No Game to Play

We had one of the $1 million prizes claimed in the Ontario Millions last week. As a result, there are no games that are qualified for play this week. The best rated game is $1 Reindeer Game.

A new $10 Bejewled game was introduced this week and two new Scrabble Games came on line last week. We'll watch how those games progress.

The $10 Classic Black game was canceled this week. It was a blood bath for the OLG as all 14 Grand prizes were claimed while 51% of the tickets float remained to be sold.

A reminder that Space Invaders, Crossword, Wonderful Life, and Cash Cruises are all to be avoided as the grand prizes have been claimed for each of those games.

Ontario Millions #1661

Ontario Millions is the only game that is playable at this time. The $5 game has all three grand prizes left to claim after having sold 35% of its ticket float. I bought six of them last week winning $5 on each to two tickets. Not a good result but I will pound away again this week.

The OLG was up to its questionable practices last week when it canceled Keno #1406, the highest rated game. There was fully 30% of the tickets left but the OLG had already introduced Keno #1409 thus spelling doom for the earlier game. There is something unethical about selling 70% of the tickets for a game, still having 3 of the 4 grand prizes left to be claimed, and canceling the game.

The losing games to avoid are: Cash and Cruises, Wondeful Life, Space Invaders, and Crossword #1291. The OLG cancels a good game to play while permitting players to purchase tickets on games where all of the top prizes have been claimed. Crazy!

We're Back to Keno #1406

Last week's recommended game of Cash and Cruises has now become a game to avoid. Both remaining $500,000 were claimed. One was in Collingwood, the location of the second one has yet to be posted. It strikes me that more winning Scratch and Win tickets are won in smaller communities than one would expect. More on that in future posts.

The best game to play is the $1 Hol Trippler but these tickets are becoming very hard to find. We may find that the game has been cancelled. Stay tuned. Keno #1406 has fought back into playable status. Thirty percent of the tickets remain. The $5 Instant Millions is almost playable and should be next week barring the claim of any winning tickets.

Games to avoid include Space Invaders, Crossword, Wonderful Life, Lucky Dragon, Cash and Cruises, and Classic Black. None of the expensive games are worth the effort. This is good as you can wisely get more tickets for your weekly budget.

One final observation this week is the popularity of  Mah Jong. They are selling 10% of the 3 million ticket float each week. That is very high. I'm sure that the good people at the OLG have noticed this trend. Sadly, the game is not playable to followers of this blog but who knows about the future.

Good luck.

Cash and Cruises is the best play

There are three games that are currently playable. The best game is the $10 Cash and Cruises. The next best game is the $1 Hol Tripler. It is unusual that a $1 game ever becomes playable due to the high house take out and the relatively small grand prize. At present, your odds against winning the jackpot is a mere 133,000:1. That's pretty good. The third game is the Keno #1406 that has snuck back up the list since the claiming of one of the grand prizes two weeks ago.

The games being played most by the public over the past week were Mah Jong, Crossword, and Texas Hold'em. Mah Jong sold over 8% of its ticket float in one week! That's fine. Stick to the recommended games and get the best bang for the buck.

I play $20/week and this week I am going to focus on the Hol Tripler. Last week I bought 2 Cash and Cruises tickets, winning $15 on one of them. With what is going on in Italy, I'm not so sure that I want to win a cruise right now.

New Recommended Game - Cash and Cruises #1681

The new year has brought in several new games and the termination of 5 old games. Keno is no longer the recommended play as two of the grand prizes have been claimed. Instead, $10 Cash and Cruises is the game of choice.

Over 40% of the tickets have been sold and both grand prizes remain to be claimed. The odds of winning the grand prize stand at 345,000:1, down from the 606,000:1 at the outset. Winners appear at a rate of 3.11:1 which is good for a larger prize game.

Four games continue to be sold for which all the grand prizes have been claimed. They are: $3 Crossword 1291, $3 Woonderful Life 1077, $ Lucky Dragon 1674, 45 Merry Money 1677. Avoid these games like the plague.

One point of interest is that the $1 Holiday Tripler 1675 has become a playable game. This is unusual as the cheaper games have a larger house take and therefore more to overcome before they become playable. The good news is that for $1, you can make a reasonable wager by buying this game.

Keno #1406 is the Holiday Play

With people looking for stocking stuffers, the OLG sold large quantities of the $1 and $2 tickets this past week. The HolTripler, Reindeer Game and Stocking Stuffer all sold over 6% of their entire ticket float during the week. None of those games is worth playing but if you must, $1.00 HolTripler #1675 is by far the best play of the three. Forty percent of the tickets have been sold and 3 of the 4 Grand Prizes remain to be claimed.

There is only one justifiable play and that is the $3 Keno #1406. Over 50% of the tickets have been sold and all 4 Grand Prizes remain to be claimed.

I bought 4 tickets this week, winning on three of them. The total cash was $17.

I will be outlining my strategy for 2012 in my next post along with a detailed summary of activity throughout the year. The beauty of Scratch and Win tickets is that the player surrenders the dreams of the super jackpot in exchange for lots of small cashes and, if you are selective, you can restrict your play to games where the odds justify the play. You can't say that about any other OLG activity.

Keno #1406

Keno #1406 is the clear play. Forty percent of the tickets have been sold and all four $50,000 grand prizes remain to be claimed. The 40% differential overcomes the 36% house take making the game a reasonable wager.


Your chance of winning the $50,000 prize is presently 440,000:1, down from the 733,400:1 it was when the game began.

Cranium fell off of the radar when the second of the three grand prizes was claimed this week. No reporting yet as to where the prize was won.

The Ontario Lottery Corporation applies different principles to games where the grand prize is $100,000 or more. These are all games with a price of $4 or more. Some of the higher priced games do not have $100,000 grand prizes. Of those games currently in play, none is playable. But, if you insist on playing, avoid $10 Classic Black, $10-100 Jumbo, and $5 Merry Money. These games are in an extremely negative position.

Doug