Last week, I flew back from Seattle, Washington where I did a 7 night Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. While on the ship, I discovered Royal Caribbean has come out with 3 of its own scratch off lottery games. The ship had one in stock called Blue Diamonds. This is a review on that game.
One of the profit centers for Royal Caribbean is the casinos on their ships. With lottery scratch off games being so numerous and wide spread, it wasn't in some ways surprising that Royal Caribbean decided to get in the act. They're a very easy game to run compared to other games in their ship's casinos. The tickets are sold at the cashier's cage, cost $5 each in the Blue Diamond game (I don't know if the other games cost more), offer a top prize of $25,000 (I don't know about the other 2 games as the ship I was on didn't offer them).
Overall odds of winning in Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamond game are 1 in 4.37 (Source: 1 of the tickets I bought). The ticket doesn't show what the prize range is and, I didn't ask the cashier. From scratching off the prize amounts on my losing tickets I have (5 of them) and comparing them, the prize range is as follows:
$5
$10
$50
$100
$1,000
$25,000
I don't know at this time if Royal Caribbean has released how many prizes there are total or what their range (how many different ones there are) is.
The game does have 2 interesting conditions: 1) you must claim any prize before midnight on the last day of the cruise (probably the night before you get off the ship) and 2) you must be at least 18 years or older UNLESS you're on an Alaska cruise like I was in which case you must be at 21 years of age (probably to comply with Alaska gambling laws) to play. I don't know if they offer the games on ship's that sail in other waters like around Australia or the Mediterranean.
The Blue Diamonds game is pretty dull in my opinion because there aren't any instant win chances in the game. You get 5 winning numbers in the middle of the ticket and, you have to match 1 or more of them to the 15 numbers below the winning numbers to win whatever prize. Still, if you want some quick gambling action and, you're not into pulling the arm or pushing the buttons on the slot machines, they might be for you. They're definitely an easy game to play in the casino.
Overall, I wasn't wowed by Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamonds game. To me, it's ok. I did find it interesting to play as I've played a number of scratch off games in Maryland (more reviews coming on those games, stay tuned). If you happen to be on a Royal Caribbean cruise line ship and, you've got to scratch, you might head over to the ship's casino and try one of their 3 scratch off games including this one. Good luck.
Disclaimer: I don't work for Royal Caribbean, I didn't receive any compensation from them for this review and any information cited in this review came from the tickets I bought with my own money. Please remember to gamble responsibly. I doubt you want to go home broke or worse from your fun cruise.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, May 07, 2017
Review of Maryland Lottery's Ultimate Riches Scratch Off Game
On April 24, 2017, the Maryland Lottery came out with it's latest $1,000,000 prize scratch off game called Ultimate Riches. Like all $1,000,000 prize games, the tickets sell for $20 each. The game features 5 so called games with 25 chances to win a prize though the thing that really matters in my opinion is the overall odds of winning which are 1 in 2.96 (Source: one of the tickets I bought with my own money i.e. I don't get paid any compensation from the Maryland Lottery and I don't have any connection with them) which is average for this kind of scratch off game. Most games of this sort tend to have an overall odds of winning of 1 in 3.
The tickets resemble Maryland Lottery's previous game called Instant Millionaire with a winning number at the top of 5 columns and 5 numbers below each winning number. You try to make the winning number with 1 of the numbers below in 1 or more of the columns/games. There is 1 big difference in the Ultimate Riches tickets vice the previous Instant Millionaire game - there isn't any chance of an instant win. In the Instant Millionaire game, Maryland Lottery offered the player a chance at instantly winning either $100 or $50. In the Ultimate Riches game, there isn't ANY instant win feature which is a surprise to me. It's common to have one in the games I've seen.
Top prizes for the game are $1,000,000; $50,000; and $10,000. Interestingly, the Maryland Lottery continues its trend of offering more top prizes in the $1,000,000 prize games. It used to be standard that there would be 3 such prizes. In this game, the Maryland Lottery offers 7! Also, they offer 13 $50,000 prizes and offered 59 $10,000 prizes (there are 57 left at the time of this post). Keep in mind, that with more top prizes, there will be more tickets put out overall for the game (based on the increased number of prizes I've seen and the overall odds of winning anything). One nice thing for those who like this game is that it also means the game will be out longer because of the increased number of tickets.
Overall, the only thing I was impressed with concerning this game was the increase in $1,000,000 prizes. Otherwise, this is a pretty boring game though if you want a game where you'll find out quickly if you won or not, this might be the game for you. This game doesn't take a lot of time to play unlike other games like Maryland Lottery's $2,000,0000 Fortune game where you have to check 40 numbers to see if you matched. Due to the high number of tickets, this game should be very easy to find throughout Maryland. Good luck to all players out there!
The tickets resemble Maryland Lottery's previous game called Instant Millionaire with a winning number at the top of 5 columns and 5 numbers below each winning number. You try to make the winning number with 1 of the numbers below in 1 or more of the columns/games. There is 1 big difference in the Ultimate Riches tickets vice the previous Instant Millionaire game - there isn't any chance of an instant win. In the Instant Millionaire game, Maryland Lottery offered the player a chance at instantly winning either $100 or $50. In the Ultimate Riches game, there isn't ANY instant win feature which is a surprise to me. It's common to have one in the games I've seen.
Top prizes for the game are $1,000,000; $50,000; and $10,000. Interestingly, the Maryland Lottery continues its trend of offering more top prizes in the $1,000,000 prize games. It used to be standard that there would be 3 such prizes. In this game, the Maryland Lottery offers 7! Also, they offer 13 $50,000 prizes and offered 59 $10,000 prizes (there are 57 left at the time of this post). Keep in mind, that with more top prizes, there will be more tickets put out overall for the game (based on the increased number of prizes I've seen and the overall odds of winning anything). One nice thing for those who like this game is that it also means the game will be out longer because of the increased number of tickets.
Overall, the only thing I was impressed with concerning this game was the increase in $1,000,000 prizes. Otherwise, this is a pretty boring game though if you want a game where you'll find out quickly if you won or not, this might be the game for you. This game doesn't take a lot of time to play unlike other games like Maryland Lottery's $2,000,0000 Fortune game where you have to check 40 numbers to see if you matched. Due to the high number of tickets, this game should be very easy to find throughout Maryland. Good luck to all players out there!
Ben Ami Chardonnay Review
While on a champagne buying trip at Total Wine & More in Laurel, Maryland, I stumbled upon some Ben Ami Chardonnay. I tend to prefer white wines to red though I've heard the reds are better for you health wise. Another thing that appealed to me about this wine is it's made in Israel. I haven't forgotten the Globus tour I did of Israel and some of my incredible adventures there then like looking down from Masada or floating in the Dead Sea. So, I bought a 750 milliliter bottle of the wine to try it.
I found it a nice chardonnay. I can't tell you what flavors it might hint of or what it might rate to a wine connoisseur. I'm definitely not a wine connoisseur myself. I just know if I like a wine or not. In this case, I did like it. Also, I felt it was reasonably priced at $14.99. Total Wine offers the wine through Winery Direct which means you get an extra 5 reward points per dollar i.e. 15 reward points per dollar spent on this wine vice the normal 10 point per dollar.
In regards to finding the wine in the Total Wine stores, you may have to look in the Kosher section (they have one) to find it. The wine is certified Kosher (it has the circle with a K in it on the bottle).
Overall, I was very pleased with this wine and would buy it again. If you want to try a nice Israeli chardonnay, you might want to try this one. It's a nice wine at a good price. Happy drinking all!
I found it a nice chardonnay. I can't tell you what flavors it might hint of or what it might rate to a wine connoisseur. I'm definitely not a wine connoisseur myself. I just know if I like a wine or not. In this case, I did like it. Also, I felt it was reasonably priced at $14.99. Total Wine offers the wine through Winery Direct which means you get an extra 5 reward points per dollar i.e. 15 reward points per dollar spent on this wine vice the normal 10 point per dollar.
In regards to finding the wine in the Total Wine stores, you may have to look in the Kosher section (they have one) to find it. The wine is certified Kosher (it has the circle with a K in it on the bottle).
Overall, I was very pleased with this wine and would buy it again. If you want to try a nice Israeli chardonnay, you might want to try this one. It's a nice wine at a good price. Happy drinking all!
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