Secrets to McDonald’s Monopoly promotion revealed

McDonald’s Monopoly is on again with big prizes on offer, from $10,000 gift cards to a free car.

There are 136,634,083 tickets to be made available, with the fast food giant saying an average one-in-five tickets will offer up an ‘instant win’ prize.

A ‘chance card’ and ‘collect to win’ rewards are also up-for-grabs, with a total $252 million prize pool.

The ‘instant win’ prizes range from McDonald’s food prizes to cash gift cards and movie tickets – but the ‘collect to win’ are the most sought-after.  

McDonald’s Monopoly is back again, with prizes ranging from food up to a car, barbecue and $10,000 gift card. Pictured, the McDonald’s Monopoly Australian board 

‘By collecting some of the most sought-after tickets in the game – like Oxford Street, Liverpool Station or Mayfair – customers can also score prizes like a Suzuki Vitara, a $10,000 Flight Centre gift card or a Sony Ultimate Entertainment Pack,’ a McDonald’s spokeswoman told news.com.au. 

Sarah Belet, a Monash University postgraduate student, and Jennifer Flegg, Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of Melbourne, have crunched the numbers in a bid to find out what chances McDonald’s customers have of winning. 

They say the numbers for ‘instant win’ prizes stack up, in a piece for The Conversation.

‘Of course, 13.2 per cent plus 8.7 per cent gives a 21.9 per cent chance of winning an instant prize, on average, which roughly agrees with the one-in-five that McDonald’s claims,’ they said.  

But the pair say customers should take a relaxed approach to McDonald’s Monopoly. 

‘If you remember that McDonald’s Monopoly is much like a regular lottery, you’ll be better off as you can relax and know that there’s next to no chance that you will win a major prize,’ they said. 

McDonald's says an average one-in-five tickets will offer up an 'instant win' prize (stock image) 

McDonald’s says an average one-in-five tickets will offer up an ‘instant win’ prize (stock image) 

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF WINNING A TOP PRIZE? 

1 in 136 million (one prize each) 

 – One year car rental – Fenchurch Street Station

 – A $10,000 room makeover voucher – Euston Road

1 in 68 million (two prizes each) 

 – A $5,000 travel gift card – Park Lane

 – One year of free fuel – Fleet Street

 – A brand-new car – Regent Street  

1 in 45 million (three prizes each)

 – Ultimate gaming package – Whitehall

 – Home theatre – Old Kent Road

1 in 34 million (four prizes) 

  – Barbecue set – Piccadilly

1 in 17 million (eight prizes) 

 – A $1,000  shopping voucher – Marlborough Street

Ms Belet and Ms Flegg said it was important for customers to ‘not fall for the Gambler’s Fallacy when trying to collect “instant win” tickets’.  

They said there are 3,415,852 ‘Chance’ tickets, giving customers a 2.5 per cent chance of gaining one of the tickets.

‘Working the numbers means you have a 0.5 per cent chance of obtaining a Chance ticket that will also get you a prize, so it’s not a strategy you should be banking on.’

They say while the number of ‘Instant win’ and ‘Chance’ tickets are known, the ‘collect to win’ details are tightly-held secrets. 

There are two prizes on offer of free fuel for a year by collecting The Strand, Fleet Street and Trafalgar Square – the three red tickets, the pair said.   

They say it is then possible the ‘probability of finding that final red ticket in the set could be as low as two in 136 million’.  

The McDonald’s Monopoly promotion runs through until October 16. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk