# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/21 "2016-04-13T16:51:13Z")
I assume they mean that if you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should get a Boardwalk. If you acquire 11 pieces, you should find a Park Place. If you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should have a Boardwalk and at least one Park Place. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/22 "2016-04-13T17:21:36Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I assume they mean that if you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should get a Boardwalk. If you acquire 11 pieces, you should find a Park Place. If you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should have a Boardwalk and at least one Park Place. If that were true, then in every case the odds of winning would be the same as the odds of finding the rare piece, but they aren’t. In all the other cases the odds of obtaining all the pieces is listed as higher than the odds of finding the rare piece, but lower than the odds of finding each piece in the series multiplied out. I wonder if they are assuming an average number of visits for each customer during the promotion. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/23 "2016-04-13T17:28:08Z")
… ---
**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, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/24 "2016-04-13T17:31:29Z")
So I have some Monopoly cards now and looked closely at them. They all follow a format. Here’s an example: Penn Railroad Item Number #624 See. Off Rules Need 623, 624, 625, 626 500 (this is in bold) And then some numbers and a number to tweet to. I actually have a Pacific Avenue, which is a prize of $50,000, and it looks exactly the same. So I’m guessing they don’t look any different even if you do get a Boardwalk. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/25 "2016-04-13T17:42:03Z")
There’s a good reason not to make them look any different than the non-rare pieces. If they look the same, they are more likely to be tossed in the garbage unredeemed, ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/26 "2016-04-13T17:45:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I actually have a Pacific Avenue, which is a prize of $50,000, and it looks exactly the same. So I’m guessing they don’t look any different even if you do get a Boardwalk. Pacific Avenue is a ‘common’ chances of getting one are pretty good. The ‘rare’ for that set is Pennsylvania Avenue. My question is 'Is there any visual difference between common pieces are rare ones. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/27 "2016-04-13T17:53:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > There’s a good reason not to make them look any different than the non-rare pieces. If they look the same, they are more likely to be tossed in the garbage unredeemed, If I was forced to run a contest in which people winning got to run off with my money obviously I want to make it easier for people to miss the fact they won because I wouldn’t care if I generated good will. McDonald’s volunteered to run the contest as a promotion. They are gambling on it generating good will. If people don’t win it reflects poorly on them ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/28 "2016-04-13T17:58:46Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > … If people don’t win it reflects poorly on them Does it? How would we know? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/29 "2016-04-13T18:02:07Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > If I was forced to run a contest in which people winning got to run off with my money obviously I want to make it easier for people to miss the fact they won because I wouldn’t care if I generated good will. > > McDonald’s volunteered to run the contest as a promotion. They are gambling on it generating good will. If people don’t win it reflects poorly on them There will still be enough winners, either through the regular channels or through the aftercontest runoffs, to generate those smiley “goodwill” commercials and posters even if a large percentage of the prizes are never claimed. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/30 "2016-04-13T18:21:10Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > Does it? How would we know? McDonald’s announces grand prize winners. If McDonald’s was missing grand prize winners the average person might not investigate but I’m sure a reporter or competitor would take that story and run with it. I’m sure someone working for McDonald’s calculated the odds of the pieces not being turned in and what the estimated effect would be. There is even a chance pieces don’t make it to anyone, they could be accidentally destroyed anywhere along the way If someone could show an actual winning game piece we’d have a much better idea on the conclusion they came too. ---
**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 13, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/31 "2016-04-13T20:35:52Z")
Obviously the rare pieces must not look different on the outside. Or else they’d be pilfered for sure. Choosing to make the rare (i.e. valuable) pieces look much different once opened runs the HUGE risk that somehow those differences inside are detectable from the outside. I recall a story of some scratchers tickets in a state lottery that had that property. The winners looked subtly different as a result of something under the opaque scratch-off stuff. Theft and scandal ensued. My bottom line: Without any certain knowledge I’d still bet a decent chunk of change the only visible difference between a rare Boardwalk piece an a common Park Place piece is the word “Boardwalk” and the specific serial ID number of the piece itself. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/32 "2016-04-14T00:50:01Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > I’m sure someone working for McDonald’s calculated the odds of the pieces not being turned in and what the estimated effect would be. There is even a chance pieces don’t make it to anyone, they could be accidentally destroyed anywhere along the way “PRIZES NOT CLAIMED OR THAT ARE FORFEITED WILL NOT BE AWARDED” Rules are different in every place, due to law, and I’m not going to try to understand the rules posted for "the Territory ". In Aus, McDonald’s Monopoly prizes that are not claimed by the end date go into a general draw, which you can register for if you have any tickets. If they can’t contact you on the address you register, any unclaimed cash prizes go to the government, and finally anything left over goes to charity. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/33 "2016-04-14T01:11:34Z")
I just wanted to say that I’m not wearing my glasses and I clicked on the thread because I thought the title was **McDonalds Monopoly pics are winners clearly naked?** Well, nevermind ---
**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 14, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/34 "2016-04-14T02:38:44Z")
You should leave your glasses off more often. It might improve the 'Dope which has been a little dry lately. 🙂 At least we know your imagination is still working properly. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/35 "2016-04-14T04:22:13Z")
I for one never really hear about anyone winning the McDonald’s prizes. I’m sure they are announced, but I don’t see them in any of the news I actually look into. And that was even before I started being more selective with my news. Come to think of it, the only lottery winners I ever heard about were local. The most I remember are people reporting what prizes were won well after the fact–usually when the next round is going, referring to the previous round. But not as actual news–i.e. current events. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/36 "2016-04-14T19:41:23Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Pacific Avenue is a ‘common’ chances of getting one are pretty good. The ‘rare’ for that set is Pennsylvania Avenue. > > My question is 'Is there any visual difference between common pieces are rare ones. Well, that is what I am saying - they are all the same format, so I doubt they would make some different. I think they just expect you to put on your glasses and look. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/37 "2016-04-15T14:22:57Z")
Years ago, McDonalds (I believe) had a contest where if you could spell your last name, you got a cash price. The vowels were the rare cards. Our neighbors had an unusual name which didn’t contain any vowels, Klc, and did well. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/38 "2016-04-15T15:01:51Z")
It is to McDonald’s advantage for some of the rare big prize tickets to be tossed out, never to be redeemed…and not just because they save money. Let’s say most/all of the top prizes are found early on in the contest-where is the incentive for others to play any more? Are they going to run commercials showing people jumping up and down and screaming “I won some fries! I won some fries!”? But if some of the rare big prize tickets get thrown out accidentally, as far as anyone knows they are still out there, ready for Josephine Shmoe to find on her Big Mac pac, ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858/39 "2016-04-15T22:17:10Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I assume they mean that if you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should get a Boardwalk. If you acquire 11 pieces, you should find a Park Place. If you acquire 513,591,720 game pieces, odds are you should have a Boardwalk and at least one Park Place. Odds are pretty good you have diabetes and heart disease, too! > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Years ago, McDonalds (I believe) had a contest where if you could spell your last name, you got a cash price. The vowels were the rare cards. > > Our neighbors had an unusual name which didn’t contain any vowels, Klc, and did well. Malcolm X would have cleaned up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-monopoly-pcs-are-winners-clearly-marked/751858.md?page=1)