       30
Classic White                    26
$200 Million                      25
Money Multiplier               25
Crossword 3200                21
Horseshoes                       21
Wild 8s                            20
Cross Express                   18
Cherry Triple                    17
Fast 200s                          17
Bonus Keno                      15
Cash Blast                         15
Cherry Jubilee                   11
Keno 1410                        11
Black Jack Tripler              11
20x Lucky                        10
Poker Multiplier                  4
Scrabble                            4
More Lucky Lines              3

Horseshoes, Keno 1410, More Lucky Lines, Scrabble, and 20x Lucky are the games for which all the grand prizes have been claimed. This flies in the face of the OLG's claim that games that sell less are retired. If this is so, then why are they continuing to flog these tickets. Why was Instant Millions canceled with higher daily sales? I have absolute faith in the integrity of the OLG, post Ombudsman's report, but I think that they can tend towards not putting the interest of the player first. It's the natural tendency of any bureaucracy.

I'll be picking up Instant Games from as many states as I can as I refuel while heading down the I75 to Florida. I'll report back on what I find in the next update. If they're anything like I found in New York, we're lucky to be playing in Canada.

Best.


Doug

Prestige is Poised to Rule a Long Time

I thank reader Trinitron for pointing out that I had erred in my calculations. Prestige was the top rated game, as indicated, but it was not as dominant as I had suggested. The game continues its progression this week as it failed to surrender any of its Grand Prizes once again. Eleven of the twelve original Grand Prizes remain and almost 1/4 of the ticket float has been sold. The game is rated to be substantially ahead of the second rated game (Cash Blast) and with 11 Grand Prizes left, it will continue on top even if two or three of the Grand Prizes are revealed. You have 1 chance in a million to win a Grand Prize of $1 million for your ten dollar investment. In Cash Blast you have one chance in 272,000 to win a Grand Prize of $250,000 for the same $10. If its simply the best chance to snag a Grand Prize, then Cash Blast is your game. I'm sticking with Prestige.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige 76%
2. Cash Blast 57%
3. Fast 200s 46%
4. $200 Million 63%
5. Wild 8s 15%

Games to Avoid

1. Keno 1410 25%
2. Horse Shoes 20%
3. More Lucky Lines 17%
4. 20x Lucky 17%
5. Scrabble 5%

Note - percentage numbers are the estimated % of the game's float that remains to be sold. Once a game falls below 20%, tickets will begin to become harder to find.

The OLG has fallen into its old ways once again. Each of the five games on the "Games to Avoid" list has exhausted its respective Grand Prizes. Scrabble is particularly abhorrent given the length of time that its tickets have been sold while being in this state. Thank goodness that it is unlikely that your local seller will even have any tickets for sale with a scant 5% of its float left to sell. Now that Keno 1412 has been launched we should see the end of Keno 1410. If you're buying the new game, be careful not to buy the old one.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Wild8s and Fast 200s remain well rated. I would recommend buying some of each as it is not common that these games reach the top five.

$3 Game Update

Two new games were introduced this week. There is hope that one or both may develop into a good choice in time.

$4 - $5 Game Update

The best two games are Cash for Life and Money Multiplier.

$10 - $20 Games

No change this week - anything other than Classic White will do just fine.

Comings and Goings 

Two new games were introduced this week: Cashingo and Keno 1412. Cashingo has already coughed up a Grand Prize making Keno 1412 the better of the two. I like the structure of each game. The prize structure for each is a pyramid with fewer prizes in every value as the prize size increases. Players instinctively think that this must be true but it is not. Cashingo returns 5.7% of its revenue to winners of $100 or more versus 4.5% in Keno. Keno also has a category high 14.3% of its revenue returned to players who win their $3 back. Your chances to win a Grand Prize are presently 1.1 million:1 in Cashingo and 833,000:1 in Keno 1412. The difference is attributable to the fact that Cashingo has surrendered one its 3- $75,000 Grand Prizes. All six $50,000 Grand Prizes remain in Keno 1412.

Personal Play

Four Prestige tickets included three winners totaling $55. I'll take it! I now sit at a cash rate of 38% and a return on investment of 74%.

I received some junk mail this past week (who knows how these things happen) encouraging me to play scratch and win tickets on-line at an off-shore location. Who would do such a crazy thing? As much as I have problems with the OLG and their "Modernization Plan", at least I know that the Government of Ontario stands behind them and they are transparent about their Instant Games. The dreaded slot machines are an altogether different story but I won't go there...

Bonne action de grâce à tous et toutes.
(Happy Thanksgiving to one and all)
Doug

Prestige Presses Its Advantage

Prestige sold an estimated whopping 2 million tickets last week without losing a single Grand Prize! Eleven of the twelve Grand Prizes remain to be claimed after selling one third of the ticket float. Your chances of winning one now stand at 830,000:1 versus the 1.2 million:1 that existed at the outset of the game.

I know that this game is expensive at $10/ticket but it is by far and away the best game to play at this time. Almost 12 cents of every dollar spent on the game is returned to the Grand Prize winners and this number is the best that is currently available. At the same time, the game has a high percentage of winners and a high percentage of winners that pay more that the cost of the ticket. The game is strong in every respect.

Top Rated Games

1. Prestige 63%
2. Cash Blast 63%
3. Fast 200's 50%
4. $200 Million 63%
5. Cherry Jubilee 40%

Games to Avoid

1. Horse Shoes 52%
2. More Lucky 19%
3. Scrabble #1754 5%
4. Blackjack Tripler 17%
5. Bingo #3008 30%

Note: Percentage figures indicate the estimated percentage of the float left to be sold.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Cherry Jubilee and Fast 200's are both good choices to play. It's unusual for an inexpensive game to rate highly given the higher take out in these games.

$3 Game Update

It's tough to recommend any game in this area. Crossword #3200 is better than Crossword #3203 and Bingo #3009 is better than Bingo #3008. Don't be fooled.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Black Pearls, Money Multiplier, and Cash for Life are all reasonable choices in this area.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Just avoid Classic White. Each of the other three is a good choice.

Comings and Goings

Crossword Tripler #1755 was added this week. The game is very similar to the other Crossword Triple #1743 game that is also for sale. I'm not crazy about the game as the 3.6 cents per dollar of revenue dedicated to Grand Prizes is low for $5 games and the 13.6% of revenue returned to players who "win" back the cost of the ticket is high. The float for the game is over 8 million tickets so it will be around for a while. The earlier version of the game was launched back in April and there is still 1.5 million tickets left to sell in that game. If you must play this game, play the new version.

Personal Play

Three Prestige Tickets contained one winner of $20. That is about par for the course. Norm in Mississauga purchased one Prestige ticket for his "friend". It was a $50 winner. He cashed the ticket and bought one more - it was worth $20. I know it's not a huge win but nicely done nonetheless.

I received an interesting message this past week from a visitor to the blog. She had taken the time to write the OLG complaining about the manner is which it retires games. The letter she got in response was interesting in that I'd be curious to know if the author actually believes what she is saying. I respect the OLG for the fact that they take the time to respond but their explanations for their decisions do not hold water. It is my view that the criteria for canceling games should be entirely objective. The letter they sent states clearly that there can be judgement in their decisions. Whenever the OLG applies discretion, their priority should be the interest of the players. Sadly, it often is the interest of the OLG. How else does one explain why games with Grand Prizes unclaimed are routinely canceled while games with not only no Grand Prizes but also no Second Prizes and in one case no Third Prizes continue to be offered for sale. It's a case of player beware but it can't hurt to write to them as this individual has done.


Doug

Prestige Returns to the Top

Cash Blast’s reign on top was short lived after it coughed up two of its five Grand Prizes this past week. The incurred damage reduced the game to the #4 spot, leaving Prestige standing head and shoulders above all other games currently for sale. Prestige is an Interprovincial Game and has only surrendered 1 of its $1,000,000 Grand Prizes after selling an estimated 20% of its float. The game has a balanced prize distribution with 8.2% of revenue going to Grand Prize winners, 2.2% going to winners of $100 or more but less than the Grand Prize, 50% going to winners of less than $100 and more than the cost of the ticket, 9.6% going to people who got their money back, and 30% going to the OLG and, according to them, your local hospital. Your chance to win any prize more than the cost of the ticket is one in every 4.80 tickets – that’s very good. Lastly, and I know that this is ridiculous, I like the scratchability of the ticket – nice and smooth.

Top Rated Games

1. 1.       Prestige (79%)
2. 2.       Fast 200’s (54%)
3. 3.       $200 Million (64%)
4. 4.       Cash Blast (71%)
5. 5.       Cherry Jubilee (42%)

Games to Avoid

1. 1.       More Lucky Lines (19%)
2. 2.       Scrabble #1754 (6%)
3. 3.       Black Jack Tripler (46%)
4. 4.       Bingo #3008 (35%)
5. 5.       Frogger (59%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

These are good days for players who like inexpensive games. Fast 200’s is a top game and all the other games are reasonable choices. That is not always the case for these games.

$3 Games

It’s treacherous in this area. Four of the five lowest rated games are $3 Games. The best choice in this group is Horse Shoes.

$4 - $5 Games

Black Pearls is a new game and is the top rated game in this group. Avoid Black Jack Tripler and Poker Multiplier.

$10 - $20 Games

Avoid Classic White. Although Wild 10’s has been retired, if you can find any loose tickets, they are a good choice. Otherwise, Prestige is the stand out choice.

Comings and Goings

Wild 10’s and Super Bingo were retired this week. Wild 10’s was a playable game over a period of several weeks. I purchased 34 of them, cashing on 10 for a total return of $180. A disappointing result, to be sure. I did not have occasion to play Super Bingo. Wild 10’s had 20 of its 150 - $10,000 Grand Prizes and 15% of its float left to sell. Super Bingo had 1 of its 10 - $50,000 Grand Prizes left and 6% of its float.

Black Pearls is a $5 game that was introduced this past week. The game rates well right off the bat within its group of games. It is light on its intermediate prizes with only .6% of its total revenue going to those winners. In fact, there are only 9 prizes greater than $105 and that is not good for a $5 game. It also returns 10.7% of its revenue to people who win their money back. That is also high. Still, the 7 $100,000 Grand Prizes is good. The odds against winning one are presently 360,000:1 and that is excellent.

Personal Play

I have a system that has some flexibility and some boundaries. I know from experience that if I venture outside of my established boundaries bad things happen. I played 2-Cash Blast and 2-20X Lucky tickets last week. I cashed on one of each for a measly total of $25. Early this week I was at the Grocery Store when I saw that they had two orphan Wild 10 tickets left. My system does not permit me to buy tickets mid week. Too much could have happened since I last updated the blog. Nevertheless, I bought the tickets and paid the expected price by getting skunked. Just another lesson in a lifetime of them.

Best of Luck to all readers.

Doug

Cash Blast #1752 Blasts Into Top Spot

Cash Blast has wrestled the top spot away from Prestige although both games are eminently playable. Prestige has yet to surrender a Grand Prize of $1,000,000 and it was the top pick last week which makes it tough to understand how it could have slipped in the ratings. The answer is that Cash Blast has also not surrendered a Grand Prize and it is selling its float at a quicker rate than Prestige. Cash Blast was only released 10 days or so ago and has already sold 20% of its float. Prestige has sold 17% of its float but has been selling since early August.

Cash Blast returns $.11 of each ticket to its Grand Prize winners. This is a very high number. Your current chance to win a Grand Prize is 224,000:1, down from the 285,600:1 when the game began.

Top Rated Games

1. Cash Blast
2. Prestige
3. Fast 200's
4. 20X Lucky
5. $200 Million

Games to Avoid

1. Scrabble #1754
2. More Lucky Lines
3. Blackjack Tripler
4. Bingo #3008
5. Frogger

I will save my breath on Scrabble. This game should have been put to bed long ago. By every measure the OLG should have retired it, but instead they continue to push the tickets. Be aware!

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200's is a top pick and Cherry Jubilee is also not a bad choice.

$3 Game Update

If you must, Super Bingo #3012 is the best choice.

$4 - $5 Game Update

20X Lucky is the only good choice in this category.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Avoid Classic White. Otherwise, the other games are all good choices.

Comings and Goings

No changes to report this week. Lets hope that Scrabble and More Lucky Lines are both torpedoed over the course of the coming seven days.

Personal Play

Two Cash Blast and two 20X Lucky returned 2 winners and $35. That is my first profitable week in some time. My cash rate is 37% and my return on investment is 74%.


Doug

Texas Hold'Em is Top Rated - But You Can Fold Your Hand

Texas Hold'Em remains the top rated game but I have some serious concerns about it. The game is coming out on top as 1 of its 3 Grand Prizes of $75,000 remains to be claimed from an estimated 14% of its original float. That means that there are 360,000 tickets left to sell. The problem is that the secondary top prizes for the game have been hollowed out. All 5 trips to the World Poker Tournament (I would have taken the cash equivalent) have been claimed; only 2 of 18 $1000 Prizes are left to be claimed, and only 5 of 37 $515 prizes are left to be claimed. I also agree with the reader who expressed his dislike for the game based on getting his four of a kind hand(s) being beaten by the dealer's straight flushes.

And we have the ongoing problem with supply as the tickets are becoming hard to find. I find the reports from posters interesting as Wild 10s, Silver Gold, Cleopatra, and some other games are in some sort of limbo as they continue to appear on the OLG site yet retailers are being asked to return unsold tickets. Is this some process whereby the OLG tries to scoop back any unsold Grand Prizes before they retire the game? Why not let retailers sell whatever quantity they have on hand? What they appear to be doing is a good business decision for the OLG but not a good one for players.

Top Rated Games

1. Texas Hold'Em (14%)
2. Prestige (93%)
3. Cleopatra (17%)
4. Wild 10s (17%)
5. Fast 200s (70%)

Games to Avoid

1. Scrabble #1754 (12%)
2. More Lucky Lines (24%)
3. Bingo #3008 (38%)
4. Bonus Keno (25%)
5. Keno (33%)

I have included the estimated size of the ticket float remaining to be sold for each game. I came across a young woman sitting on a bench this week who had bought two tickets - a Horse Shoes ticket and a Scrabble ticket. I asked her how she made out. "Two Losers" was the reply. I wonder if she would have bought that Scrabble ticket if she knew that there were no Grand Prizes left to be claimed, no $25,000 second prizes left to be claimed, no $15,000 third prizes left to be claimed, no $10,000 fourth prizes left to be claimed, and one out of seven $5,000 fifth prizes left. And yet the OLG continues to sell this game whereas Instant Millions was retired with......, oh well, you know my rant so I won't bore you again.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Fast 200s and Pick 3 remain the best choices here.

$3 Game Update

Lots of games to avoid in this area. Apart from Texas Hold'Em, Super Bingo and Bingo #3009 are OK.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Cleopatra is good but scarce. 20X Lucky is a good choice.

$10 - $20 Game Update

All the games in this area are playable.

Comings and Goings

The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation retired Extravaganza this past week. Two of the initial 14 - $1 million prizes were left to be claimed from the almost 3 million tickets left to be sold. This game had begun to be sold in 2012 and was long in the tooth. I think that the OLG has trouble selling $10 and $20 tickets when there are too many of those games for sale at the same time. Extravaganza was not the worst game to play, but it was not among the best. This decision should help the sale of Prestige and Classic White tickets. I only hope that Wild 10's has not been retired as it is currently the best game in this group.

Money Multiplier #1748 was introduced this week. This game has more prizes of $100 or more but less than the $100,000 Grand Prize than any other $5 Game. Those prizes come at the expense of the prizes of less than $100 but more than $5. Overall, your chances to win any prize and to win any prize more than the cost of the ticket are third out the eight $5 games currently for sale. It will be an interesting game to watch.

Personal Play

A smorgasbord of tickets including Texas Hold'Em, Scrabble, and Wild 10's produced a small loss for the week. I now stand at a 38% cash rate and a 73% return on investment. As usual, I need a $100 win to give my results a boost. Is that too much to ask?

I normally restrict all comments on this blog to the subject of Scratch and Win tickets. I have, however, undertaken to a friend to inform you of his NFL Survivor Pool that will get underway next week. It costs $10 to enter and he normally has about 1000 entries. A portion of the entry fees are directed to Variety Village which is the only reason why I am doing this. If you want more information, you can email him at poolmaster55@rogers.com. I can offer you the absolute assurance that he is trustworthy. There, my promise is fulfilled.

May Lady Luck be with you this week.

Doug

Texas Hold'Em Barely Holds on to Top Spot

It gives me great pleasure to announce that one of the readers of this blog was the lucky winner of $75,000 in the current Scrabble game! Lloyd purchased his ticket near Coxwell and Queen in the east end of Toronto. Lloyd has answered one of the questions I have in that the OLG recorded his win as being in East York (a former borough of Toronto before amalgamation). That's where Lloyd and his wife live. I always wondered if the winners list indicates where the ticket was bought or where the winner resides. Now I know. This is Lloyd's second win of $1000 or more. That means two visits to OLG headquarters. Not too shabby!

Lloyd reports that he will be spending $5000 on some new furniture with the rest going into savings. I think that $75,000 is the perfect amount to win. It's enough to pay bills, take a trip, buy some new things, make an RRSP and a TFSA contribution and have lots left over! But it's not enough to change your life or adversely affect your relationships with family and friends. So Hats Off to Lloyd! We should all be inspired by the knowledge that winning is indeed possible. Lloyd's Scrabble game still has a Grand Prize left to claim and only an estimated 15% of its tickets left to sell. Your chances to win it are a measly 500,000:1 so lets go find it!

Texas Hold'Em barely holds on to the top spot this week. One Grand Prize remains outstanding with approximately 380,000 tickets left to sell. Your problem will be to find any tickets. My local seller tells me that Texas Hold'Em and a couple of the other games on the "Best Of" list have "expired" and he has returned tickets to OLG headquarters. I think that he's wrong about the "expired" bit but I suspect that OLG has asked retailers to return unsold tickets in advance of canceling the game. It's my old bugaboo and I intend to bleat on about the subject in future entries. But not this week given Lloyd's big win.

Top Rated Games

1. Texas Hold'Em
2. Silver Gold
3. Prestige
4. Scrabble
5. Wild 10's*

* Wild 10's has had a run of winners over the past few weeks lowering its playability rating. Twenty-five $10,000 prizes remain to be claimed from 240,000 tickets.

Games to Avoid

1. Bingo #3008
2. Bonus Keno 
3. Keno
4. Horse Shoes
5. Poker Multiplier

$1 - $2 Game Update

Silver Gold is a good game but tickets will be hard to find. Fast 200s is a good second choice.

$3 Game Update

The four lowest rated games, at the moment, are all $3 games. Be careful as these games are among the most popular.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Cleopatra is the top rated game in this area. A reader has indicated that he dislikes the game due to his 0 for 8 ticket run when the game was first launched. I've yet to win with the game too so I'll be treading lightly, if at all.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Prestige and Wild10s are both playable.

Comings and Goings

No action to report although if my sellers are any indication, the retirement of at least two of the top 5 rated games is imminent. Grrrrr.

Personal Play

Eight Silver Gold tickets included 3 winners totaling $14. Two Cleopatra tickets returned bupkis! My overall numbers are stuck at 38% cash rate and 72% return on investment. I need just a touch of Lloyd's luck.

Enjoy your week.


Doug