Newspaper competitions are fake?

david39

The same argument about the winners of on-line bingo being known before the result is announced (because a computer has already randomly picked the order in which the numbers will be shown) can also be applied to live bingo in the bingo halls.

At the start of each game, a computer jumbles all of the numbers into a random order and then they are presented in turn to the caller. With the table-bingo (party-bingo) games, the "caller" these days is the computer itself via a voice recording, not a physical person.
When a table reaches a winning position, the computer detects this immediately and hands over to a live announcer who prompts the winner to press the claim button if they have not already done so.
It is therefore logical that the computer (before the first number is called) could "play" the game itself and will know which table will win before the game starts.

However, unless it knows the identity of every player at every table, it would not be practical for it to be rigged so that someone would receive preferential treatment. The same player at the same table winning repeatedly would surely be noticed.

Similarly, it could be rigged so that only one table at a time wins the prize, thereby making the prize look more attractive rather than splitting it amongst a number of winners - this clearly doesn't happen as multiple winners seem to occurr more often than single ones - well, at least when I win!

biscit

I think you're right- the odds of winning these games are fixed and low.

The newspaper games are slightly different because the numbers printed in the paper and on the tickets are designed so the game has fixed winning odds. It's more like a raffle than the bingo game it pretends to be. The winning tickets are distributed at random, or at least at random in various geographical regions.

Rigged would mean that the winning tickets were not distributed at random, but given to the people the paper wanted to win. Now I have to admit that I have no evidence that this isn't true. But the key point is that there is no evidence to suggest that it is.

alanrp123

aurongrande wrote: »

Same here. What is gasoline-flavoured food??

These are the round brown things, made from b ll ks and brains, sold by these outlets!!:beer:

Money_User

alanrp123 wrote: »

These are the round brown things, made from b ll ks and brains, sold by these outlets!!:beer:

I think thats whats in the food police's rule book of description but it unfortunately is a bit made up really! The reality being the round brown things that taste like grilled beef.

Paul_Varjak

In 1988 I entered a competition in The Times. The first prize was £5,000 and I won it; so I know that newspaper competition was genuine.

The trick is to enter competitions where you can increase your chances of winning; don't enter competitions that just really on 'luck'.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

Those scratch cards that fall out of the newspapers are a scam though. You scratch the card to reveal...a phone number to call to find out your prize with some small print saying that the call will cost £1.50 a minute and last not less than 10 minutes. Get what you deserve really, if you call, but I doubt it would be worth the money you pay to make the call.

ThinkingOfLinking

I won the Daily Mail wish list a couple of years ago; it was worth just over £500 that particular week.

rockiedog

Remember the TV quiz shows where you call or go online to win £1000? On channel five cant remember the show's name! However my daughter entered online and was the daily £1000 winner! that was back in 2006,

biscit

Ronaldo_Mconaldo wrote: »

Those scratch cards that fall out of the newspapers are a scam though. You scratch the card to reveal...a phone number to call to find out your prize with some small print saying that the call will cost £1.50 a minute and last not less than 10 minutes. Get what you deserve really, if you call, but I doubt it would be worth the money you pay to make the call.

True but these are not run by the newspapers, they are not newspaper competitions.

KxMx

Ronaldo_Mconaldo wrote: »

Those scratch cards that fall out of the newspapers are a scam though. You scratch the card to reveal...a phone number to call to find out your prize with some small print saying that the call will cost £1.50 a minute and last not less than 10 minutes. Get what you deserve really, if you call, but I doubt it would be worth the money you pay to make the call.

These days claim numbers can be sent by email, so yes I agree anyone who phones up does get what they deserve!

I've had 3x£10 out of those cards, all it took was 3 stamps and some paper/envelopes.

And I don't send away for the code if the minimum prize is a watch or holiday voucher either!