# McDonalds Monopoly pcs are winners clearly marked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858 "2016-04-11T02:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/1 "2016-04-11T02:20:16Z")
McDonalds is running it’s Monopoly games again. As someone who is unlikely to actually eat there more than once during the game it’s not like I’d acquire very many game pieces. The instant winners and such are pretty clear just looking at them, it says ‘you won a free McFlurry’ or whatever. I’m wondering about the properties where you need to collect multiple pieces. Of any given property type there is only one that is has impossible odds to get. Someone could get a hundred ‘Park Places’ but never the ‘Board Walk’ they need to win. Is that Board Walk piece labeled any different than the ‘Park Place’ Does it say ‘hey stupid this is a grand prize winning piece?’ Could someone potentially get Boardwalk and just toss it as they do other pieces, thinking ‘I’ll never see Park Place?’ On one hand it might be great for McDonalds to end up not having to pay out on a contest because someone was oblivious on the other it would be poor PR if they couldn’t show someone won. Same question applies to scratch tickets. Do they make the big winners any more obvious. Could someone easily miss the fact they had a winning number on the card and toss a million dollar ticket? ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/2 "2016-04-11T03:17:18Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > McDonalds is running it’s Monopoly games again. As someone who is unlikely to actually eat there more than once during the game it’s not like I’d acquire very many game pieces. The instant winners and such are pretty clear just looking at them, it says ‘you won a free McFlurry’ or whatever. > > I’m wondering about the properties where you need to collect multiple pieces. Of any given property type there is only one that is has impossible odds to get. Someone could get a hundred ‘Park Places’ but never the ‘Board Walk’ they need to win. Is that Board Walk piece labeled any different than the ‘Park Place’ Does it say ‘hey stupid this is a grand prize winning piece?’ Could someone potentially get Boardwalk and just toss it as they do other pieces, thinking ‘I’ll never see Park Place?’ > > On one hand it might be great for McDonalds to end up not having to pay out on a contest because someone was oblivious on the other it would be poor PR if they couldn’t show someone won. > > Same question applies to scratch tickets. Do they make the big winners any more obvious. Could someone easily miss the fact they had a winning number on the card and toss a million dollar ticket? Scratch tickets, in my experience, will tend to repeat either the prize, or “Your Number” you need to match on certain, bigger winning tickets. The tickets that win big are kinda… Clumpy. They ““fever”” not unlike pachinko machines… It’s a nuanced thing, but if you know what to look for, it’s there repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/3 "2016-04-11T03:46:15Z")
[Worth mentioning.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-mcdonalds-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/4 "2016-04-11T04:08:03Z")
When I used to play scratch off tickets, especially if it was the more complicated ones (like crossword puzzles), I’d always bring in my losers and have them scanned anyways. Didn’t hurt anything if they really were worthless and sometimes a few of them would be worth a buck or two and I just missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/5 "2016-04-11T05:04:02Z")
If you’re at all concerned about accidentally throwing a rare game piece away, it’s not hard to find on the Internet which pieces are rare. > **[Rare Pieces in McDonalds Monopoly 2018 - Winning Stickers in Money Monopoly -...](https://gazettereview.com/2016/03/mcdonalds-monopoly-2016-rare-pieces-money/)** > > This article will be updated for the new game as details are released. It’s that time of year again! Everyone’s favorite fast food “lottery” game McDonalds Monopoly is back in full force. One of the biggest questions on people’s minds during... ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/6 "2016-04-11T06:56:02Z")
It says right in the official rules which are the rare pieces. [See Rule 6 c.](https://www.playatmcd.com/Rules) ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/7 "2016-04-11T12:46:48Z")
Keep in mind that, even if you have Boardwalk, it’s not an automatic win… You do still need Park Place, and, though it’s far more common, it’s not like you can just walk into McDonald’s and say “Hey, give me Park Place”. The odds are the same, per McDonald’s, of having Park Place & Boardwalk and just having Boardwalk, but I’ve had more luck with the 1:18 McGriddles than the 1:11 Park Place–there’s still that element of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/8 "2016-04-11T13:01:57Z")
I don’t know anything about the McDonald’s “game pieces,” but I know that millions of dollars in state lottery prizes–mostly the secondary prizes in games with well-known jackpots–go unclaimed each year. That is, they _know_ the winning numbers were printed at a certain place and time, but nobody ever shows up with them. > [@chacoguy](#): > > [Worth mentioning.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-mcdonalds-story.html) Wow. > [@](#): > > Toward the end of its investigation, the FBI was able to predict that John Davis of Granbury, Texas, would call and claim to be a $1 million winner, officials said. McDonald’s confirmed that Davis was claiming the prize, and he was among those arrested Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/9 "2016-04-11T13:29:57Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > It says right in the official rules which are the rare pieces. > > [See Rule 6 c.](https://www.playatmcd.com/Rules) Thanks for that. I had the OP’s situation & question but wasn’t interested enough to follow it up. The other day the clerk handed me a big handful of game pieces with my Egg McMuffin (the only McD food I’ll eat). I wondered if I had any of the valuable ones. Nope. Darn. I do have 3 sets of free medium fries though. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/10 "2016-04-11T13:36:43Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [Worth mentioning.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-mcdonalds-story.html) That’s interesting to say the least. The story itself is from 2001. The web page carrying the story is loaded with current 2016 ads and is labeled with an April 2016 copyright. It’d be easy to get confused about which game had the problems. I thought I was reading a current event until I got to the part about US Attorney General Ashcroft. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/11 "2016-04-11T13:49:32Z")
The tipoff for me was when they mentioned a 1996 car as a prize. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/12 "2016-04-11T13:56:29Z")
Well, for _me_ the tipoff was the 2001 dateline right at the top of the article. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/13 "2016-04-11T22:19:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The tipoff for me was when they mentioned a 1996 car as a prize. Well, it would make the whole thing a lot more affordable for McDonalds. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/14 "2016-04-11T22:43:28Z")
A lot of their customers already drive '96s though. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/15 "2016-04-11T22:52:45Z")
> [@Debillw3](#): > > Keep in mind that, even if you have Boardwalk, it’s not an automatic win… You do still need Park Place, and, though it’s far more common, it’s not like you can just walk into McDonald’s and say “Hey, give me Park Place”. What happens if you lodge a claim with a valid rare (eg Boardwalk ) but somehow the common (Park Place) is invalid, eg last months, came in from overseas somewhere, or the token you used was damaged ? The rare is marked with specific codes to prevent frauds. ( say you had one, could you duplicate it ? nope.) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/16 "2016-04-13T02:02:13Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Scratch tickets, in my experience, will tend to repeat either the prize, or “Your Number” you need to match on certain, bigger winning tickets. The tickets that win big are kinda… Clumpy. They ““fever”” not unlike pachinko machines… It’s a nuanced thing, but if you know what to look for, it’s there repeatedly. Are you saying, given a sheet of scratch lotto tickets, you can pick the winners? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/17 "2016-04-13T13:19:26Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > It says right in the official rules which are the rare pieces. > > [See Rule 6 c.](https://www.playatmcd.com/Rules) There is porn of it? Oh wait, wrong rule. I don’t get this part: > [@](#): > > viii. Collect Park Place (#621) and Boardwalk (#622) to win a prize of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000)\* (_payable $50,000/year for 20 years, without interest). One (1) prize is available in the Game. The winner will receive a check for $50,000 each year for twenty (20) years, without interest, ARV: $1,000,000_. The approximate odds of collecting Park Place are 1 in 11; the approximate odds of collecting Boardwalk are 1 in 513,591,720; the approximate odds of collecting the Winning Combination (Park Place and Boardwalk) are 1 in 513,591,720. How are the odds of collecting Park Place _and_ Boardwalk identical to the odds of collecting Boardwalk on its own, when the odds of collecting Park Place are 1 in 11? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/18 "2016-04-13T13:31:04Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > There is porn of it? Oh wait, wrong rule. > > I don’t get this part: > > How are the odds of collecting Park Place _and_ Boardwalk identical to the odds of collecting Boardwalk on its own, when the odds of collecting Park Place are 1 in 11? 😕 Because they know you’ll figure out a way to get Park Place once you have the Boardwalk? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/19 "2016-04-13T13:48:40Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [Worth mentioning.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-mcdonalds-story.html) God, sometimes I hate people so much. Greedy, selfish sons of bitches, who just want to take away everybody’s fun and don’t care who gets hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/20 "2016-04-13T16:12:08Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > There is porn of it? Oh wait, wrong rule. > > I don’t get this part: > > How are the odds of collecting Park Place _and_ Boardwalk identical to the odds of collecting Boardwalk on its own, when the odds of collecting Park Place are 1 in 11? 😕 Park Place is so easy to get that the difference between Boardwalk plus Park Place and Boardwalk alone gets lost when they round off the odds to the nearest integer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858.md?page=2)