$3 More Lucky Lines #1776 Moves Into Top Spot

Well, the party is over for the two outstanding games that have existed this past little while. Cash For Life 1165 is now at the bottom of the barrel and the OLG retired Scrabble 1777 this past week. That decision was not in the interest of players as one of the $75,000 Grand Prizes was left and only 228,000 tickets were left to sell. Still, with 7% of the float left, +/- 3%, we knew that the game was nearing its end. I'm going to be introducing a new calculation on games that are retired into future posts. Stay tuned.

We have certainly ended a distinct period of time now that a $3 game has moved to the top of the evaluation method. This area had been a minefield for several months but we now have a game to play. Yes, I know that the ever popular Crossword and Bingo games are in this area but they are rarely recommended plays. That fact annoys me somewhat as I like them too.

The recommended game is #1776 More Lucky Lines. Almost two thirds of its float has been sold yet all three of its Grand Prizes remain outstanding. The $75,000 Grand Prize is good for $3 Games. Your chances to win one are estimated at 360,000:1 and, assuming you don't win a Grand Prize, you should expect a return of 62.6% on your investment. If you're doing worse than that you have the right to complain to the gods.

 

Top Rated Games

1. $3 More Lucky Lines #1776 (37% of float left to sell, +/- 3%)
2. $4 Cash for Life #1161 (44%, +/- 3%)
3. $5 Money Multiplier #1769 (26%, +/- 2%)
4. $10 Prestige #1741 (29%, +/- 7%)
5. $1 Red Hot 50s #1788 (28%, +/- 1%)

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Cash for Life #1165 - Previous game of choice is now a scourge. $500 is most you can win.
2. $3 Tetris #1792 - Top two prize categories gone. OLG must retire this game.
3. $1 Bingo Express #1753 - One $10k prize left and one million tickets to sell.
4. $3 Crossword #3205 - 15 million tickets left to sell. Only 9 , $50,000 Grand Prizes.
5. $1 Cash Cow #1805 - It's new and it sucks.

$1 - $2 Game Update

The horrible $2 Fat Cat game was retired. That's good. The only game worth playing is Red Hot 50s.

$3 Game Update

The only reasonable choice in this area is More Lucky Lines

$4 - $5 Game Update

Apart from the top games in the list above, 20x Lucky is also a reasonable choice.

$10 - $20 Game Update

These games should dominate the ratings given the increased percentage return offered to players. At present, Extraordinary and Prestige are the only two worth buying and a poster has provided us with advance knowledge that a new $10 game is on its way. Really? An extra plug for Extraordinaire from a poster who likes how the game card scratches.

Comings and Goings

Scrabble #1777 and Fat Cat #1729 both went to Scratch Card heaven this past week. Fat Cat will not be missed but the Scrabble game was a good one that I never got to play as I was pounding away on Cash for Life.

New this week is a second Instant Bingo game #3015. Not much to choose between it and the earlier version #3014. Here is the revenue breakdown for the game:

OLG - 35%
Grand Prize(s) - 1.7%
Prizes of $100 or more but less than Grand Prize - 2.7%
Prizes of more than cost of ticket and less than $100 - 48.5%
Win Cost of Ticket - 12.1 %

Chances to win any prize - 3.45:1, 7th of 9 in $3 ticket group.
Chances to win prize greater than cost of ticket - 5.91:1, 6th of 9 in $3 ticket group.

Personal Play

Nine 20x Lucky tickets contained two winners totaling $30. I also threw $4 away on a 649 ticket that hit for $2 with Encore. The guy at the store convinced me to play but I forgot that the ticket cost $3 plus an additional $1 for the Encore. I ain't buying another one of those until the jackpot hits $50 million.

Meanderings

Thanks to the people who leave messages on the board. There was lots of talk this past week over packs of tickets and prize distribution. I honestly don't think that the OLG is involved in "managing" the games that closely. If it turns out that they are, that would be scandalous. These people are all public sector workers and I believe that they operate in the interests of Ontarians. That said, who knows how the printing and distribution of tickets actually works. One poster suggested that each pack of 80 tickets contains the same number of winning tickets. In my mind that should not be the case. Random means random. Maybe the OLG has a different definition for the word than I do.
 
Still no posting as to where exactly the recent Cash for Life winner bought their ticket. It better not be anywhere near me!


Best to all.



Doug

Cash For Life 1165 Meets Its End - Now Worst Game to Play

The party is officially over for Cash for Life 1165. The last Grand Prize was won in Ottawa yesterday. As reported last week, the game had been hollowed out meaning that when that last Grand Prize was won the game would go to the bottom of the list. There are no second prizes, no third prizes, 1 fourth prize of $5000, and 1 sixth prize of $500. The game had an impressive run and I'm glad that the OLG did not retire the game while that last prize was outstanding.

The new top rated game is Scrabble 1777 but a poster today suggested that this game was retired by the OLG today along with CFL 1165. That does not surprise me as only 7% +/- 3% of the float for that game remains and have not seen any of those tickets for a while.

I'll therefore skip to the next game which is $5 20x Lucky #1789. Twenty percent +/- 3% of the float remains for this game. Three of its Grand Prizes of $100,000 remain to be claimed. Your chances to win one are 190,000:1 versus 400,000:1 at the outset of the game.

Games to Play

1. $3 Scrabble 1777 (7% of float left to sell +/- 3%)
2. $5 20X Lucky 1789 (20%, +/- 3%)
3. $3 More Lucky Lines 1776 (42%, +/- 3%)
4. $20 Extraordinary 1742 (91%, +/- 4%)
5. $4 Cash for Life 1161 (47%, +/- 3%)

Note that the Cash for Life game recommended here is not the same one that was recommended previously.

Games to Avoid

1. $4 Cash For Life 1165
2. $3 Tetris 1793
3. $2 Fat Cat 1729
4. $1 Bingo Express
5. $3 Crossword 3205

$1 - $2 Game Update

Red Hot 50s is the top rated game in this group. Next best is Crazy 8s if you are looking for a better Grand Prize ($28,888 versus $50).

$3 Game Update

After spending months in purgatory, this group is coming more to the fore. Two of the top 5 rated games are in this area. Those two are much better than the others.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Apart from the two mentioned on the list of top games, Money Multiplier is also worth a try.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Extraordinary and Prestige are both playable. I fail to understand why the OLG has seven games available for purchase in this price range. They'll be selling these games for a long time.

Comings and Goings

More Lucky Lines 1775 was retired this week. It was a dud so salutations to our OLG friends.

Two new games came on line: $1 Cash Cow and $5 Win Take All.

A poster this week was speculating about the prize distributions for games in general. I measure them as follows: House Percentage - Win the Cost of the Ticket - Win More than Cost of Ticket and less than $100 - Win $100 or more, and less than the Grand Prize - Grand Prize.

Here is how the two new games shape up according to that breakdown:

Cash Cow - 40.0% - 10.4% - 47.6% - .3% - 1.6%.
Win Take All - 33.1% - 10.2% - 45.9% - 6.3% - 4.5%.

Based on this breakdown I expect that if you don't win the Grand Prize and you buy a sufficient number of tickets, you should expect a return of 58% for Cash Cow and 62% for Win Take All.

Personal Play

I can't say that I am unhappy that CFL 1165 is kaput. I purchased 82 of those suckers cashing on 26 of them (32%) returning $198 (60%). From the postings that I have seen of others, I should feel lucky. I don't. The numbers reported by others are very poor.

One poster reported going 0 for 15 on Crossword 3205. Although the game is rated poorly, players should expect to win with one out of every 3.84 tickets and a return of 64% even if they don't win a Grand Prize. The chances of going 0 for 15 are less than 1 in 100 - about the same as winning on four consecutive tickets. That sucks.

Meanderings

Thanks to everyone who measures his or her results and reports it on this blog. It is useful information for others and I enjoy keeping track of those results. The OLG would like us all to be individual players. There is always the chance that we may learn something about ticket distribution based upon this reporting.

I know that the OLG would testify under oath that tickets are distributed randomly but the company that prints the tickets uses algorithms in their production and there may be unintended flaws in those computer programs of which the OLG and the supplier are unaware. I know that the chances are not great but, at the same time, the pursuit is not altogether an exercise in alchemy.


Best to all.


Doug

Cash for Life 1165 Loses a Grand Prize - Remains the Choice

The party is now over. One of the Grand Prizes for Cash for Life 1165 was claimed last week in the east end of the 905 area. Strangely, a friend was on a business call to a company when he learned that one of the company's drivers had won one of the prizes. He took the $675,000 lump sum. The OLG site was updated the next day. I have asked him to see what he can learn about the timing due to the question posted to the site two weeks ago about delays in updating winning tickets. We'll see if he comes up with anything.

Regardless, the game remains the top choice but it is now wobbly. Apart from the remaining Grand Prize, there is only one $5000 prize and one $500 prize left to be claimed above the $120 prize level. I would therefore recommend that anyone playing the game check at the retailer or on the Scratch Odds App to be sure that the Grand Prize is still there. Once it goes, this game will likely become the worst rated game. An estimated 827,000 tickets +/- 4% remain to be sold so be careful.

Top Rated Games

1. $4 Cash for Life 1165 (12% of float remains, +/- 4%)
2. $3 Scrabble 1777 (7%, +/- 3%)
3. $5 Money Multiplier 1769 (32%, +/- 2%)
4. $5 20x Lucky 1789 (22%, +/- 3%)
5. $20 Extraordinaire (91%, +/- 4%)

Games to Avoid

1. Tetris
2. More Lucky Lines #1775
3. Fat Cat
4. Bingo Express
5. Crossword #3205

$1 - $2 Game Update

Bingo Express lost its last Grand Prize last week. The best choice is Red Hot 50s.

$3 Game Update

Scrabble 1777 is a strong choice but may be hard to find. Next best is More Lucky Lines #1776.

$4 - $5 Game Update

This is a strong area with three of the top five rated games. Stick to any of those choices.

$10 - $20 Game Update

The OLG (and ILC) are currently selling seven games in this area and we know that the public cringes spending that much on a ticket. I don't blame them. Prestige, Turbo Cash, and Extraordinaire are all reasonable choices.

Comings and Goings

Nothing to report this week. It's summer holiday time at the OLG.

Personal Play

I expanded my play last week and was predictably punished. Fourteen Cash for Life tickets contained 4 winners totaling $26. Very poor but not as poor as one poster who reports that he purchased 100 tickets and received only 40% of his investment back in winnings. The game returns 67% with 7% going to the Grand Prize winners. Knowing that he did not get the Grand Prize, he should have expected a 60% return and instead only received 40%. That is reason enough to abandon the game!

Meanderings

A reader left a comment this past week asserting that this blog is written by OLG staff to encourage the sale of bad games. That is not the case.

I write this blog as a hobby. My basic advice to anyone is not to buy these tickets or participate in any other OLG activity. Once you have discarded that basic advice, what I try to do is point you to the best choices and away from the poor choices. I am a critic of the OLG although, in fairness, I like to salute them when I feel that it is warranted. I have an interest in Horse Racing and therefore the Slots at Racetrack Program, slot machines in general, Casinos, and OLG Modernization. In all of those matters I have been a critic of the OLG and its strategic direction. On the other hand, my interaction with OLG employees has always been first class.

I thought that writing the blog would be a niche activity as Scratch and Win tickets are a simple form of entertainment for many people. I hope that anyone coming upon it would conclude that it is unbiased and helpful. If they do then I am more than happy.

I hope that your candidate was successful in yesterday's election.


Doug

Cash for Life Family #1165 - A Rare Opportunity

This is getting ridiculous. The game of choice sold 300,000 of the estimated 1.3 million remaining tickets last week without revealing a winner. There remains 1 million tickets containing two Grand Prizes. The game has achieved the highest rating of any game since I began measuring these games. I should point out that the game has been hollowed out a bit. The second place prize of $50,000 and the third place prize of $10,000 have both been claimed. There remains one $5000 prize and one $500 prize before dipping down to the $120 prizes but those two $675,000 prizes are juicy and waiting to be claimed. How good would it be if a reader of this blog was to snag one? A point of caution is that the game is getting to the point where tickets may become hard to find. I am beginning to have to shop around for mine. Still, it's worth the effort. Something has to break soon. And if the OLG has the temerity to retire the game I'll be launching an all out offensive on them. I've invested too much in this game to watch them claim the Grand Prizes.

Top Rated Games

1. $4 Cash for Life 1165 (15% of float remaining, +/- 4%)
2. $3 Scrabble 1777 (8%, +/- 3%)
3. $5 Money Multiplier 1769 (28%, +/- 2%)
4. $20 Extraordinary 1742 (92%, +/- 4%)
5. $1 Red Hot 50s 1788 (41%, +/- 1%)

Games to Avoid

1. $3 Tetris 1793
2. $2 Fat Cat 1729
3. $3 More Lucky Lines 1775
4. $3 QFG Crossword 3204
5. $3 Crossword 3205

Note that the top three of the worst games are double whammy's with both all of their Grand Prizes and Second Prizes claimed. Come on OLG! Give us a break.

$1 - $2 Game Update

Red Hot 50s is the best choice here. Blazing 7's is the next best.

$3 Game Update

Scrabble 1777 is the best choice by far. You may have trouble finding any. Next best is More Lucky Lines 1776 (not 1775).

$4 - $5 Game Update

Our game of choice is the best rated game since this blog began.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Extraordinary, Prestige, and Turbo Cash are all reasonable choices.

Comings and Goings

Two new games came on line this past week. The first is a new version of Cashingo. It is a good looking $3 game with a higher than usual 3.2% of total revenue being returned to the 4 - $75,000 Grand Prize winners.

The second game is Cadillac Riches. Some comments were left on last weeks blog entry about the game. It is an inter-provincial game with a couple of twists. Ontario will receive 4 million of the 6.5 million ticket float. Interestingly, neither Quebec nor Atlantic Canada will participate. I wonder what the story is there?

The game has 5 Cadillac Escalades as second prizes (or $100,000) and 5 Cadillac Coupes as third prizes (or $47,500). There is also an on-line contest for one Cadillac. According to the game sheet no purchase is necessary to enter but you have to enter a code that is on the ticket. Not sure how one does that without buying a ticket but I'm sure that is the case. You can enter up to 50 times a day. While it is true that I spend time writing this blog, I've got better things to do than enter on on-line contest 50 times a day! The game has an unusually low percentage of revenue returned to the Grand Prize winners. In exchange, the prize totals for $100 or more (but less than the grand prize) is very high.

Personal Play

Not good. Ten Cash for Life tickets contained three winners totaling $16. I'm due!

Meanderings

I encourage readers to check Vic's comments of his visit to Casino Lac Leamy in Gatineau. How do you people win money on the slots? I never win with those inventions of the devil. Hats off to those who do.


Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Powerful ceremonies in France.


Doug

$4 Cash for Life #1165 is a Dominant Choice

Another week ticked by without a Grand Prize being revealed in the Cash for Life Family $4 game. Your chances to win either $1000/wk for life or $675,000 is now estimated at 675,000:1 and this with a game that returns 67% of its revenue to players and contains one winner in every 3.54 tickets. Twenty-five cents of every dollar spent on the game is returned to the two winners as of today. This game represents significant value and towers above all other choices at this time. I am playing it exclusively.

 

Top Rated Games

1.       $4 Cash for Life #1165 (19% of float remaining, +/- 3%)

2.       $3 Scrabble #1777 (9%, +/- 3%)

3.       $20 Extraordinaire #1742 (94%, +/- 4%)

4.       $1 Red Hot 50s #1788 (46%, +/- 1%)

5.       $20 200 Million #1740 (43%, +/- 4%)

Games to Avoid

1.       $3 Tetris #1793 (no Grand Prizes remaining)

2.       $3 More Lucky Lines #1775 (no Grand Prizes remaining)

3.       $2 Fat Cat #1729 (no Grand Prizes remaining)

4.       $3 Keno #1412

5.       $3 Crossword #3205

$1 - $2 Game Update

Both Cash for Life games have now been retired. Red Hot 50s is playable but keep in mind that the highest prize you can win is $50. There still are over 5000 of those prizes to be claimed.

$3 Game Update

Scrabble #1777 is the best choice by far in this area.

$4 - $5 Game Update

The game of choice stands alone. Don’t look at another game until one of its two Grand Prizes is claimed.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Avoid Classic Gold. For $10 you have to right to expect much more.

Comings and Goings

It was house cleaning week at the OLG. Four games were retired from play: $2 Cash for Life Family, Mahjong, Cross Tripler, and Emerald 7’s. All four were good choices and each had at least one grand prize left. Despite that, these games were deep sixed while three games continue to be sold that are devoid of grand prizes. I’m getting wound up again.

Personal Play

Ten Cash for Life $4 games were purchased. Four were winners returning $28. An altogether expected result. I am not discouraged.

Meanderings

A poster last week asked about the difference between Ontario 49 and Lottario. These are both “Winner Take All” type games but I thought that I would give them a look-see. Each game costs $1.

Lottario is a game where the pot builds if it is not won. You get two lines and 45 numbers to choose from. Your chance to win the jackpot is a little over 4 million:1. The OLG takes 50% of the money invested. It then takes $50,000 of the total invested and dedicates it to Early Bird players who must match all 4 numbers drawn in the early bird draw. In the results that I reviewed, there were  111 Early Bird winners. The total money of people who won $5 is then subtracted from what is left. There were over 33,000 $5 winners in the draw I reviewed. What is left is then split between the bigger winners on a percentage basis with the grand Prize winner(s) accruing 44% of the total funds. In other words, a little over 20% of all money that goes into the game goes to the one or maybe two winners.

Ontario 49 uses four more numbers and establishes fixed prizes for its top two winners. You receive one line of numbers and have one chance in 14 million to win the Grand Prize of $2 million. That amount will be split if there are two winners. The players with 5 of 6 plus the bonus split $50,000. There were 6 of those in the draw I reviewed. All other winners received fixed amounts regardless of the number of winners. The OLG has tried to enhance the number of winners by providing a free ticket to those who have 2 of six numbers plus the bonus number.

Which game is better? I would keep an eye on the Grand Prize for Lottario. If it is unclaimed for a few draws then I would prefer that game to Ontario 49. Lottario is also better for having 4 or 5 numbers correct. Ontario 49 is better for smaller prizes. Both games are poor by this standard when compared to Scratch and Win games. One final comment is that Ontario 49 markets itself on the basis of having lots of winners. Lottario yields one winner in every 20.89 tickets. Ontario 49 claims to have one winner in every 6.6 tickets. That’s true but remember that 80% of its winners win a free ticket. Your odds to win any monetary prize are 32:1.

I had fun looking at that. Please send along any other questions you may have.

Best of luck to Vic at Lac Leamy tomorrow.

Doug

Cash For Life #1165 Remains the Champ

The recommended game is setting all time records on my evaluation method. Why? Over 7% of total revenue is dedicated to the Grand Prize winners and two of those three prizes remain outstanding with only 23%, +/- 4% of the ticket float left to sell. Your odds to win are now roughly 860,000:1. I can't be sure but I gotta feeling that at least one of those prizes is about to be claimed, maybe both, very soon. A $4 investment with one chance in 3.54 to win any prize and two chances at $675,000 is more than enough to attract my attention.

If you intend to play the game, remember to play game #1165 and not #1161. The latter game is OK but the recommended game is a much better choice.

Top Rated Games

1. Cash For Life #1165 (23% of float left to sell +/- 4%)
2. Scrabble #1777 (10%, +/- 3%)
3. Cash For Life $2 (17%, +/- 2%)
4. Cross Tripler #1755 (9%, +/- 2%)
5. Prestige (37%, +/- 7%)

Games to Avoid

1. More Lucky Lines #1755
2. Fat Cat #1729
3. Quest For Gold Crossword #3204
4. Classic Gold #1771
5. Crossword #3205

$1 - $2 Game Update

The $1 Cash For Life game was retired this past week. The $2 version remains an excellent choice and the Red Hot 50's is also good if you don't mind sacrificing the prospect of a big Grand Prize.

$3 Game Update

Scrabble #1777 is a very strong choice. Keno #1412 and Mahjong are also playable.

$4 - $5 Game Update

There are other reasonable choices in this area but I can't recommend any game over the Cash For Life #1165.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Prestige took a serious hit this week, losing two Grand Prizes. Regardless, it remains the top pick in this group. If you don't like Prestige, then simply stay away from Classic Gold. It is terrible.

Comings and Goings

The $1 Cash for Life game was canceled this week. Too bad - there was one juicy prize left to be claimed and only 400,000 tickets left to sell.

New on the scene is a terrible Crossword game #3205 and a new version of an old favourite of this blog: Turbo Cash. A reader is already wading into this game and has had early success. Check his comments in the comments section of the previous post. The problem with these Crossword games is that they are cheap on the top end. There are only 10 Grand Prizes of $50,000 each and a staggering 20 million tickets in the float. Facing odds of 2 million:1 in order to win $50,000 does not ring my chime. Further, one chance in 6.84 to win anything more than $3 is second worst in this group next to Quest For Gold Crossword. Yes, I know that you like the game. So do I but try to resist the temptation.

Personal Play

I am expanding my play in order to attack Cash for Life #1165. Last week I bought 10 tickets. That left my seller with one left in the rack. Now, I defy anyone to tell me that they possess the kahunas to leave the store with 10 tickets whilst leaving an orphan ticket left to be sold to the next person. So, 11 tickets contained five winners. One winner was a free $10 Cash for Life ticket that was worth $10. My total return was $38 for the $44 invested. I have now bought 40 of these tickets. I have cashed 35% of them for a total return of $116.

Closing Comments

Imagined transcript from an OLG headquarters meeting on game management:

Boss - How is that $1 Cash for Life game going?
Subaltern - Well, we've sold 85% of the tickets and there is still one grand prize left to be won.
Boss - Should we order up the final tranche of tickets from the supplier?
Subaltern - At this point we have sold 2.6 million tickets which should translate into a profit of $900,000. But, there is a juicy $67,500 prize left out there somewhere.
Boss - Good. How much do we make if we sell every ticket?
Subaltern - $1.2 million but if that Grand Prize ticket sells soon, that money will come out of our existing profits and we'll have to sell the 400,000 tickets in the final tranche without any Grand Prize left to be won.
Boss - I see. What is your recommendation?
Subaltern - I think that we should hold off on the final tranche. We then choke all the vendors by not sending them any tickets. Once we're reasonably sure that the winning ticket won't show up, we cancel the game making us the winner of the $67,500 ticket. If the winning ticket gets claimed soon then we order the final tranche and flog them to unsuspecting players everywhere.
Boss - Agreed. Good work Jimmy, you've got a future at OLG.


Good Luck to all this week.

Doug

Cash For Life #1165 Remains The Strong Choice

Two hundred thousand of the estimated remaining 2.3 million tickets (+/- 4%) were sold last week without revealing a Grand Prize winner. Your odds of winning a Grand Prize now sit at an estimated 1.06 million:1. An interesting aspect to this game is that it is rich in smaller prizes and the Grand Prize is favourably positioned. The trade off is the prizes between $100 and the Grand Prize are poor. It's a game that you can grind along with while trying to hit the jackpot. With an estimated 30% of the float left to sell and two of the original three Grand Prizes still up for grabs, the time is now.

Top Rated Games

1. $1 Cash For Life Family (13% of float left +/- 25%)
2. $4 Cash for Life Family #1165 (30%, +/- 4%)
3. $10 Prestige (40%, +/- 7%)
4. $2 Cash for Life Family (18%, +/- 2%)
5. $5 Cross Tripler #1755 (9%, +/- 2%)

Games to Avoid

1. $3 More Lucky Lines #1775 (19%, +/- 3%)
2. $2 Fat Cat (25%, +/- 4%)
3. $3 QFG Crossword (29%, +/- 1%)
4. $3 Bingo (53%, +/- 2%)
5. $3 Tetris (52%, +/- 3%)

$1 - $2 Game Update

Either Cash For Life game is a good choice as is the Red Hot 50's.

$3 Game Update

At long last we have a couple of good choices in this area. They are: Keno #1412 and Scrabble #1777. This is a treacherous area that also contains 4 of the 5 worst games currently for sale. Be alert.

$4 - $5 Game Update

Cash For Life #1165, Cross Tripler #1755 and Emerald 7's are all good choices. There is but one Grand Prize remaining in Emerald 7's and only 235,000 tickets left to sell +/- 60,000. Those are presently the best odds to win any Grand Prize.

$10 - $20 Game Update

Prestige and the two $20 Games are OK and continue to lumber on. $200 Million had its first $2 million winner in over eight months last week. The winner was not from Ontario as far as I can determine.

Comings and Goings

Cash In was retired this week three weeks after the last Grand Prize was claimed. It had 14% of its float left to sell +/- 3%. The jumbo game Crossword #3202 was also retired. The game was only introduced last November and it sold almost all of its 20 million ticket float. It was a poor choice so players who don't pay attention to such trivialities were done a favour by the OLG.

Taking their respective places are $5 Sapphire 7's and another $3 More Lucky Lines game #1776. The More Lucky Lines game is very much like its sister but buyer beware: the earlier version #1775 is devoid of Grand Prizes and currently tops our Games to Avoid list. Don't be fooled. The $5 Sapphire 7's game is very much like the Emerald 7's game that is also currently for sale. It looks OK but the Emerald 7's game is the better choice of the two.

Personal Play

I opened up this past week in search of the CFL Grand Prize. Ten tickets contained three winners totaling $16. Not good. I'm going to stick to this strategy until further notice.

Other Comments

A reader this past week commented on one Anthony Binkowski of Ottawa who won between $2000 and $5000 on four different occasions on Daily Keno and Ontario 49. It does seem unusual. I Googled his name without finding out much. I did find a young chap who I doubt has thousands of dollars that he pours into these games. There's a story there but I don't have any angles that seem credible right off of the top of my head. If you do, post away.

I downloaded the report from the Auditor General for Ontario http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/ on his recent review of the OLG's Modernization Plan. It is a long but interesting read. In short, the OLG's much heralded plan was overly optimistic, misrepresented some negative points, and lacked consultation. As a result, its implementation has been blockaded in major municipalities, is behind schedule elsewhere, and its projected positive outcomes scaled back based upon the AG's risk assessment.

My conclusion is that the Senior Management of the OLG was more committed to running the OLG like they were private casino operators with special powers than they were as an agency of the Government of Ontario. The fact that the Government of Ontario booked the OLG's wildly optimisitic revenue projections into its overall budget without questioning its merit, leaves me somewhat stunned.

It is clear to me why Mr.Godfrey and former CEO Rod Phillips and the previous board had to be replaced. I will provide readers with highlights of the report in coming posts.

The Kentucky Derby was won by the 5-2 favourite in a 19 horse field. He looked good but it was a short price on that horse. Congratulations to those who had him.

Doug