Canadian lottery combines draw game and scratch-off tickets to make something different
By Kate Northrop
The Ontario Lottery (OLG) launched a new type of instant draw game, in which the draw has already been conducted and players must go on the "hunt" to find one of the winning tickets.
Ontario lottery players now have access to a type of instant game that is being promoted as "first-of-its-kind" for the way it incorporates both a draw game and scratch-off ticket.
On Tuesday, OLG announced the launch of the $25 "Instant Gold Pursuit" ticket, which "combines the excitement of a scratch ticket with a unique twist on a classic lottery draw," an OLG press release reads.
The catch is that the winning numbers were already drawn on Jan. 7, and players "experience the thrill of the hunt" to find the ticket holding those winning numbers.
In total, there are 50 tickets containing the winning numbers that each won a $100,000 prize. The ticket also features smaller instant prizes ranging from $25 to $2,500.
As soon as players purchase a ticket, they can check if it is a top prize winner by scanning it on the OLG mobile app or by taking it to a retailer's ticket checker.
"OLG is always looking for new ways to reimagine lottery and offer players more exciting chances to bring home the win," OLG Chief Lottery ad Customer Officer Nancy Kennedy said. "And we're delivering an even bigger win for people across Ontario with 100% of profits from 'Gold Pursuit' going back into their communities."
The overall odds of winning any instant prize in the game are 1 in 3.19, while the odds of winning one of the $100,000 top prize are 1 in 20,000.
The way that reads, it seems like there is a vulnerability introduced:
If you can find out the winning numbers (since they were already drawn), hack a lotto ticket machine to print out a winning ticket.
Also, if a player can immediately, after purchase, scan the ticket to see if it is a winner, it seems much like an instant draw game. I've never played an instant draw game because its a computer draw.
The "instant" part of this scheme is a scratch off, according to the article. Scratch offs are already printed.
So it's no different than a regular scratcher, and there's nothing new here.
No mention of the payout percentage, which is very useful to know. As important as ticket cost
"The overall odds of winning any instant prize in the game are 1 in 3.19, while the odds of winning one of the $100,000 top prize are 1 in 20,000."
It's all about the odds. Florida Lottery's $20 Triple Match scratch-off offers 1 in 2.85 of winning any prize (a little better than the Ontario game,) but odds of 1 in 888,166 of winning $100,000, much worse than the Ontario game.
At the $30 level (since Florida has no $25 scratchers) odds of winning any prize is 1 in 2.93 (also better than the Ontario game,) but odds of winning $100,000 is 1-in-468,042, still much higher than the Ontario game.
The Ontario game reminds me of when the Florida Lottery had a New Year's Millionaire raffle; best odds to win $1,000,000. So yeah, better odds on a chance at $100,000, I'd throw a few bucks at a game like that.
This game sounds like Fast Play draw tickets here in the states. Buy the instant draw ticket from the lottery kiosk and scan it to see if it is a winner, no scratching involved.