Bejeweled #1724 Is The Top Play

Bejeweled sold over 4% of its ticket float this past week without disclosing a Top Prize winner. It remains the Top Play with Turbo Cash a distant second choice. Your current chances of winning the $250,000 Top Prize in Bejeweled is 190,000:1 and 150:1 to win $100 or more. Seventy-four percent of the tickets remain to be sold which means that this game will be with us for some time.




Best Games for Winning the Top Prize
$1 - $2 Games - Silver Gold #1711
$3 Games - Frogger #1718
$4 - $5 Games - Instant Millions #1683
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Best Games for Winning $100 or more (or lowest prize listed on www.olg.ca)
$1 - $2 Games - Bingo Express #1707
$3 Games - Crossword #1299 & QFGCrossword #3201
$4 - $5 Games - Money Multiplier #1692
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Top Overall Rated Games
$1 - $2 Games - Silver Gold #1711
$3 Games - Mahjong #1731
$4 - $5 Games - Jacks are Wild #1732 & Money Multiplier #1692
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Games to Avoid

• Super Bingo #3011

Comings and Goings

Christmas is over, readers. The OLG undertook a mass retirement purge this past week ending eight different games. Included were all four Christmas games: Instant Gift Pack, Merry Money, Wonderful Life, and Holiday Tripler. Wonderful Life had no Top Prizes left to be claimed. Two other loser games were retired as well: More Lucky and Golden Goose. The tragic loss was the end of Snow Globe. This game had 40% of its ticket float left to sell and all four of its Top Prizes left to claim. If you can find some of these tickets at your local seller, take a shot with them. It was the $1 - $2 Game of choice. I intend to ask OLG why the game was retired. Stay tuned.

The good news is that we can look forward to a number of new games being introduced over the next few weeks.

Personal Play

Two Turbo cash tickets purchased in Brockville were both losers. I now stand at a 39% cash rate and 83% Return on Investment.

Big winners this week were unveiled in Toronto ($100,000), Welland ($100,000) and Wasaga Beach ($100,000).


Play sensibly and it will always be fun.

Doug

Bejeweled #1724 Takes The Reigns

Our long ride with Turbo Cash #1713 is coming to an end. A second top prize was claimed this past week reducing the number of Top Prizes left to one. The game remains a decent choice but the claim puts distance between Turbo Cash and Bejeweled #1724. All six top prizes of $250,000 remain to be claimed for Bejeweled and 80% of the tickets remain to be sold. You have one chance in 200,000 to win a Top Prize and one chance in 146 to win $100.



Best Games for Winning the Top Prize
$1 - $2 Games - Snow Globe #1727
$3 Games - Frogger #1718
$4 - $5 Games - Instant Millions #1683
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Best Games to Win $100 (or lowest prize listed on www.olg.ca)
$1 - $2 Games - Bingo Express #1707
$3 Games - Crossword #1299 & QFGCrossword #3201
$4 - $5 Games - Money Mult #1692
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Best Overall Games
$1 - $2 Games - Snow Globe #1727
$3 Games - Frogger #1718
$4-$5 Games - Money Mult #1692
$10 Games - Bejeweled #1724

Games to Avoid

• Golden Goose #1700
• More Lucky #1712
• Super Bingo #3011
• Wonderful Life #1714

Comings and Goings

Our old favourite, $5 Jacks are Wild, is back. The new game #1732 has 7 Top Prizes of $100,000 and a Ticket Float of 3,550,400. Your chance of any cash is 1 in every 3.85 tickets and your chance to win something more than the $5 you paid for the ticket is 1 in every 6.08 tickets. Those are both good numbers when compared to other $5 games. The game begins as the third highest rated $5 game behind only Money Mult and Merry Money.

The OLG continues to flog 4 games with no Top Prizes. Be smart - don't play those games.

Personal Play

Three Turbo Cash tickets produced 3 winners but each was for the $10 cost of the ticket. My first Bejeweled was a loser. I am cashing at a 41% rate with a total return on investment of 88%.

Big winners this week were from Burlington ($1 Million), Windsor ($100,000), Peterborough ($250,000) and North York ($750,000).

Play smart.

Doug

Turbo Cash #1713 and Bejeweled #1724 Continue to Battle

Neither Turbo Cash nor Bejeweled surrendered a top prize this past week. $250,000 is the top prize for each game. Bejeweled has 6 top prizes left with current odds of 220,000:1 to win one. Turbo Cash has 2 top prizes left and odds of 130,000:1 to win one of them. Bejeweled has the best chance of any game to win $100 or more with 1 chance in 130 to do so.

Either game is a strong play.

A reminder that if your goal is to have the best chance to win $100, taking into account the cost of the ticket,  Fast $100 #1688 is your game. The downside here is that $100 is the top prize for the game. Your current chances are 1 in 800 for your $1 investment. Not bad.

 

Best Game for Winning the Top Prize
$1 - $3 Games - Snow Globe #1727, Frogger #1718, Mahjong #1732
$4 - $10 Games - Instant Millions #1683, CFL Blowout #1760, Turbo Cash #1713

Best Game for Winning $100 or more
$1 - $3 Games - Crossword #1299, QFGCrossword #3201, Bingo Express #1707
$4 - $10 Games - Bejeweled #1724, Merry Mult #1723, Turbo Cash #1713

Best Overall Games
$1 - $3 Games - Snow Globe #1727, Frogger #1718, Mahjong #1731
$4 - $10 Games - Bejeweled #1724, Turbo Cash #1713, Money Mult #1692

Games to Avoid
Golden Goose #1700, More Lucky #1712, Super Bingo #3011, Wonderful Life #1714

Each of the first three games to avoid has less than 20% of its ticket float left to sell. Wonderful Life still has 37% left. It will be interesting to see how long the OLG continues to offer this lame duck game to uninformed  players.

Comings and Goings

I tip my hat to the OLG this week. Their policy states that any game with a top prize of $100,000 or more and has all of its top prizes claimed, is canceled. I was ready to jump on them this week as Black Tripler met those criteria last week. Sure enough, the game was retired during the past week. About 23% of its float remained to be sold which made me suspect that the OLG would try to squeeze some more sales out of game before following their own policy. I was pleasantly surprised.

No new games were added this week.

Personal Play

Even though Bejeweled is a marginally better choice, I continue to stick with Turbo Cash given my investment in this game to date. Four tickets last week yielded one $50 winner. This is the exact reason that I prefer Turbo Cash --- the game offers $800,000 more prizes between $10 and $100 than Bejeweled. My overall cash rate has declined to 39% but my total return on investment in 2013 is 90%.

Even though I continue to spend over my budget amount ($20/week), I am fatally hooked on Turbo Cash. Even so, my local seller had 6 tickets for sale when I arrived for my "fix". There was no way that I was spending $60 and I am certain that if there was a big winner among the six, that I would miss it when taking only 4 of the tickets. My only solution is to have the retailer pick the four tickets for me. If I see a Turbo Cash Top Prize winner in Ottawa any time soon, I'm certain to have some bad dreams.

There was one $100,000 winner this past week. The lucky winner lives in Thunder Bay. The big winner was in the Cash For Life Blowout where a very lucky player in Almonte won $1000/week for life. The OLG allows players to accept $750,000 in lieu of the weekly pay out. Which prize would you take?

Play Smart.

Doug

Turbo Cash #1713 or Bejeweled #1692 - It's a Tough Call

Turbo Cash #1713 and Bejeweled #1709 stand head and shoulders above other games currently available for play. To choose between them is a matter of preference. Bejeweled hits the measurement criteria perfectly and actually comes out ahead of the long standing game of choice, Turbo Cash. This is due to the concentration of $100 prizes offered by the game. Bejeweled has 100,800 (7%) more tickets in its float than Turbo Cash and almost triple the number of $100 winning tickets. On the other hand, Turbo Cash offers over $800,000 more prizes to winners of more than $10 and less than $100 than Bejeweled. As a result, the evaluation system gets tricked a bit. Turbo Cash currently offers the best of any game odds of 144,000:1 to win the $250,000 Top Prize whereas Bejeweled currently stands at 235,000:1. The odds of winning $100 are the best of any game for Bejeweled at 146:1. Turbo Cash is 333:1 and is the second best game by that measure. It's a tough call.




The OLG views games with top prizes of less than $100,000 as being different than games with top prizes of $100,000 or more. Their client surveys indicate that if you play the lower prize games you don't really care about whether there are actually any Top Prizes left to claim. Players who play the more expensive tickets apparently do care. Strange, but who am I to second guess client surveys? As such, I will be reporting on recommended games based upon this differentiation.

Best Grand Prize Games
$1 - $3 Games: Snow Globe #1727, Frogger #1718, Mahjong #1731
$4 - $10 Games: Cash For Life Blowout #1160,  Instant Millions #1683, Turbo Cash #1713

Best $100 or More Games
$1 - $3 Games: Crossword #1299, QFGCrossword #3201, Fast 100 #1688
$4 - $10 Games: Bejeweled #1692, Turbo Cash #1713, Instant Gift Pack #1919

Best Combined Ratings Games
$1 - $3 Games - Frogger #1718, Mahjong #1731, Snow Globe #1727
$4 - $10 Games - Bejeweled #1692, Turbo Cash #1713, Instant Gift Pack #1919.

Games to Avoid
Golden Goose #1700, More Lucky #1712, Super Bingo #3011, Wonderful Life #1714, Black Tripler #1716.

Comings and Goings

The $1 Cash Cow #1717 was introduced this week. It is a typical $1 game with a stronger rating towards the $10,000 Top Prize than towards the $100 Prize side.

Personal Play

Four Turbo Cash tickets produced 1 - $10 winner. I have slipped to an overall cash rate of 39% and a total return on investment of 84%. Still pretty good but I fear that I am trending towards the norm. That does not bode well for the next few weeks.

I have commented before on the paucity of winners from Toronto in the past. This past week, 6 of 18 winners of $10,000 or more came from Toronto. Has the tide turned? We will see. We also had a $1,000,000 winner this past week in Brampton.

Play Smart - Play within your budget.

Doug



 

Turbo Cash #1713 Is The Best Play

Sales of Turbo Cash slipped this week to 2% of its float. No Top Prize was won and it remains our top play.  
Your chances of winning the $250,000 Top Prize stand at 160,000:1 - no other game is better.



Best Top Prize Games
$1 - $2 Games - Snow Globe #1727
$3 - $5 Games - CFL Blowout #1160
$10 - $20 Games - Turbo Cash #1713

Best $100 or More Games
$1 - $2 Games - Snow Globe #1727
$3 - $5 Games - Money Mult #1692
$10 - $20 Games - Turbo Cash #1713

Best Overall Plays
1. Turbo Cash #1713
2. Money Mult #1692
3. Merry Money #1723

Note: Fast 100 #1688 remains the best pure value play to win $100 at odds of 740:1 on a $1 ticket.

Comings and Goings

The $100k Per Year for Life game was retired this past week. This had been a game for sale across the country. Fourteen percent of the tickets and one Top Prize remained to be claimed when it was canceled.

Two new games were introduced this week: Bonus Keno#1413 and Bejeweled #1692. I am going to take a very close look at Bejeweled as it rates very highly on my rating system right from the start and this should not be the case. It is a $10 Game. Here is how it compares to Turbo Cash, the recommended game for play:

Game                                            Turbo Cash            Bejeweled
Float Size                                       1,428,000             1, 528,000
Chance to Cash                                 1:3.13                   1:3.18

% Cashes for $10                                 20%                     18%
% Cashes >$10 <=$100                      55%                     51%
% Cashes >$100 <= $1000                 16%                     11%
% Cashes >$1000                                  9%                     20%

The current evaluation system looks at the amount of Top Prize winnings available to be won as a percentage of the tickets left to be sold and the raw number of $100 or more prizes left to be sold as a percentage of total tickets left to be sold. The way Bejeweled is structured rates it high on both scales as it has 6 Top Prizes versus 3 for Turbo Cash and many more $100 prizes than Turbo Cash. On the other hand, Turbo Cash returns 75% of all of its prizes to people winning $100 or less whereas Bejeweled only returns 69% by this metric. In short, Turbo Cash is more egalitarian than its sister game. Your chances to win a $250,000 Top Prize is 1:250,000 for Bejeweled and is currently 1:160,000 for Turbo Cash. I will be looking at this in more depth during the coming week.

Personal Play

A crazy week of play saw the purchase of Turbo Cash, Money Multiplier, Merry Money, and Snow Globe tickets. The cardinal sin of re-investing winnings was made. I apologize for that lack of discipline. In total, $68 of tickets returned $54.

Winners of $50,000 or more this week came from: North York, London, Chelmsford, North Gower, Ingersoll, and Toronto. Faith should be restored in players from Toronto. It is possible to win!


Good Luck
Doug

Turbo Cash #1713 Remains the King

Turbo Cash sold another 4% of its ticket float last week without surrendering a Top Prize. Your chances are presently 180,000:1 to win $250,000 with your $10 investment.



Best Top Prize Games:
$1 - $2 - Snow Globe #1727
$3 - $5 - Cash For Life Blowout #1160
$10 - $20 - Extravaganza #1709

Best $100 or better Games:
$1 - $2 - Snow Globe #1727
$3 - $5 - Money Mult #1692
$10 - $20 - Turbo Cash #1713

Best Overall Games:
1. Turbo Cash #1713
2. Money Mult #1692
3. Merry Money #1723

Games to Avoid:
Golden Goose #1700
More Lucky #1712
Wonderful Life #1714

This week's analysis includes more information for Extravaganza and $100k For Life. You can find the outstanding prize information here: http://www.olg.ca/lotteries/games/viewInstantTicketInfo.do . The outstanding prizes for these two games is reported on a national basis. For prizes of less than $1000, one has to call the OLG Call Centre. The OLG does not know exactly how many winners were sent to Ontario. I have made the assumption that the number of winners is in proportion to the number of tickets that were made available. This assumption becomes more valid the larger the number. Ontario receives about one third of all the tickets. The number of Top Prize winners could easily be more or less than one third. However, the number of $100 winners is almost certainly close to one third given the large number of winners.

Comings and Goings

Two new games were introduced this week: Quest for Gold Crossword #3201 and Instant Bingo #3008.
Each game has a good number of winning tickets that pay more than the cost of the ticket (16.5% for Bingo and 17.8% for QFG Crossword). Each game has a large ticket float. QFG Crossoword has a float of more than 25 million tickets! This game will be in play for many months.

Winners and Losers

Five Turbo Cash tickets produced one $50 winner. It was the last ticket scratched and I was pretty bummed out by that point. Forty-one percent of my 17 tickets this year have been winners. My total return on investment is 85%.

Winners of $100,000 or more this week hailed from: Innisfil, Burlington, Lakefield, and Cambridge.


Good Luck
Doug

Turbo Cash #1713 loses a Top Prize - Still the Choice

A lucky player in Sault Ste Marie (OLG Headquarters) has won one of the three Turbo Cash Top Prizes of $250,000. However, the game was such a strong play that it remains the top choice even with the loss of the Top Prize. Twenty-Nine percent of the float remains to be sold and two of the three Top Prizes remain. The game is rated 4th in terms of Top Prize play and tops the list for $100 (or more) prizes play.




Best Top Prize Games:
$1 - $2 Games - Snow Globe #1727
$3 - $5 Games - Instant Millions #1683
$10 - $20 Games - Turbo Cash #1713

Best $100 Prize or Greater Games:
$1 - $2 Games - Bingo Express #1707
$3 - $5 Games - Money Mult #1692
$10 - $20 Games - Turbo Cash #1713

Top Three Overall Games based upon the combination of the two evaluation methods.
1. Turbo Cash #1713
2. Money Mult #1692
3. Instant GP #1919

Players should note that Fast 100 #1688 is by far the best $100 or more game but $100 is also its Top Prize. If that's what you're looking for, play that game. You have one chance in 740 to win $100.

My evaluation of Extravaganza and $100K For Life may be off as I await OLG's response to my request to indicate prizes claimed down to the $100. Extravaganza is a national game with a portion of its tickets allocated to the Ontario market. That may prove to be a complication. OLG has acknowledged my request and I hope to receive a reply this week.

Games to avoid are Golden Goose #1700 and Wonderful Life #1714. Each game is devoid of Top Prizes.

Comings and Goings

Crossword #1298 was retired this week. The ticket float was almost exhausted with less than 5% of its tickets left to be sold of its original float of over 20 million tickets! One Top Prize remained to be claimed at the time of its retirement.

A new $2 game, Silver Gold, was added this past week. The prize distribution is typical for $2 games. This one has slightly more winning tickets but most of the difference is winning tickets for the $2 cost of the ticket.

Winners and Losers

My expanded play this past week produced two winners from five Turbo Cash tickets. Total return was $30. I have a 50% win rate and a 79% return on investment. Both numbers are above expected results. Still, I need one decent winner before my inevitable losing streak kicks in.

Winners of $10,000 or more this past week hailed from: Cambride, Jang Dae Doig, Carlton Place, Port Elgin, Burlington, Arnprior, Cornwall, Mississauga, Brampton, Meaford, Sioux Lookout, Sudbury, Little Britain, Oakville, Peterborough, and SS Marie.

So if I am guessing correctly, a visitor from Korea buys a Scratch and Win and hits for $100k! Where's the justice in that? I spent a summer in Sioux Lookout as a Junior Forest Ranger. Loved the experience but I'm a little surprised that they had a winner last week and the city of Toronto did not.

Good Luck
Doug