Stephen Wade, R&D Manager, Washington’s Lottery, spoke about a hypothetical concept for a lottery game where the player has an active role in the playstyle.
Wade has devised a new game that has two steps. Instead of drawing all six numbers at once, the new game would have two draws instead of one. The first draw would only reveal three of six numbers. A few days later, the lottery would conduct the second draw, revealing the other three numbers.
During this period of time from the first draw and the second draw, players have a choice whether they would like to continue playing or not. For players that won money, they could get immediate pay off, guaranteeing a positive investment. But they could win more money if they held out till the second draw and more of their numbers were drawn in the second draw. But they could also potentially lose money.
“If we provide for the player and the lottery to interact in a stepwise way, the player can become an active agent making choices that have consequences for the outcome of play. Although these consequences are randomly determined, comparison among players who make different choices and get different outcomes supports an illusion of skilled play,” Wade said, “And by feeding back a rich stream of information about who did what and what happened next, the lottery can provide players with an engaging social context.”
