Crowdlottery Exposed — Is This Really “Power to the Crowd”?
Crowdlottery Review
Sometimes it is hard to figure out why they do it. At first glance, Crowdlottery.com looks like it would capitalize on the whole concept of a media craze. But so far it has not. This is a standalone lottery played once a week on Thursdays 13:00 CET. The Malta Gaming Commission supervises the draw and the winning ticket takes all. As part of the process of claiming that winning ticket, the winner has to take a video and sent it to crowdlottery.com for publication. Clicking through the 142 winners to date, some of the videos are really hilarious.
The Game at Crowdlottery.com
This is a one lottery per week, one winner with players only allowed to have one ticket per draw. There is a prize tier published, but I’m not sure how this comes into winning as currently the jackpot is based on how many people are playing i.e. number of players times €1 = the jackpot. The last one was €403. They also say that the first 600 players get one month free play, but they do not say whether this is current players. I mean, if say there had already been 600 players who decided not to play any longer, does that mean it has been used up? Admittedly, the service charge on top of the ticket €0.15 means it doesn’t cost a lot but still only one prize?
Bonus Tickets at Crowd Lottery
Players may (it doesn’t way will) get a bonus ticket for each player they bring into play the lottery as along as that player plays thirteen weeks continuously and the referrer is also playing continuously. Bonus tickets are used instead of paying for a ticket – well, that’s what it sounds like, as remember, players can only have one ticket per draw.
Winning that One Jackpot
The single prize is tax free at source, though you’d have to check out your own situation in your own country on whether you have to declare it. Then again at €403 (the last jackpot), I wouldn’t worry about it. Oh – and to claim your prize, the winner has to take a video of talking about winning and send it to crowdlottery.com – it was hilarious clicking through some of the “Lucky Ones”.
Who Can Play at Crowdlottery.com
Anyone who is over the age of 18 and/or can legally gamble in the country they live can play excluding people in the United States of America (or so they say for now).
About Crowdlottery
Crowdlottery.com is operated by WTA Gaming Ltd. out of Malta. They offer a landline, email and snail mail address and online form. They do respond fairly quickly to questions. It also looks like they used “crowd funding” to raise the money to open the company in 2013.
Charity and Crowd Lottery
Crowdlottery.com also says they will donate 50% of their company profit to a charity and then admits that there is no profit to date. They also encourage players to donate part of their winnings to a charity “sharing happiness”.
The Bottom Line at Crowdlottery.com
Though I get the concept and it doesn’t cost that much to buy into this, the idea of one prize doesn’t work for the team. The fact that there is a winner each draw is good. But, I think I’ll stick to other lotteries that have comprehensive prize tiers and a chance at some of those mega jackpots.
Pros:
Tax Free
Winner Takes All
Equal Odds for All
Cons:
Only One Ticket Allowed
Jackpot Based on Players (and not a lot at this point)
No Mega Jackpots
It will be interesting to watch and see if this little lottery does actually grow in players. If you do jump in on this one, please let us know how you get on. Our team gave it a thumbs down – for now.
