Diamond 7's Gets Better and Better

Over 350,000 Diamond 7's tickets were sold over the past two weeks without surrendering a Grand Prize. There remains two $77,777 Grand Prizes with odds of 208,000:1 to win one. That is 50% better than any other game currently for sale. The problem is that an estimated 14% of the float remains which means that they are likely already hard to find. The game also suffers from a slightly reduced Grand Prizes as a result of the theme of the game. Two weeks ago this game was a luke warm choice. It is now clearly the best game currently available for sale.

What is noteworthy at present is the poor ratings on all of the $10 games and the sole $20 game. One should expect that at least one or two of these games should be well rated. That is not presently the case.

Top Rated Games

1. $5 Diamond 7's - Get em while you can. 
2. $3 Super Bingo #3017 -  2nd highest percentage of $ returned to small prize winners. 
3. $3 QFG Crossword #3208 - Solid game but 2 million:1 to win $50,000?
4. $3 Fruit Explosion #1834 - Second best top prize ratio currently for sale. 
5. $5 Cross Tripler #1810 - Rates well on both factors. 

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Double Cash For Life - only 1 GP left and almost 5 million tickets. It's over for this game.
2. $2 Black Jack - Still flogging these dogs. Shame. 
3. $10 Bejeweled - Poorly rated on both scales. 
4. $5 Hit Jackpot - Has nothing going for it. 
5. $2 Cash For Life - Very poor top prize ratio of 63%.

Games To Play If You Only Care About the Grand Prize

1. $4 Double Cash For Life
2. $10 Bejeweled
3. $5 Diamond 7's
4. $20 Extraordinary
5. $5 Money Multiplier

Games With No Grand Prizes Left

• $3 Words With Friends
• $3 Wheel of Fortune
• $3 Crossword 3207
• $3 Cashingo
• $2 Blackjack

Comings and Goings

The former top rated game, 20X Lucky was retired this past week. The game had one of its 7 Grand Prizes remaining and an estimated 16% of the float left to sell. My actual results on the game were poor. I bought, in total, 33 of the tickets, winning on six of them for a total of $85. Even when eliminating any prize of $100 or more, I should have expected to have enjoyed two more winners and an additional $17. 

Personal Play

Bad bad bad. So bad that I took a week off as some of our posters have done of late. Maybe nature is telling me to forsake this endeavour and instead get outside. If so, I agree with nature. 

In Conclusion

This from the Sault Star, "Sault Ste. Marie can let the opportunity of creating a lottery and gaming centre of excellence pass it by, or it can be poised and ready to embrace new technology and grow industry, the Chamber of Commerce was told Wednesday."\

A lottery and gaming centre of excellence?! Is this the new euphemism for a casino? I'm impressed that the OLG brass have not been discouraged by communities saying no to their plan to "improve" those communities by plopping a casino into them and letting a foreign casino operator run the business. Good thing that the OLG does not run crack houses or they would likely re-brand them as "opiate usage centres of excellence."

It is also noteworthy that the OLG is now using conditional language in their discourse around modernization. Numbers are now goals and estimates. That is not the language used in the OLG Modernization Plan. What happens when the OLG not only fails to increase its contribution to the provincial treasury by its stated $1.3 billion but actually begins to return less than it does today? Well, the answer will be nothing as it will all be too late. And who will be held to account? Certainly not Stephen Rigby; he just got there. And Rod Phillips is safely ensconced with Paul Godfrey at the National Post. It will be interesting to see how it all evolves.


Doug

    

Diamond 7's Still Looking Good

The top rated game plowed through an estimated 45,000+ tickets without surrendering a Grand Prize last week. Your odds to win one of the two remaining outstanding prizes are now just under 300,000:1 compared to the 437,000:1 at the outset of the game. The game also sports the best revenue return to small winners of any $5 game. I know, the Grand Prize is disappointing at $77,777.

Top Rated Games

1. $5 Diamond 7's #1822 - Good all round choice. 
2. $1 Wild 8's #1813 - A $1 game in 2nd place? An unusual circumstance. 
3. $10 Classic Ruby #1792 - Working its way back up after coughing up a Grand Prize. 
4. $3 QFG Crossword #3208 - Good numbers but 2 million to one to win a $50k GP!
5. $3 Bingo #3016 - Playable, if you don't like the others. 

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Dbl CFL #1170 - Horrible small prize availability. OTOH, better than Lotto Max. 
2. $2 Black Jack #1804 - All GPs gone long ago. Still sold 65,000 tickets last week, 
3. $10 Bejeweled #1786 - Lowest small prize return of any $10 game. Negative Top Prize ratio.
4. $3 Wheel of Fortune #1809 - All Grand Prizes claimed. 
5. $2 Cash For Life #1169 - 4 good Grand Prizes left for $2. Negative Top Prize ratio.

Best Games if Your Priority is the Grand Prize

1. Double Cash For Life
2. Bejeweled
3. Fortune
4. Extraordinary
5. Diamond 7's

Games With All Grand Prizes Claimed

• Crossword #3207 - Most you can win is $100. Sold 90k of them last week!
• Words With Friends - Top two prize categories claimed. 
• Wheel Of Fortune - Pat and Vanna are laughing
• Cashingo
• Blackjack

Comings and Goings

Nothing to report. That may be a first!

Personal Play

Another bad week returning $22 on a $48 investment. Also lost $10 on the Gatineau Olympiques 50/50 draw. Go Ol Go! That Rimouski team looks awfully good.

In Conclusion

A CBC piece on the subject of on-line gambling. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/online-gambling-is-it-worth-the-risk-for-governments-1.3001653 .

The OLG is simply following the path forged by similar organizations in districts across the US and Canada. They use the same tired drivel to explain their vision and the benefits that they provide to all Ontarians. We do know that Electronic Bingo has been a bust to date. That was one of the first planks of their so-called "modernization". Not surprising. People who go to Bingo halls go with friends and enjoy getting game sheets and daubers lined up for the action. Replacing that with touch screens is not going to do the trick.

The OLG estimates that it loses $400 million  to off-shore gambling sites. How much of that is coming back with the advent of www.playolg.ca? Not much, in my estimation. Pokerstars and the likes of Betfair are not worried in the least. What it may do is cannibalize casino returns as some players will choose to play slots at home rather than drive in to the casino. That fact, of course, has the effect of lowering bids from private companies who are vying to run facilities in the province. We'll see how it all unfolds but I will not be surprised if the whole thing turns into nothing other than shedding payroll for employees currently working and paying taxes to the province.

Spring is here and we can all think of better things to do than scratch tickets.

Doug

Diamond 7's Ascends To The Throne

Last week's games of choice, Classic Ruby and 20X Lucky, each lost a Grand Prize knocking them down the list. Percolating to the top is Diamond 7's. This game has two of its original 7 Grand Prizes left and an estimated 23% of its float left. There is a positive ratio of 1.19 when comparing the number of Top Prizes remaining and the prize money associated with those prizes. 60.6% of the revenue for the game is returned to players who win less than $100. You have one chance in 437,000 to find one of the $77,777 Grand Prizes.

Top Rated Games

1. $5 Diamond 7's #1822 - Luke warm top choice. A poster has had good luck with the game. 
2. $3 QFG Crossword #3208 - Lots of small prizes and a positive ratio.
3. $1 Wild 8's #1813 - Mrs. Vader's favourite game after a $100 win. 
4. $5 Cross Tripler #1810 - Decent choice.
5. $10 Classic Ruby #1792 - Took a hit last week. 

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Dbl CFL #1170 - Great Grand Prize; nothing else. Negative ratio. 
2. $2 Black Jack #1804 - Worst ratio of any game. 
3. $10 Bejeweled #1786 - Poorly rated on both factors
4. $3 Wheel of Fortune #1809 - Devoid of Grand Prizes
5. $2 Cash For Life #1169 - Nice Grand Prize for a $2 game. Nothing else to recommend. 

Top Games If You Only Want The Grand Prize

1. Double Cash For Life
2. Classic Ruby
3. Bejewelled
4. Money Multiplier
5. Extraordinary

Games With All Grand Prizes Claimed

• Black Jack
• Crossword #3207
• Cashingo
• Wheel of Fortune
• Words With Friends

Comings and Goings

No games were retired this week.

Welcome to Fruit Explosion #1834. An earlier version of the same game was the top rated game for a while and ultimately retired with the OLG becoming the winner of unclaimed Grand Prizes. It is a bread and butter $3 game. Check CL66's review in the comments to last week's blog entry. He rates the game as 11th overall; I have it at 10th.

Personal Play

After two good weeks of results I took a predictable drubbing last week. I expect that I felt a lot like the Maple Leafs do this morning. I have also begun to include all "lottery" games in my overall results. That includes the LTL games for which I won nothing after a $30 investment, and even the $10 worth of 50/50 tickets I bought at the Gatineau Olympiques playoff game this past week. If you enjoy hockey, a playoff game at the Robert Geurtin arena should be on your list of places to visit. It's wild!

In Conclusion

An interesting article in the news this week involved "surprise" fees that credit card companies charge if you use your credit card to either deposit money at www.playolg.ca or purchase lottery tickets at the same site. The credit card company treats such purchases as cash advances which entails a fee in the $3-$5 range plus interest effective from the date of the transaction at the typical usury rates. Transaction fees may also be applied for debit card transactions. The OLG advises customers to check with their bank to be sure.

Also noteworthy is the number of shindigs being staged lately when the OLG makes good on their contracted payments to municipalities who house slot palaces. The OLG's head honcho even issues press releases speaking to the wonderful partnership and all the good deeds that are possible thanks to the OLG. If you look behind the curtain you'll find that throwing an annual party in honour of the OLG is mandated in every host contract. What a heartwarming spontaneous outflowing of emotion!

Finally, it is noteworthy that Mayor Tory is open to expanded gaming at Woodbine. You will recall that Toronto City Council previously voted it down but only after it was presented as a fall back position by the OLG who had tried to straight arm city council into approving a downtown casino. After that gambit failed, the OLG tried to salvage something but the council voted 24-20 against the previously unavailable second option.

In his comments Mayor Tory speaks of job creation but we already know that such statements have already been discredited. Any new jobs at Woodbine would have to be offset against people presently employed who would lose their jobs when ownership of the present slot palace is passed from the OLG to the selected contractor and jobs in surrounding municipalities would be cannibalized in order to expand the Woodbine facility. Still, it's up to council to make the best decision despite the chicanery of the OLG.

Best to all.


Doug

Classic Ruby #1792 Reaches The Top

The top rated game, Bonus Cash For Life, has been deleted from the Outstanding Prize list. It is retired with one big juicy $675,000 prize left to claim and 830,000 tickets left to sell. The OLG wins again!

Ascending to the throne is Classic Ruby #1792. This is an inter-provincial game that has not generated much discussion in the comments to previous blog posts. 64.3% of its total revenue is returned to winners of less than $100. That is the best of any game currently for sale. Its ratio of top prizes claimed to top prize money claimed is right on 1.00. The difference between top rated games is narrow at the moment. There is not much to choose between any of the games. For those who avoid inter-provincial games or shy away from $10 games, 20X Lucky, Diamond 7's and Cross Tripler are all tightly packed alternatives.

Top Rated Games

1. Classic Ruby #1792 - Excellent small prize availability and lots of tickets left. 
2. 20X Lucky #1808 - Highest current ratio of Top Prizes vs Top Prize $ at 1.36.
3. QFG Crossword #3208 - Good ratings on both factors and selling like hotcakes.
4. Diamond 7's #1822 - Solid choice.
5. Cross Tripler #1810 - Nothing to choose between this game and Diamond 7's.

Games to Avoid

1. Double Cash For Life #1170 - worst small prize availability of any game. Negative ratio. 
2. Black Jack #1804 - Devoid of Grand Prizes; terrible ratio of Prizes to Prize $ left to claim. 
3. Bejeweled #1786 - Another Grand Prize claimed this week. 
4. Hit Jackpot #1818 - Poor ratings on both factors but a poster hit for $250 this past week!
5. Money Multiplier #1828 - very poor small prize availability at 55.7%. 

Games With Presently The Most $ Going to GP Winners From Each Ticket Sold

1. Double Cash For Life
2. Fortune
3. 20X Lucky
4. Bejeweled
5. Extraordinary

Games With No Grand Prizes Left To Be Claimed

• Words With Friends
• Crossword #3207
• Black Jack

Comings and Goings

In addition to the highly rated Bonus Cash For Life, Scrabble #1821 was retired this past week. It was a poor game that had all of its Grand Prizes claimed. It was time for that game and its 250,000 remaining tickets to be put to bed.

New to the scene is the $1 Bingo Express. These games do not sell well, they suck, and there are presently four different ones for sale. CL66 has posted his review of the game as the last comment on last weeks blog update.

Personal Play

Another good week with two of three Quest for Gold tickets winning for a total of $40. The Classic Ruby tickets contained only one winner from 4 and that was worth $15. My YTD Return on Investment has jumped from 41% to a more respectable 63% over the past two weeks, Lets keep it going.

In Conclusion

Poster Steve had a response to my review of Lottolishous in which he clarified a mistake that I had made. Anyone interested should look through the comments to last weeks update. Another example of how I fail to understand how the internet works is that I received an email from something called Icelotto this week. This is a concept like Lottolishous but it covers lotteries in Europe, the USA, and even our own 649 lottery. Is it coincidence that I received that message the very week after I was poking around a similar site? I doubt it but I'm at a loss to explain what the heck is going on.

It looks like many of the readers of this blog are participating in the Living the Life "raffle". Commentators have established that the OLG has only sold 1/3 of the total tickets available for the draw yet all the detailed prizes will be awarded at 9:00 PM this evening. I'm picking up a $20 ticket with seven combinations myself to add to the three that I had purchased earlier. Even though the chances of snagging one of the 55 Top Prizes remains small, I will have a one in 10 chance to win $20 by matching the last two digits on each ticket. The OLG is going to lose money on this game and when that is the case, it must be a good game for players.

I am not a big fan of the Sunshine List. Perhaps for top end executives but $100,000 strikes me as being too low a cutoff. Maybe if the names were deleted I'd feel better about it all. Still, here is the breakdown for OLG staff:

> $500,000 - 2
$300,000 - $400,000 - 1
$200,000 - $300,000 - 12
$175,000 - $200,000 - 17
$151,000 - $175,000 - 31
$126,000 - $150,000 - 44
$100,000 - $125,000 - 177

That's 268 total staff earning more than $100,000. I acknowledge that I have no idea how complex it is to run the OLG but what bothers me is the thought of how many of them are busy trying to figure out how they can get rid of the regular staff whose names do not appear on this list (AKA - Modernization). The guy whose title indicates that he is steering that listing ship made $227,000 last year. How much did the average chump who fixes the malfunctioning slot machines earn? He's the one who'll be losing his job when the casino he works for is "modernized".

Doug

Bonus CFL #1168 Forges Its Way Back To The Top

20X Lucky no sooner reached the top when it lost a Grand Prize to a lucky winner in North York thereby knocking it down the list a few notches. In its place, Bonus Cash For Life resumes its reign although it is quite unlikely that you'll find any of those tickets for sale anywhere. The game was deactivated on February 27 and an estimated 8% of the float is all that is left for sale. If you find any, check with the retailer before you buy as only one of its Grand Prizes are left to be claimed. You currently have one chance in 830,000 to win $1,350,000 for your $4 investment.

Top Rated Games

1. $4 Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - Good luck finding any.
2. $10 Classic Ruby #1792 - Strong rating on both factors. $10 price tag is steep. 
3. $3 QFG Crossword #3208 - Only 26 million tickets left. Get em while they're hot.
4. $3 Crossword #3207 - another game that will be hard to find. 
5. $5 20X Lucky #1808 - took a hit but has a chance to return. 

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Double Cash For Life #1170 - Lucky player in Shanty Bay knocked down a GP. 
2. $2 Black Jack #1804 - worst ratio of top prizes to top prize $ left to claim of any game. 
3. $10 Bejeweled #1786 - low ratings on both factors. 
4. $3 Scrabble #1821 - devoid of Grand Prizes
5. $5 Hit Jack Pot #1818 - presently in official "dog" status. 

Games With the Highest $ Of Remaining Tickets Going to Its Grand Prizes

1. Bonus CFL
2. Dbl CFL
3. Bejeweled
4. Fortune
5. 20 Lucky

Games With All Grand Prizes Claimed

• Words With Friends
• Scrabble
• Black Jack

Comings and Goings

An odd ball situation: nothing to report. Spring cleaning must be coming soon. With any luck Extraordinary will be deep sixed

Personal Play

Finally some good luck to report:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yvqxr3qgot3oswa/Classic%20Ruby.jpg?dl=0

This winning ticket along with a $15 winner on 20X Lucky doubled my weekly investment and increased my Return on Investment from 41% to 56%. One more good week and I'll be back to the area of expected results.

In Conclusion

Last week I posted a link to a web site that purports to allow people, including Canadians, to participate in the jumbo US Lotteries like Powerball. I poked around the site and asked Mr. Google what he knew about it. The company is legitimate and operates legally in California.

The idea is that you sign up as a member of a group. You pay via credit card for every four plays. The cost varies depending upon the games you want to play. You then submit a set of numbers. If your numbers win you receive 50% of the prize that you won. Five percent of what ever you win goes to the person whose group you have joined. A further five shares of 5% each are credited to the accounts of five random members. That totals 80% of your winnings. The web site is silent but one assumes that the remaining 20% is the profit for the site operators.

So, what we have here is a bit of a pyramid scheme much like Mary Kay or Herbalife. If you sign up people, they join your group and you get 5% of their winnings. You are then encouraged to sign people up to your group so you can get 5% of their winnings. Of course, 5% of that 5% goes to the person whose group you joined.

An article written about the site quoted a California State Lottery official who did not actively say that people should not join the web site. What he did say is that it is always recommended to actually have your lottery tickets in your hand. Exactly. The web site buys the tickets, cashes the tickets, and distributes the winnings. Lets suppose that your ticket won the Powerball lottery and $100 million. What is to stop the operators from cashing the ticket, closing down the web site, and skedaddling out of town.

My advice is not to participate for the following three reasons:

1. Its hard enough to win without only getting 50% of whatever I win. 
2. I don't like pyramid schemes. 
3. I'm not 100% sure that I'd ever get my money if I was to win a jackpot. 

If you disagree, post your views.

The Living the Life Lottery draw is only a week away and ticket sales must be slumping as retailers are actually pushing the game. It might not be an altogether bad idea to buy another ticket.


Best.


Doug

20X Lucky #1808 Climbs To The Top

With the retirement of the orange Cross Tripler, 20X Lucky has taken over top billing while the OLG scoops up those four $100,000 Grand Prizes. The game has three of its seven Grand Prizes left to claim and 21% of the float left to sell. Your chances to snag a Grand Prize are 620,000:1. The game has a positive imbalance of 1.68 between the number of Top Prizes claimed and the total prize money awarded for those top prizes. At present, 21% of the top prize tickets are outstanding and 35% of the prize money for those 255 winners remains to be claimed. The game has a high churn rate of 59.6%. At present, $.097 of every dollar spent on the game goes to the three future winners.

Top Rated Games

1. $5 - 20X Lucky #1808 - solid game from both rated perspectives
2. $4 - Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - game is long in the tooth. 
3. $10 - Classic Ruby #1792 - excellent churn game
4. $5 - Cross Tripler #1810 - the little brother of the previous game of choice moves up
5. $3 - QFG Crossword #3208 - tickets selling fast; made up for early loss of Grand Prize

Games To Avoid

1. $4 Double Cash For Life #1170 - top heavy game with poor churn
2. $2 Black Jack #1804 - extremely poor top prize money left to be claimed
3. $10 Bejeweled #1786 - poor on both rated factors
4. $5 Hit Jackpot #1818 - 2 of 7 Grand Prizes left and 40% of the float
5. $3 Scrabble #1821 - very poor top prize ratio

Best Games to Win the Grand Prize

1. Bonus Cash For Life
2. Double Cash For Life
3. 20X Lucky
4. Bejeweled
5. Fortune

Games With No Grand Prizes Remaining

• $3 Words with Friends
• $3 Scrabble
• $2 Black Jack

Comings and Goings

Orange Cross Tripler was taken down from the list this past week. It was the game of choice although I was perturbed to learn that a reader found 40 of them, bought them all, and experienced poor luck. My condolences.

New on the scene is the $1 - $10,000 Spin game. It is very similar in structure to Cross Express although it does offer 2 more Grand Prizes. It is tough for any $1 game to get to a high position on the ratings although it begins life rated more highly than the $20 Extraordinary game.

Also new is the $5 Money Multiplier. It is also a typical $5 game although it only offers 6 Grand Prizes of $100,000 whereas most similar games offer 7.

Personal Play

Poor poor poor. Why can I not get anything more than the cost of the ticket as a return? My YTD return has now sunk to an odds defying 41%. Geesh.

In Conclusion

Here is this week's interesting lottery story:
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/unlucky-lottery-winner-loses-his-dollar1m-prize/ar-AA9JG83

The OLG Dart Team would have likely been finding a way to get that poor chap his money had he been a proud resident of Ontario. Those guys in California are tough.

Another reader messaged me about a way that he uses to play US based lotteries without having to venture across the border to play. The web site is: http://www.lottolishus.com/refer/CanadianLottoClub . I am going to poke around the site this week. Any comments/reviews from others would be welcome.

Spring is coming my friends. Hang in there.
Doug

Cross Tripler #1791 - One Last Gasp

The top rated game has managed to avoid deletion from the Outstanding Prize list for one more week.  It remains a very strong pick with 61.4% of total revenue returned to small prize winners and four of its 7 Grand Prizes still left to claim from among the 850,000 tickets (10% of float) that remain outstanding. Of course, almost all of those tickets are safely back in OLG headquarters and on their way to destruction. If you can find any stragglers, as some folks have been able to do, pick them up. I'll be shocked if the game remains on the listing for another week.

I'm tired of including the image of the sister game of our game of choice. The only image of our game is from the game sheet and I am unable to cut and paste it into the blog. My apologies.

Top Rated Games

1. $5 Cross Tripler #1791 - Clear choice. 
2. $10 Classic Ruby #1792 - Very good small prize availability and a positive Top Prize ratio. 
3. $5 20X Lucky #1808 - Game is under the radar but worth playing. 
4. $4 Bonus Cash For Life #1168 - That big juicy prize and 885,000 tickets makes it tempting. 
5. $5 Diamond 7's #1822 - Solid choice, if you like the game. 

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Double Cash For Life #1170 - top heavy game and 1 of those prizes is gone. Patience. 
2. $2 Black Jack #1804 - 57% of top prizes gone and only 12% of top prize money remains. 
3. $10 Bejeweled #1786 - lots of posters play this game. Not much going for it for $10. 
4. $3 Scrabble #1821 - top prizes have been gutted. 
5. $5 Hit Jackpot #1818 - poor small prize availability and poor ratio. 

Best Games If Its the Grand Prize You're After

• Bonus Cash For Life
• Double Cash For Life
• Cross Tripler #1791
• 20X Lucky
• Fortune

Games With No Grand Prizes Left

• Words With Friends
• Scrabble
• Black Jack

Comings and Goings

There will be a wake held at OLG Headquarters on Sunday in memory of More Lucky Lines. The favourite whipping boy, and with good reason, of this blog is no more. It is an Ex-Game. See Ya!

New on the scene is Wheel of Fortune. Regrettably, the game stumbled coming out of the starting gate when it surrendered a Grand Prize in its first week. Folks have already bought 250,000 of these babies. I attribute it all to Vanna White. The game features a little quirk in that one in every 24 tickets is worth a free ticket in the Wheel of Fortune lotto game. I crunched the numbers and the OLG has not included anything that would be won via the free ticket in its calculation of total return for the game. That makes it a freebie. An extra tick mark from me for that feature.

Personal Play

A stinking disaster. $46 worth of tickets and a $10 return. I switched to a new seller three weeks ago and I have had three terrible weeks since making that choice. I'm moving on, Mr. Mac's Milk Store.

In Conclusion

Here's a story about a couple in Massacheusets who won $15 million on a scratch ticket!

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/15-million-jackpot-engaged-massachusetts-couple/story?id=29371318

The small prize odds on that game must be horrible or, they have one Grand Prize and a billion tickets. Why do our American Friends have to have the biggest prizes? Those powerball lottery prizes can reach up to $300,000,000 or more. That's A-Rod kind of money.


Best to all.


Doug