Los Angeles, California United States
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December 2, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by OCScratchDevil on Jun 17, 2014
I think CA Scratchers are going backwards. They are doing things that are more annoying in that they make it harder to enter 2nd Chance codes even though they advertise it as a big deal, they have fewer Top Prizes, they have large runs of dead tickets in the $20 rolls, they have irritating things like both a Free Ticket and a $10 winner on $10 games even though they are essentially the same thing. The list keeps getting longer. There really is no buzz.
I was talking with the main retailer I buy most of my Scratchers from and he was laughing at how they are already going to start pulling Black and Gold from the bins. All the hoopla and advertising for Black he said was a waste of time because the game was a dud. He said Gold was even worse. Ugly game, boring theme. He has hopes for Wheel of Fortune but he has seen a steady decline in Scratcher purchases. He absolutely hates the $20 game and has watched hundreds of people just get whacked on it. He had one guy come in and buy a roll and the best prize he got was a $50 winner. The guy almost had a meltdown.
Did your retailer tell you how the new Lucky Life series is doing over their predecessors? I'm curious.
United States
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September 24, 2013
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Today I went back to the place where I bought 5 of the $20 5MJP tickets and lost all 5 of them. There was 3 left and I bought all 3, tickets 27-29. I finally got myself one. I think I could quit playing this game even though I still lost hundreds playing.
Los Angeles, California United States
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December 2, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by CAScratcher20 on Jun 17, 2014
Hard to answer exactly without Jon's spreadsheet calculations, but I am not trying to be nitty gritty about the ROI per $100 purchase, it is more of a concept of volatility. Generally, the more your play, the more chances you have in winning the top prize. Bankroll is a limiting factor to a person's ability to play quantity wise so you have to hit the lower wins more frequent to keep you in the game, high volatility games (like Set for Life [before Lucky for Life or Lucky Life] or the $20 game) will carry high element of risk that your bankroll will disappear. This Wheel of Fortune game narrows the $50 or $100 (5 or 10 ticket) gaps.
CA Gold
1 in 17 for TICKET
1 in 10 for $15
1 in 14 for $20
1 in 38 for $25
1 in 62 for $50
1 in 93 for $100
1 in 659 for $200
[Note: 1 in 16000 for $1000]
Wheel of Fortune
1 in 17 for TICKET
1 in 10 for $15
1 in 17 for $20
1 in 36 for $25
1 in 44 for $50
1 in 71 for $100
1 in 774 for $200
[Note: 1 in 24000 for $1000]
As far as the pursuit of the Top Prize goes, I've stated before as a long time player, the best chances of winning are through the 2nd Chance End of Game Draw despite just 1 winner will be chosen, being able to play longer will yield in more second chance entries. As a scratcher player, nothing will ever beat the thrill of scratching off a the number and prize to reveal the GP amount on a ticket, but realistically the situation requires the player to be at the right place at the right time.
After I posted my comment, I looked at the differences between the two. It's about a 4% extra return on average for lower tier prizes. I used 100 tickets as a basis, but in reality one needs to play, on average, a few hundred tickets to achieve the 4%.
I would rather see the CA Lottery achieve better lower tier prize payouts by increasing the payout rate, not by redistributing the prize fund by doubling the odds of top prizes. They could increase the payout rate a few percentage points, add more lower tier prizes, and keep the top prize odds at 1 in 1,200,000. CA Lottery under AB 142 has the authority to do so. Eventually they might, but right now I see them testing various scenarios before increasing payout rates. Diamond Millionaire is retiring with more than half its top prize remaining. OCScratchDevil mentioned his retailer told him CA Lottery is ready to pull CA Black and California Gold. CG I understand, but if they start pulling CA Black anytime soon, that game was a dismal failure.
One thing CA Lottery must keep in mind is that Scratchers are their bread and butter. Don't screw it up to the point that you can't recover or take years to regain what what was achieved since AB 142. I may be proven wrong, but I just feel the WoF is moving in the wrong direction. People are quickly going to see the change in top prize odds, and unless you purchase 100's of tickets, you're really not going to fully benefit from the increase in lower tier prizes.
I agree the 2nd chance drawing has the best odds, by far, in most cases. Many people can comfortably get the odds under 1 in 100,000 for $10 2nd chance draws.
Los Angeles, California United States
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December 2, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by CAScratcher20 on Jun 18, 2014
Today I went back to the place where I bought 5 of the $20 5MJP tickets and lost all 5 of them. There was 3 left and I bought all 3, tickets 27-29. I finally got myself one. I think I could quit playing this game even though I still lost hundreds playing.
United States
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September 24, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by mrcraft on Jun 18, 2014
Congrats on the wins! Nice $500 winner.
Thanks! It made my day and eased a good amount of frustrations with the game.
I appreciate that you've done the calculations for the Wheel of Fortune and California Gold games. $4 per every $100 on the low-tier is still substantial (4% cashback). I do understand the prerogative with regards to playing for the top prize, eventually the losses will add up fast pursuing a jackpot so it must be played in moderation. At the very least, I will resort to buying losing tickets off of eBay to try to win 2nd chance.
Very surprised that the CA Black and Gold is going away with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the game sold. The $10 Crosswords does well even with a lesser GP at $750k and overall payout. CA Lottery is doing all they could to find a way to get the typical person to fork over $10 instead of a few bucks. CA adopted $10 and $20 tickets much later than other states, so I am disappointed they did not do their homework to understand what sells well or what does not.
Costa Mesa United States
Member #150,627
December 27, 2013
157 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by CAScratcher20 on Jun 18, 2014
Today I went back to the place where I bought 5 of the $20 5MJP tickets and lost all 5 of them. There was 3 left and I bought all 3, tickets 27-29. I finally got myself one. I think I could quit playing this game even though I still lost hundreds playing.
Pasadena, CA United States
Member #153,319
March 13, 2014
186 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by CAScratcher20 on Jun 18, 2014
Thanks! It made my day and eased a good amount of frustrations with the game.
I appreciate that you've done the calculations for the Wheel of Fortune and California Gold games. $4 per every $100 on the low-tier is still substantial (4% cashback). I do understand the prerogative with regards to playing for the top prize, eventually the losses will add up fast pursuing a jackpot so it must be played in moderation. At the very least, I will resort to buying losing tickets off of eBay to try to win 2nd chance.
Very surprised that the CA Black and Gold is going away with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the game sold. The $10 Crosswords does well even with a lesser GP at $750k and overall payout. CA Lottery is doing all they could to find a way to get the typical person to fork over $10 instead of a few bucks. CA adopted $10 and $20 tickets much later than other states, so I am disappointed they did not do their homework to understand what sells well or what does not.
I sent the Lottery several e-mails years ago (probably late '09 or early '10) as to why the state hadn't yet sold any $10 or $20 tickets or had more interesting game themes; never got back any response. Why California lags in the higher-priced ticket category (when many other states have been doing it for well over a decade) or diverse games boggles the mind.
No surprise that the $10 Black ticket was a dud and is going to be pulled. It was the exact same as the $1,000,000 Fortune ticket, only without the bonus spot. Plus, the payouts stink.
United States
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September 24, 2013
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Thanks green sandals! I won't be able to catch up to the number of these wins you got hahaha
As for the top prize count on the website, it got updated this morning. The game looks to be about 60% sold, but sales pace slowing down considerably from it debut.
Bay Area, CA United States
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June 3, 2014
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Quote: Originally posted by CAScratcher20 on Jun 18, 2014
Today I went back to the place where I bought 5 of the $20 5MJP tickets and lost all 5 of them. There was 3 left and I bought all 3, tickets 27-29. I finally got myself one. I think I could quit playing this game even though I still lost hundreds playing.
Awesome wins, CAScratcher! Keep them coming! I don't plan to play much of 5MJ myself anymore. I played 10 more from random packs from different stores earlier this week with nothing but two break evens. I'm done for now.
For some reason, I was expecting WoF to be released today (6/18) but I haven't seen any in the stores. Maybe my information wasn't accurate.
Los Angeles, California United States
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December 2, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by malloc on Jun 18, 2014
Awesome wins, CAScratcher! Keep them coming! I don't plan to play much of 5MJ myself anymore. I played 10 more from random packs from different stores earlier this week with nothing but two break evens. I'm done for now.
For some reason, I was expecting WoF to be released today (6/18) but I haven't seen any in the stores. Maybe my information wasn't accurate.
I think the WoF release date is sometime next week. The opening code submissions date they use on 2nd chance page is usually a week or so before the launch.
United States
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September 24, 2013
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Quote: Originally posted by malloc on Jun 18, 2014
Awesome wins, CAScratcher! Keep them coming! I don't plan to play much of 5MJ myself anymore. I played 10 more from random packs from different stores earlier this week with nothing but two break evens. I'm done for now.
For some reason, I was expecting WoF to be released today (6/18) but I haven't seen any in the stores. Maybe my information wasn't accurate.
Thanks malloc!
The WoF games are set to release on the 23rd which is next week and usually new game releases are on the 2nd to last or last Tuesday of every month. Good looking out on the replay page for the 2nd chance contest. I personally do not like the 1 winner takes all 2nd chance promotional drawings for specific games so at least for me it is good to see multiple winners in this one.
I'll probably play WoF $10 until that 2nd chance drawing ends, if the new $20 Million $$ Match has horrible payout I will continue WoF at a small pace.