The Insanity of Cash Prize Gaming

 Like it or not the fringe world of Cash Prize Gaming is here. There are hundreds of apps with millions of players and more arriving everyday. These apps are built around the concept that you can win real money by playing and if you pay just a little more, a big payout is just around the corner. 

These game look like games most people know and love, like solitaire or poker, but some are simple button mashing. The games are a overstimulation of colors and sound designed to keep you distracted and entertained while they pic your pocket.

Unfortunately these games pray on people hopes of making some money in hard economic times where the pay day is just another fleeting moment away that never seems to come.  Long story short: There is no payday. Cash Prize Gaming is the modern version of the snake oil salesmen promising cures for your problems or the rigged carnival game that you never walk away with the giant teddy bear.

We tested three Cash Prize Games, Solitaire Cash, Swagbucks and Toy Town. They all promise real cash and prizes, with really bad fake reviews trying to ensure the skeptical that it's all legit, but we did it anyway.  With a budget of $150. We lost it all.

We were expecting to loose, but we were totally unprepared for how expertly the games were designed

to keep you feeding money with dangling the expectation of winning.  Only with one game did we win a “cash prize” that was supposed to go into our Pay Pal account and of course it didn’t.  When reaching out to the company via the app we were told it could take a week to ten days, that was over a month ago.

What’s your recourse when you finally get to the point you realize you've been had?  Most of the games are run out outside of the U.S. or E.U. so there is virtually no accountability and with new players feeding real money into these games every day, very little motivation on the game developers to change.

Eventually it will be with the game stores that crack down on cash prize gaming. Google Play and the Apple App store will  eventually kill the con game, because they do have accountability this type of gaming is  illegal in many states. Until then expect the game publishers to rake it in while they can.    

Oh, there is real money to be made here...It's just not you. 

by Ted Dolby

Gamilon Staff Writer