Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/09/28/uk_isp_offers_500k_prize/

UK ISP offers £500k prize in online ad casino

But it's not the odds-on favourite on odds

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 28th September 1999 15:17 GMT

A new Net lottery from Cheshire-based ISP Telinco and US company Cashwiz is offering punters the chance to win up to £500,000 just for watching banner ads. It's a marketing initiative that could eclipse similar schemes from the likes of Sharkhunt.com and Surfmiles which promise to pay a couple of quid a month if people agree to watch ads on their desktop while they browse the Web. Telicash.com, on the other hand, is free to enter and anyone fancying a flutter could earn serious bucks. A draw is held every five minutes all day every day, but to win the jackpot users have to match six different numbers and a colour. "It's uninterrupted gambling for you to play all day in the office or at home," boasts Telicash. A spokesman for Telicash was unable to say what the odds were to win but The Register reckons it could be in the region of 84 million to one. The National Lottery's odds are said to be 14 million to one. ®