OLG Launches CASH POP – Canada’s First Draw-Based Game With Flexible Numbers & Wagering
Ontario has a new way to play the lottery. Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has launched CASH POP, a draw-based game that lets players shape their own ticket by choosing their numbers and setting their wager. OLG says it is the first lottery jurisdiction in Canada to offer the game, which gives the launch a category-first angle rather than reading as a routine addition to the range.
The move matters because it brings a level of customisation more familiar from instant and online play into a traditional daily draw format, and OLG has pushed it live across both its retail estate and its full digital stack from day one. The game went on sale across Ontario on the day of the announcement.
How OLG CASH POP Works for Lottery Players
Players choose one or more numbers, known as POPs, from 1 to 15, or select Quick Pick. They then pick a wager of $2, $5, $10 or $20 per POP. After purchase, each selected POP is assigned a randomly generated prize amount ranging from 5 to 250 times the chosen wager, displayed on the ticket. One winning number is drawn, and any player whose POP matches it wins the prize shown. The game runs five draws a day, with top prizes of up to $5,000.
The OLG App Selection Slip and Omnichannel Distribution
Alongside the game, OLG has introduced a digital selection slip. Players can build their CASH POP ticket in the OLG App and scan it at a participating retailer to complete the purchase and collect a printed ticket. The game is available at OLG’s roughly 10,000 retail locations, on OLG.ca, through the OLG app and at self-serve lottery terminals. Joining the app-built ticket to an in-store purchase is the practical hook here, bridging the gap between digital selection and retail play.
What OLG Said About the CASH POP Launch
Andrew Darley, VP Lottery Product at OLG, tied the launch to the operator’s wider product strategy and its community-funding mandate.
“CASH POP is a great addition to OLG’s lottery lineup and reflects our ongoing efforts to bring new and engaging experiences to customers. As the first lottery jurisdiction in Canada to offer the game, we’re excited to provide players with more ways to play while continuing to give back to communities across the province.”
Responsible Gambling and the Regulated Lottery Context
OLG has positioned the launch within its safer-gambling framework, pointing players to PlaySmart, which the operator describes as providing tools and information to help players stay in control and play on their own terms. CASH POP is a trademark of Brightstar Global Solutions Corporation, which is worth naming given the game already exists in other jurisdictions and OLG is adapting an established format rather than building one from scratch.
What Does CASH POP Signal for the Canadian Lottery Market?
For a government lottery operator, the interesting part is not the prize table but the mechanics. By letting players set their own stake and surfacing a randomised multiplier on the ticket, OLG is borrowing engagement patterns from faster, choice-driven products to keep draw-based play relevant, and it is doing so across every channel at once. The caveat is that this is a single operator launching a licensed format on day one, so its real significance will show in repeat-play and digital-adoption numbers over the coming quarters rather than in the launch itself. If the app-to-retail selection slip gets traction, the takeaway for other lottery operators is less about CASH POP specifically and more about how far traditional draw games can be rebuilt around player control without losing the retail base they still depend on.
Source: OLG
