Gambling on Success: Part One
The Pure Luck Way

by stoneman3x

Neopia is filled with games of chance. In fact, there is a whole category of games in the game room that are devoted to this. These games can earn you lots of quick Neopoints. But they can also suck your Neopoints off of you faster than the Tax Beast. The catch is that in order to try your luck at these games you have to pay to play them. Which means you could either win big or lose big. It's a gamble. That's why it's called gambling. But the good news is that luck is actually on your side if you play the right games and know when to quit. And trust me, the phrase "quit while you're ahead" may sound like something you'd get in a fortune cookie, but it's pretty darn good advice.

So which games are the good gambling games? Which ones are the ones most likely to pay off and pay off big? Where are these games? How are they played? Jeepers, you ask a lot of questions! Luckily for you, I have the answers. And if you're really good and sit there quietly and stop asking so many questions, I'll tell you.

Wheel of Excitement
Location: Faerieland
Cost to Play: 100 NPs
Limit: You can only spin once every two hours

There are three "wheels" in Neopia, and they are all played the same way. You click on the "spin the wheel" button and then either wait for the wheel to stop spinning or simply hit the "collect your prize" button whenever you start to get really dizzy and want it to stop. With me, that's almost immediately. I have a sneaking suspicion these wheels are designed to hypnotize you so you don't feel as much pain when something bad happens. And the bad smoothing that happen on the Wheel of Excitement are: you could get toasted by the Lava Ghoul, your pet could come down with the disease of the month, the Pant Devil could steal your favorite Ummagine or the Dark Faerie could actually decrease the level of one of your abilities. Ouch. But the good news is that you often win 200 or 500 NPs and can also win 1,000, 2,000 or even 10,000 NPs. You can also have the level of one of your abilities raised or score a rare item. Of all the wheels in Neopia this is the best one to play. In fact, of all the games of chance, the likelihood of actually getting lucky ranks supreme with this game.

Wheel of Mediocrity Location: Tyrannia
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: You can only spin once every two hours

I haven't really played this enough to get the full range of goodies... or baddies... that come from spinning this wheel. But for the most part, what you can win in Neopoints or items doesn't seem to be worth the risk of having a pterodactyl swoop down and bite your pet or have fireballs rain down on your head. This is what I call a "give it a shot" game. It's not high on my "play every chance you get" list, but it's not on my "avoid at all costs or you'll wind up kicking yourself" list either.

Wheel of Misfortune Location: Deserted Fairground, Haunted Woods
Cost to Play: 100 NPs
Limit: You can only spin once every two hours

If you have lots and lots of Neopoints and want to get rid of them but don't want to donate them to the Money Tree, this is a great game to play. Of all the "wheels" in Neopia, this one is the one most guaranteed to make you lose even if you win. The prize, more often than not, is a sort of mutant plushie. Some are quite comical, but for the most part you can't sell them for more than the 100 NPs you paid to get them. And the horrible things that can happen to you seem to be worse than what would happen to you if you decided to tweak Dr. Sloth's nose. Your pet can get a disease, you could have one of your items stolen by the Pant Devil, you could have one of your items melted, your pet could "forget" a book he has read or you could actually LOSE Neopoints. And there's nothing more hilariously fun than paying to lose your Neopoints. And this is just the tip of the glacier-sized iceberg of what can happen that will make you sorry you wandered into the Deserted Fairground.

Buried Treasure Location: Krawk Island
Cost to Play: 200 NPs
Limit: You can only play once every three hours

Basically what you get is a large map with about two thousand teeny tiny itty bitty pixels to choose from. This means that the odds of actually hitting on something worthwhile are about as good as Jacko the Phantom Painter popping up and handing you a Faerie Paint Brush. It COULD happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. Even so, it's worth a shot once a day anyway. I have hit on Dubloons a couple of times and some expensive food items. It is even possible to win an outrageous jackpot of up to two million Neopoints. But the size of the jackpot varies and can be as low as 750 Neopoints. The catch is you don't get to see what the jackpot is until you have plunked down your 200 Neopoints to play. Anyway, be prepared to see your Neopet crying A LOT before you finally get lucky.

The Neopian Lottery Location: Games: Luck/Chance
Cost to Play: 100 NPs per ticket
Limit: None

Other than having to think of six different numbers between 1 and 30 to put in the boxes, this game doesn't require any conscious thought at all. It is definitely a pure luck game. Once a day the numbers are drawn at random by an invisible hand who more often than not announces immediately afterwards that you haven't bought any tickets yet. The drawing is supposed to occur at 4:00 am NST. Yeah, right. Like anyone on the Neopets Staff is gonna roll out of bed while it's still dark to do THAT. So it more often than not seems to happen between 6:00 am and 8:00 am NST. The good news is that 100% of the Neopoints that are raised through ticket sales go towards the jackpot prize plus a 5,000 NP bonus. The person with the most matching numbers wins. Although there are 6 numbers drawn, the winning ticket is usually 5 matching numbers. That means it's not unusual for several people to split the jackpot. I have seen one person win almost two million Neopoints several times a week. I have also seen 100 people get 15,000 NPs because there were so many lucky people that day to share the joy with. I still think this is a better deal than "Buried Treasure". I buy two tickets a day instead of hunting for pixels on Krawk Island for the same amount of Neopoints.

Double or Nothing Location: Meridell
Cost to Play: 10 NPs
Limit: None

This is probably the most mindless of all the games of pure luck. You just keep clicking the coin until Snargan announces that he gets all your money. Of course this is usually before you have built up enough of a pot to even consider hitting the "Collect Your Winnings" button and quitting while you're ahead. I have yet to win more than 50 NPs off of this game. You'll have better luck hanging out at the Money Tree trying to grab something than you will playing this game. But who knows? The High Score Table shows that there are actually some people out there who have defied not only the odds, but pure "COLLECT NOW!" common sense.

NeoPoker Location: Games: Luck/Chance
Cost to Play: 3 NPs per "hand"
Limit: None

This game should in no way be confused with Round Table Poker which is a real Poker game. This is just about equal to playing Double or Nothing in the sheer mindlessness of it. The object of the game is to get a better Poker hand than your Neopet. If you do, you win. But you don't need to know anything at all about Poker in order to play it. The game will announce if you have won or lost. So it's only slightly more interesting than flipping a virtual coin. At least with Double or Nothing you have a 50-50 shot at winning. In this game, you could lose even if you win. The thing is, you have to BEAT your opponent (which happens to be your active pet who will cry and break your heart when he loses). But here are the shackles they clamp around your ankles: you don't get to draw or discard any cards. What you are dealt is what you get. If that still doesn't sound too bad-- get a load of this nifty little rule: all pairs are EQUAL. If you have a pair of aces and your pet has a pair of fives-- you TIE. And a tie is a LOSS. If you BOTH have a flush, straight, full house or anything else it's a tie and you lose and it doesn't matter if yours was technically a better hand. So not only is the game rigged against you, but even if you DO win, it's usually not very much. I not only recommend that you avoid this game, I recommend that you make up snippy songs about it and sing them all day long to remind yourself to avoid this game.

Dice-A-Roo Location: Games: Luck/Chance
Cost to Play: 5 NPs
Limit: None

This game is actually kind of cool and can be very addicting. So maybe it would be a good idea to set a limit on yourself when you play. I set a 25 Neopoint limit on myself. If I lose five games in a row, I call it quits for the day. There are five levels you have to make it through in order to have a crack at the jackpot. The jackpot can be as little as a couple of hundred Neopoints to as much as 50,000 or more. I actually hit the jackpot once and won 1,000 NPs. But there are nifty little items you can win, even if you ultimately lose the game. The levels are red, blue, green, yellow, white in that order. Starting at the green level, you can win food items. As you go up in levels you can win Codestones, Faeries, lottery tickets and other items. And you always have the option of quitting and collecting your winnings. Personally, I keep on playing until I lose. The amount of Neopoints usually doesn't get very high because you win a few and lose a few along the way, but the longer you keep going, the more items you get-- and they are waiting for you in your item box whether you win or not. This is one of those "ya gotta play" games because sooner or later you will always wind up ahead of what you spent to play it.

There are other pure luck games out there, but unfortunately they are located in Meridell and temporarily unavailable. These pure luck Meridell games are Turdle Racing, Kiss the Mortog and Guess the Weight of the Marrow. Since they aren't around right now, it seems pointless to discuss them, but WHEN they do come back, you could give them a shot too. Anyway, the games that I have just told you about are the pure luck games that don't require you to do more than just click on a button to play. That means anyone half asleep in the middle of the night can play them. Trust me on this one.

NEXT WEEK: Gambling on Success: Part 2: The Make Your Own Luck Way. In the next article I will tell you the games of chance you can play that actually require you to make some minor decisions!

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