[[WMG: The game really was straight.]]
There seems to be some assumption, both in-universe, and among tropers, that Linoge fixed the final game, and was lying when he said it was straight. However, he never lied throughout the rest of the mini-series. Ralphie might have been his preference, but he was fully prepared to accept any of the children.
** Never lied that we know of. For instance, Mike Anderson denies ever cheating on the chemistry exam, and yet Linoge keeps insisting that he did. We never get confirmation that the priest character was really a pedophile. The things he said about the mayor's mother sound like a lot of fear-mongering superstition, and there is speculation among fans whether Linoge had anything to do with Roanoke, but took credit for it nonetheless. Maybe only some of what he says about people is true (from what little he can discern), others are merely suggestions that he enforces supernaturally. The best liars mix truth and lies.
*** Another possibility is a hidden rule that the powers-beyond-us, good and evil, simply assume we all know. It could have been for example, that, when it comes to demons and sorcerers, 'everyone knows' the last participant to agree is the one who gets shafted, except none of the residents did know this. In our world, so far removed from people like Linoge for the most part, shielding knowledge that might have once been commonplace is now lost. But, using those non-Human, non-mortal standards, is that Linoge's fault? Molly may have doomed Ralphie both by her choice to join or by how late she joined the lottery. It's perhaps a bit like what the bureaucrat said to Arthur Dent or the Vogons said to Earth authorities in Hitchhiker's - is it our fault you didn't know about all this?
*** Didn't he lie though? To prove he could harm the children he claimed dropping them in the dream would kill them then proceeds to do exactly that with no ill effect. This all seems pointless when talking about a sorcerer/wizard though. Linoge does not appear to be in the same room while they are arguing what to do and for all we know their entire discussion was being manipulated by Linoge casting spells, which he seems to do whenever alone or not being watched. Or perhaps he was using that time to put a spell on the stones or bag predetermining the outcome.

[[WMG: Andre Linoge wasn't as powerful as he claimed and could not carry out his threat.]]
Linoge is like a bank robber, trying to hold a room full of people hostage with a gun that he claims is loaded, but really only has one bullet. If Linoge really was so powerful that he could command the entire town into the sea, there would be no need to ask them to assemble; he could simply will them all to it. There were also scenes where he had to exert great concentration on one or two people to get them to do what he wanted; the rest of the time when he wants something, he threatens. The incident where he threatens the lives of the very children that he wants comes to mind. Why do that? He would also be risking not getting what he wants if he does drop them. This leads to the conclusion that while he could exert his will on a few people, doing more than that was beyond him. In order to get the town to agree to his terms, he had to get them to think that they were powerless to resist, but we saw that he really couldn't completely control Mike Anderson or the boyfriend. That explains why we only see him assaulting or harassing one or two and otherwise leaving his message behind or telling the story. If he could have done more, he would have and not wasted time with little displays of power. Since he didn't, this leads to the conclusion that his greatest power was bluffing, and he would have been defeated if the people simply mobbed him all at once, or used the gun on him. Sure, he could certainly kill a few of them, but from what we saw it looked like he would have been overwhelmed, and his spell over the children would be broken.
** Most trickster figures give the victim a chance at a contest. Its possible Roanoke was destroyed but not other towns because Roanoke people didn't outsmart him. The townspeople might have been able to trick Linoge into a challenge as part of the consent agreement. If it were me, I would demand he perform three challenges. My first pick is he proves he can make the whole town march down to the pier and back to the church. That will prove if he's bluffing or not, and it will eat up a lot of time, which may save the village. My second is Linoge must make everyone in the room jump up three times. If Linoge or the kids don't jump, Linoge loses. My third is have Linoge destroy his own staff permanently. The way he signs this with the staff symbol makes me wonder if he is the staff and the body we see is a dead animated corpse. Also, it might weaken him enough to be killed by the crowd.

[[WMG: Andre Linoge wasn't just after Ralphie, but also Mike too.]]
If Linoge really was the demon Legion as so heavily implied, then he wasn't after just Ralphie, but also his dad Mike too. By their nature, a demon's purposes is to (1. corrupt an innocent, in this case Ralphie, and (2. cause misery and suffering, in this case to Mike. Why him you ask? Everyone else on the island has either embraced their sins, and gotten over them, or is too mentally fragile to endure them, and ends their own life. Mike is different, highly religious, strong of faith, and hope, and morally upstanding. He continues to have faith in something better, or changing for the better, and thus continues to suffer, and be miserable. Something Legion feeds off of, the final proof is at the end, Mike appears to be moving on with his life, and finally getting over what happened, then he sees Ralphie again as Linoge's minion. Is it really a coincidence that Linoge, and Ralphie pass by him in the city years later, or did Linoge do it to refresh Mike's misery. Just when he is finally starting to move on and let his misery go, Ralphie shows up again to reopen the wound, and Legion continues to feed.