# nVidia contest whooshing Canadians? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258 "2011-01-19T23:40:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/1 "2011-01-19T23:40:35Z")
(Not sure if this should be in GQ, MPSIMS, or here) I just got an e-mail for a [drawing/‘lottery’ nVidia is having for owners of GeForce cards (which I have).](http://www.geforce.com/#/Community/Rewards) It all seems to be honest and straightforward, but when I went to review the [Rules of Contest](http://us.download.nvidia.com/GeForce/Sweeps-Official-Rules/sli-2011-sweepstakes-official-rules.pdf) (pdf file), it states in bolded font (upper part of p3) that if a\* Canadian resident\* is selected in a random drawing, they will have to answer a “math question involving at least four operations of at least two digit numbers.” Seriously?! I did not read the whole thing in great detail as that part jumped out at me really quick and had me hurrying over here to ask this. Is this a normal thing? Or is it nVidia’s way of giving Canucks some grief for whatever reason? If there is some legitimate need for showing basic math skills for Canadians in particular that enter drawings online, I would love to hear about it (fighting ignorance, ya know!). It seems really funny, but I might be missing some actual bona-fide need to have Canadians do this kind of thing when declared a ‘winner’. For the record, I have no grief or other complaint towards the Northern folk, none at all. But, wtf is with that requirement?! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/2 "2011-01-19T23:51:49Z")
Canada has a dumb law about gambling, IIRC, so there’s a silly little test when Canadians win things - it’s very simple, evidently, just something that’s required. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/3 "2011-01-20T00:00:39Z")
[here, let me google that for you…](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=skill+testing+question) (not snark so much as I’ve wanted to try that thing out ;)) Zsofia, I’m not quite so sure why you’re on the high horse about gambling? It’s not like us stateside are living in a bastion of gambling libertarianism. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/4 "2011-01-20T00:06:11Z")
[Skill testing question](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill_testing_question) is an artifact of the Canadian Criminial Codel. Basically if a company wants to put T-Shirts into random cases of beer that’s fine, otherwise they have to engage in a skill testing question and award the prize on the successful conclusion of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/5 "2011-01-20T00:23:27Z")
OK - kinda makes sense, but really odd to me. I just could not seem to see any legitimate need for such a requirement. Ignorance fought. If I had had ANY indication of “skill+test+question” relating to Canadians for a drawing, _I_ could’ve googled it as well. No such indication given at all, so pfffffft 😉 Maybe if I had thought about it some more it would’ve been more obvious that Canadians consider simple math a skill to be demonstrated? (j/k!) Appreciate the info - Many thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/6 "2011-01-20T02:32:31Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > [here, let me google that for you…](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=skill+testing+question) (not snark so much as I’ve wanted to try that thing out ;)) > Zsofia, I’m not quite so sure why you’re on the high horse about gambling? It’s not like us stateside are living in a bastion of gambling libertarianism. We got dumb stuff here too (you should go to the local Walmart at midnight on a Saturday to watch the staff rope off pretty much everything but the groceries until Sunday afternoon) - I don’t see the problem with calling out other dumb weird things as I see 'em, though. Seriously, if you don’t want gambling, outlaw gambling. Don’t make people add two and two to get their sweepstakes winnings. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/7 "2011-01-20T03:48:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Canada has a dumb law about gambling, IIRC, so there’s a silly little test when Canadians win things - it’s very simple, evidently, just something that’s required. Has there been any cases where a person flubbed this? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nvidia-contest-whooshing-canadians/568258/8 "2011-01-20T05:40:39Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Has there been any cases where a person flubbed this? At least one, which was reported on the SDMB. See [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=517807&highlight=skill-testing), which also contains some discussion and reasons as to why Canada requires a skill-testing question.