Occasionally I will come across a contest that is open to Canadian residents too. There is one thing I don’t understand though. Why do Canadians have to answer a simple math question (usu. included with the rules) to enter the contest?
What if they win the contest, but fail the math question? Is their prize taken away then? And isn’t this, in effect, discrimination against people who aren’t mathematically literate (or who don’t own a calculator;))?
Just wondering.
I think this has been addressed before. In sum: Some state or provincial gambling laws make a distinction between games of chance and games of skill. The former are prohibited. Requiring the contestant to answer a math question, however lame, arguably makes it a game of skill.
Well, actually this question has been asked several times before:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68570&highlight=canadian+contests
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=8046
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=39221
(You will also notice each time it was asked was before I even became a member on these boards. So there is no way for me to have known about the other times;).)
Yeah, wouldn’t it be great if there was some way to SEARCH and see whats already been asked? 
In Australia we are more sophisticated. We have the “guessing competition” to get around this problem. For example you buy raffle tickets to aid a junior cricket club and have to complete this:
J_N_OR CR_CK_T CL_B