Mini Cactpot
Click on a square to enter a digit.
About
Mini Cactpot is a scratchcard lottery where each of the numbers through are hidden in a grid. One cell is initially revealed, and after selecting 3 more to uncover one at a time, you may select any row, column, or diagonal. The sum of your selected line determines how much MGP you win.
| Sum | MGP | Sum | MGP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 10,000 | 16 | 72 |
| 7 | 36 | 17 | 180 |
| 8 | 720 | 18 | 119 |
| 9 | 360 | 19 | 36 |
| 10 | 80 | 20 | 306 |
| 11 | 252 | 21 | 1,080 |
| 12 | 108 | 22 | 144 |
| 13 | 72 | 23 | 1,800 |
| 14 | 54 | 24 | 3,600 |
| 15 | 180 |
This calculator works by computing the expected value of selecting any line or cell. A strategy that doesn’t involve heavy computation is to first reveal a “Y” shape on the board.
Next, select a line as follows:
- If a line can be the line, select it.
- If a line can be the line, select it.
- Select whatever line can have the biggest sum (not payout).
This strategy gives an expected value of 1,259, whereas perfect play gives 1,484. Note that in steps 1 and 2, if a or line exists, you will always select it without ambiguity. In step 3, you may have to guess which lines may have a large sum.
A very similar strategy is to make a Tetris “T” shape, but this performs slightly worse on average.