Cash Card #1876 Jumps To The Top

There has been a real shakeup at the top of the standings. There were five different games that lost 2 Grand Prizes since the last update effectively knocking those games down the list. Those games were: Sweet Cash, Cash For Life, Bingo Doubler, Cross Tripler, and Diamond.

The new top rated game only has 16% of its float left to sell which means that they will become tough to find beginning very soon. The game has one - $75,000 Grand Prize left to be claimed. There are roughly 490,000 tickets left to be sold. There is also one $25,000 second prize and one $10,000 third prize left to be claimed. $0.051 of every dollar spent on the game will go to the Grand Prize winner which is very high for a $3 game.

After a long period of $3 games being highly rated it looks like it will be a while before another one reaches the top five. Also of note is the second rated game, Ruby 7's. This game is the fastest selling game currently for sale.

Rank	Cost	Game	#	Score
1	$3.00	Cash Card	1876	604.4
2	$5.00	Ruby 7's	1885	587.1
3	$10.00	Platinum	1888	573.8
4	$3.00	Keno	1418	563.4
5	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836	553.1
6	$10.00	Lucky Aces	1856	549.7
7	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872	529.1
8	$5.00	High Roller	1874	523.4
9	$30.00	250M Golden	1782	507.2
10	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1879	499.9
11	$3.00	Crossword	1866	498.3
12	$5.00	Wild Card	1893	497.7
13	$20.00	Extreme	1780	496.8
14	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1873	484.0
15	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880	476.3
16	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882	475.0
17	$3.00	Scrabble	1883	474.3
18	$1.00	Donut Dollars	1869	472.6
19	$2.00	Sushi Bar	1870	472.2
20	$3.00	Bingo	3020	464.8
21	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860	463.0
22	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171	459.8
23	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837	459.1
24	$10.00	Diamond	1781	458.0
25	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859	455.1
26	$3.00	Sweet Cash	1886	455.2
27	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213	385.7

Comings and Goings

Four games have been retired since the last update and none of them will be missed. Those games are: Bingo Doubler, Pac Man Slots, Walking Dead and Hit 100. 

New to the scene are: $1 Donut Dollars, $5 Cross Tripler and $5 Wild Card. Of note is that Donut Dollars begins life as the best $1 or $2 game for sale. That's good news for players who like inexpensive games. 

Personal Play

Three Cash for Life tickets returned nothing, 3 Keno tickets contained 2 winners, each for $5, and three Sweet Cash tickets contained one winner of $3. 

Post Script

Randy was certainly correct in his forecast of the demise of Cash For Life after it surrendered two Grand Prizes: it fell out of the top five all the way down to 22nd. 

Here is an article from Rabble.ca on the subject of the OLG and, more specifically, the Ontario Government : http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/michael-laxer/2016/06/ontario-governments-grotesque-lottery-addiction . It's interesting but one has to remember that a site like Rabble makes no apology for its politics. It's a good counterbalance to the Fraser Institute. 

Good luck to all. 

Doug

Keno #1418 Remains On Top

Keno remains the top rated game with all five of its Grand Prizes left to be claimed and almost 40% of its float already sold. Your chances to win one are now 600,000:1. The game also offers the second best Small Prize Return Rate of all games currently for sale. On the downside, your chances to win on of its Top Prizes are 6,800:1 which is poor. This is the result of only .7% of the game's revenue being allocated to prizes of more that $30 and less than the $50,000 Grand Prize.

We are also seeing some changes in the other top rated games with Cash For Life sneaking its way up the list and a couple of $10 games lumbering up the list as well.

Complete Rating List Of Games 

Rank	Cost	Game	#	Score
1	$3.00	Keno	1418	522.7
2	$3.00	Cash Card	1876	503.4
3	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171	498.9
4	$10.00	Platinum	1888	495.4
5	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836	482.8
6	$10.00	Lucky Aces	1856	482.3
7	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872	476.9
8	$5.00	High Roller	1874	455.6
9	$10.00	Diamond	1781	446.3
10	$30.00	250M Golden	1782	444.3
11	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882	436.8
12	$3.00	Sweet Cash	1886	434.9
13	$5.00	Ruby 7's	1885	434.9
14	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1873	432.0
15	$20.00	Extreme	1780	430.7
16	$3.00	Crossword	1866	430.2
17	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859	418.5
18	$3.00	Scrabble	1883	414.8
19	$2.00	Sushi Bar	1870	410.3
20	$3.00	Bingo	3020	402.0
21	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880	399.1
22	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860	395.8
23	$3.00	PacMan Slots	1867	394.5
24	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837	392.0
25	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1850	376.4
26	$1.00	Hit 100	1849	373.1
27	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213	340.4
28	$2.00	Walking Dead	1877	288.2

Comings and Goings

Mega Money, 7-11-21, and Keno were all retired since the last update. Of those games, I'm sad to see Keno 1417 go as it was the top rated game. In total, 3 Grand Prizes totaling $200,000 were scooped by the OLG to help their bottom line. 

New for play are $2 Sushi Bar and $3 Sweet Cash. Of the two, Sweet Cash begins its run rated 12th of the 28 current games. It could move up from there. I hope that you don't like Sushi as that game needs a lot of help to ever be playable. 

Personal Play

One Platinum ticket was a loser and three Triple Crown tickets contained one winner of $5. As a horse player, I played that game leading up to the Queen's Plate but I'm afraid that it will have to fend for itself from here on in. 

Post Script

I am following the progress of the possible casino in North Bay closely. Here is an update: http://bit.ly/29Nbh2s . As their city council grapples with groups opposed to having a casino, the potential operators would like to build it at the downtown waterfront area. No surprise there. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

The OLG has stated their desire to attract more millennials to their games. It's my view that that is an impossible task but here is an article from the NY Times on how that might be accomplished:  http://bit.ly/29GoStb . I'm still not sold but maybe they're on to something.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer. 

Doug

The Two Keno Games Rule The Roost

Keno #1417 remains the top pick although it has been officially retired from the OLG Outstanding Prize List as of today. Regardless, its sister game is ranked second so don't worry about buying the wrong game.

Although the game only offers 5 winning tickets of prizes greater than $100, the total prize money available to be won for prizes of $100 or greater is 33% of the original amount with only 15% of the tickets left to sell. This yields a ratio of 2.14. The game offers a small prize revenue percentage of 54.8% which is not good. CL66's current top pick is 7-11-21. As much as he would not buy a Keno ticket, I would not buy one for that game. Although the top prize ratio for that game is 1.21 (4th best), the small prize percentage for the game is the third worst for any game at 45.6%. Only one of the original grand prizes (7 in total) of $100,000 remains with an estimated 11% of the float. That is about what one would expect but almost any other game is going to give you more churn. So, Keno has better churn and it offers a better turnover of lower prizes. CL66 likes the game due to the quantity of middling prizes which his evaluation method rewards. Mine does not.

It is perhaps a good time to remind any new readers that none of these games are actually good choices. When one surrenders 30-40% to the house, it's a losing proposition for all but the few. We play these games for fun and try to make the best choice from a list of poor ones.




Complete Game Ratings As Of June 16th

Rank	Cost	Game	#	Score
1	$3.00	Keno	1417	617.1
2	$3.00	Keno	1418	490.9
3	$10.00	Platinum	1888	471.1
4	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836	447.2
5	$3.00	Crossword	1866	445.0
6	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171	442.0
7	$30.00	250M Golden	1782	436.3
8	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872	431.7
9	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882	430.9
10	$5.00	Ruby 7's	1885	430.7
11	$5.00	High Roller	1874	428.2
12	$3.00	PacMan Slots	1867	427.6
13	$3.00	Cash Card	1876	426.0
14	$10.00	Diamond	1781	425.5
15	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837	422.2
16	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1873	422.3
17	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880	422.3
18	$20.00	Extreme	1780	419.7
19	$5.00	7 11 21	1868	412.1
20	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860	411.3
21	$3.00	Scrabble	1886	410.3
23	$10.00	Lucky Aces	1856	408.7
24	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859	396.7
25	$3.00	Bingo	3020	394.1
26	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1850	357.5
26	$10.00	Mega Money	1878	349.6
27	$2.00	Walking Dead	1877	348.4
28	$1.00	Hit 100	1849	330.2
29	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213	303.6

Comings and Goings

Money Multiplier was retired with one Grand Prize and 10% of its float left. 

New to the list is Lucky Aces. This is a $10 game available only in Ontario. I rate it low due to its small prize availability. It does offer 9.7% of the total game revenue to prize winners of more than $100 and less than the Grand Prize of $250,000, which is the 4th best of any game. My approach does not reward that kind of game, but if that's what you're looking for, jump in. 

In total there are 101 million tickets available for sale. 

Personal Play

Nineteen Keno tickets returned three winners totaling $15. Blechh!

Post Script

In response to a poster this week, CL66 has again raised this notion of winning tickets never being in circulation after a game is deactivated. I disagree with the logic. Although once a game is deactivated it is possible that some game tickets will never be printed or that an unsold winning ticket could be returned to the OLG by a retailer, none of that changes what an individual's chance is of winning. We cannot know if that happens or someone like Randy buys a ticket and has it slip under his car seat. The odds of winning remain the same regardless of these unknowable factors. It could just as likely be true that the last print run for a game is never authorized and that all the outstanding winning tickets are available for sale. In that case one's odds would improve.

A CBC article http://bit.ly/28LqSPZ reports that the OLG's sales were down $260 m last year. They put this down to more jackpots being won earlier thereby reducing the number of draws with $50 million or more jackpots. That makes sense to me but I'm wondering where the growth is in other business lines? They are coming out hard trying to market to youth and young mothers. I'm going to take a look at how PlayOLG is doing versus the OLG's blue sky forecasts. I'm afraid that the OLG remains under the illusion that if they market their product better, their profits will improve. I don't see their product as being that elastic. The more the demographics shift and the more they squeeze existing players, the worse it's going to be for their bottom line. Further, the more they market their product the more likely they are to end up defending themselves against this kind of law suit http://bit.ly/28MtlfB . I personally do not see the merit of such suits but if one presents oneself as being all things to all people, one cannot be surprised is someone finds that they fell down on one of those commitments. 

It's summer today. Enjoy. 

Doug

It's a Keno Bonanza

The retirement of Fruit Explosion has resulted in both current Keno games moving to the top of the list. The game of choice is the old version #1417. You have to be quick as the game has been recalled which means that all you will be able to find are loose tickets.

The game offers two remaining Grand Prizes from the five original prizes with an estimated 16% of its float (800,000 tickets). The game is also strong on Top Prizes with a positive Top Prize ratio of over 2 which is why the game is so highly rated. This is a good game and once it's gone, the potential heir apparent is significantly lower rated.




Note: The image above is for game 1418. Game 1417 is red.

Rank	Cost	Game	#	Score
1	$3.00	Keno	1417	583.7
2	$3.00	Keno	1418	452.7
3	$10.00	Platinum	1888	436.6
4	$5.00	Money Mult	1845	430.2
5	$30.00	250M Golden	1782	427.8
6	$5.00	Triple Crown	1882	424.8
7	$3.00	Crossword	1866	419.8
8	$3.00	More Lucky Lines	1836	413.7
9	$4.00	Cash For Life	1171	409.6
10	$5.00	Cross Tripler	1872	408.1
11	$5.00	Ruby 7's	1885	405.1
12	$3.00	Scrabble	1886	402.5
13	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1873	400.6
14	$3.00	PacMan Slots	1867	398.4
15	$5.00	High Roller	1874	396.1
16	$2.00	Double Dollar	1837	395.5
17	$10.00	Diamond	1781	394.5
18	$5.00	7 11 21	1868	391.5
19	$20.00	Extreme	1780	392.0
20	$2.00	Walking Dead	1877	390.2
21	$2.00	Lucky Dog	1859	389.9
22	$3.00	Bingo	3020	388.5
23	$5.00	Black Pearls	1880	387.0
24	$1.00	Bacon Bits	1860	383.0
25	$3.00	Cash Card	1876	377.4
26	$3.00	QFG Crossword	3213	339.9
27	$5.00	Bingo Doubler	1850	332.4
28	$10.00	Mega Money	1878	326.6
29	$1.00	Hit 100	1849	317.4

Comings and Goings

Spring cleaning has begun at the OLG with two Bingo Games, Lucky Lines, Fruit Explosion, Cross Tripler, and Wild 10's all being retired. All the games were at the point where they should have been retired. Two Grand Prizes totaling $125,000 went into the OLG coffers. 

New to the inventory are $5 Ruby 7's (rated 11th of 29), Scrabble (rated 12th), and Bingo Doubler (13th). Those are ratings that one would expect which means that any one of them has the potential to move up the list. 

Personal Play

Thirteen Keno 1417 tickets returned four winners totaling $18. 

Post Script

Happy to see that the workers at the Rideau Carlton Raceway and the OLG have agreed to binding arbitration to settle their differences. Hats off to the workers who endured a long winter and a couple of upsetting situations before getting this far. 

The town of Callander is asking that it receive a portion of the funding that will go to North Bay from a future casino. Their argument is that the OLG will approve a single casino for the zone and their citizens will be frequenting the casino in North Bay which means that they will experience a portion of the social costs associated with gambling. The OLG has, not surprisingly, suggested that they go jump in Lake Nipissing. 

I have noted the comments over time about a certain Pro-Line player in Innisfil who seems to be cashing big time on Pro Line. The whole thing makes no sense to me as an individual who is betting the way this chap is would be much better served by an off shore account rather than accepting lousy odds on multi-game parlays. Can anyone shed any light on what is going on there?

Another commentator posited that CL66's ratings do not place enough emphasis on Grand Prizes or their lack thereof. In response, CL66 posted detail about how his evaluation system works. The formula I use is the product of the value of all Top Prizes left to be claimed versus the number of Top Prize tickets and the percentage of revenue dedicated to Small Prizes. Because there is much more variance for the first factor, my ratings end up being mostly influenced by Top Prize availability. 

CL66 has explained before why he supports his method. As a reader, you can choose which one best reflects your personal preferences. Vive la difference!

Doug