Moola (game)

Moola is a Canadian based online gaming site currently open to US and Canadian residents. Players receive free credits to wage against other players in return for watching a 10, 15 or 30-second video advertisement and sometimes answering a trivia question related to the ad. By extending credits to the viewer of the advertisement, players have funds to place bets against other players without risking any of their own money. These player may then 'cash out' the accumulated winnings for real cash once the equivalent of $10 has been reached.

Moola ranked 11th on PC World magazine's "The 15 Best Places to Waste Time on the Web" in 2007. [ [http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128122-page,3-c,bestoftheweb/article.html Moola Review by PC World magazine] ]

Games

Moola currently features 4 games that put two players against each other, or a human player against a bot which has an equal chance of winning and losing:

* Hi-Lo: A modified version of the classic game of screw the dealer, in which each player has to decide whether the next card is higher or lower than the last. Guess correctly and you'll move on to the next card. Guess wrong and you lose a life and start over from the beginning. You can lock, which will save your position, or lock and change, to deal in a card to replace the current card, and then save your position. Locking costs the user a life. The player who ends the game with the most cards locked in wins. If both players reach the end, the player with the most lives wins. This can be best played using a card counter which can be found on one of the sites listed at the bottom of the page. "Hi-Lo" is currently Moola's most popular game.

* Ro-Sham-Bo-Fu: This game is a twist on the classic rock-paper-scissors, where in each of six rounds one of the available choices (e.g. rock, paper or scissors) is randomly chosen and shown. The player gets bonus points for voluntarily not using this choice, applied whether they win or lose that round. "Ro-Sham-Bo-Fu" is currently Moola's least popular game.

* Gold Rush: The first game is played in 6 rounds. In each round, the player has to choose one of his 6 gold nuggets (numbered from 1 to 6) to place on a scale against the other player's choice. The winner of the round gets the value, as well as a random nugget which had been placed in the middle of the scales.

* Charity Cash Cow: A progressive jackpot slot machine where each player has the option to bet in four different denominations (1¢, 4¢, 16¢, and 32¢ bets). As each player bets, a progressive jackpot is building until someone gets all 3 community chest symbols on the highest betting denomination. When a player wins the progressive jackpot Moola matches the jackpot amount and donates it to a charity of the winner's choice.

Moola Points API

Moola has recently announced an API to integrate 3rd party games with the Moola Points system, allowing them to award Moola Points. [cite web|url=http://www.moola.com/moopubs/content/partner/partner.jsp|title=Partner with Moola|accessdate=2008-08-15|author=Moola] Some games in development by 3rd parties include:

*The Sky's The Limit, a slot machine gameFact|date=August 2008
*Yahtzee, an online version of the original gameFact|date=August 2008
*Coin Flip, Card War, Hangman, Blackjack, Battleship, Slots [cite web|url=http://www.gamesworldonline.com/moola/|title=Moola Games & Tools :: Games World Online|accessdate=2008-08-15]

Tournaments

There are multiple tournaments that have gained popularity on the Moola Website, some of which have cash prizes for the winners. A few of them are:

*"Survivor: Moola": The first 'long-term' tournament on Moola. It can be found in the forum (as all of the tournaments are). This tournament lasts around 3 to 4 months, and it last completed it's third 'season.' It is credited for being the first 'reality game show' on Moola. It was first created by a Moola member and is still being hosted by its creator. The final prize of the first, second, and third season was $20. The location of the first season was the fictional Moola Island, the second location was the Moola Outback (based on the Australian Outback), but the third was based in Egypt. Some have speculated that the fourth season will be located in Dresdonia, a fictional Middle Eastern City imagined by the host.

*"Moola Big Brother": Another long-term reality game show that is currently being played on Moola through the forum. Appeared after the first Survivor: Moola tournament ended. Created and hosted by another Moola member, the second season is now being played, and a new host has been introduced.

*"The Moola Mole": Another long-term reality game show based on the international television show, "The Mole". The Moola Mole is played on Moola through the Tournaments forum. Only one season has been completed, and the host has now gone MIA.

*"Break The Bank": A "quiz show" run by the host of Survivor: Moola. Promises to be the biggest Jackpot in a Moola game, but the show ended up being canceled due to technical problems.

*"Moola Apprentice": A nlong-term reality game show that is played with the site's games, or random games found by the host. It is based on "Apprentice." The host for this games also went MIA after just one season.

*"Moola Endurance": A long-term reality game show based on "Endurance. Contestants compete on the site's games, or over the internet with various games found by the host. It was also the first Moola tournament in which contestants played in pairs, testing their friendship and teamwork.

*"Moola's Top Designer": A spin off of American Idol adapted for Moola's forum. Contestants compete each round to make the best signature banner or other designs.

*"The Ultimate Alliance": A new reality game on Moola. The Ultimate Alliance is the newest game, and forces players to make and break alliances. The game starts off with players being split into four teams, and one players is voted off each round until we have a winner!

All Moola tournaments are currently run by the members of the site and not the site administration.

Membership

The site used to require new players to receive invitations to play from registered players. However, now you can do that or sign up on the main page. By inviting other players, the inviting player receives a graduated percentage of the invitee's winnings when the latter puts money into savings or receives a "booster". A player can put money from their playing account into their savings account so they can't lose it, which helps players accumulate more money to cash out. The referral amount does not come out of the invitee's winnings but is instead paid by Moola to help gather new members. There are several commercial and fan-created websites created that seek to provide the invitations indirectly, so that the share of the winnings can be funneled to the creator of the site itself.

Another option for an invite is to click on links given out by members, which automatically send you an invite when you fill in the appropriate information.

Moola is currently open to Canadian and US residents except residents in Louisiana, Nevada, and Quebec.Fact|date=February 2008 International players can also play but they cannot verify their accounts or cash out.

References

Partnership

Moola has recently partnered with Facebook so users can play games through facebook.

External links

* [http://www.moola.com/ Moola.com] - Moola homepage
* [http://www.winmoola.net/ WinMoola.net] - Moola tools, strategies and forum