Ramblings for the Week of June 6-10

Biggest winner this week: Celestine Lewis ($81,007) - 4th biggest winner this season; 21st biggest winner in daytime history. Celestine is the fifth contestant this season to win more than $80,000. In all other seasons combined, only 18 other contestants managed to surpass the $80,000 mark. It has now been two straight weeks where 15/30 Pricing Games were won. Thanks to the two winning weeks, the overall Pricing Game winning percentage for this season has increased to 35%. Unfortunately, even with the late surge, it is unlikely this season's final record will surpass last season's mark (415/1140; 36.4%). Over the next ten episodes, at least 38/60 Pricing Games would need to be won in order to match Season 38's pace. Approximately $12.3 million has been won this season, which is already more than last year's total winning ($11.9 million). We are still on pace to surpass $13 million in winnings this season, which would be the first time the show gave away more than $13 million in cash and prizes. Combined, the four prize Pricing Games have been played 52 times this season, which is already more times than they were played in Season 38 (50 times) and Season 37 (35 times). (They were played 58 times in Season 36.) Number of times contestants earned three rolls in Let 'em Roll: 105/126 between Seasons 29-37; 10/26 in Seasons 38 and 39. As a result, the winning percentage has decreased from 61/126 (48.4%) between Seasons 29-37 to 9/26 (34.6%) in Seasons 38 and 39. The $3,708 trip to Santa Barbara on Wednesday was the third highest priced one bid of the season. It was also the first time since April 13 where a one bid exceeded $3,000. On Wednesday, the right price in Range Game was placed at $178 from the bottom of the scale. That's the lowest placement since April 9, 2009, when the right price was only $160 from the bottom. On Thursday, Janell lost Danger Price on the first pick. Last time that's happened: December 17, 2009. Pick-A-Number was won for the first time this season when it was played for a four digit prize and when the second digit was missing. (All other wins in four digit Pick-A-Number this season occured when the first digit was missing.) In the past eleven seasons, Check-Out has a record of 0-10 when it is played for a car. On Thursday, the rat in the middle lane finished first for the first time in Rat Race history. In the game's brief history, 11/15 races were won by the rats in the first two lanes (on the outside for the first turn; on the inside for the final turn). On Friday, Clock Game became the 700th Pricing Game playing to be lost this season. Squeeze Play is currently on a five game winning streak. The last time Squeeze Play was won five straight times: June 8-October 12, 2005. Prior to this week, last time a contestant failed to win additional Plinko chips: February 15, 2010. As Drew mentioned, that contestant also managed to drop the free Plinko chip into a zero slot. In the past eleven years, June 10, 2002 is the only other time where a contestant did not win an additional Plinko chip. (That contestant did manage to win $100, however.) 1 Right Price and Pick-A-Pair were both won for the tenth time this season this week. So far, 14 Pricing Games have been won at least 10 times, while 28 Pricing Games have achieved double digit losses.

Ramblings for the Week of May 30-June 3

Biggest winner this week: Jessica Cherrier ($55,727) (June 3) - Jessica is currently the biggest non-Showcase winner of the season. Streaks snapped: Cover Up (five straight losses) 15 Pricing Games were won this week - the best weekly performance of the season. Last time 15 Pricing Games were won in one week: January 4-8, 2010. Last time there was a better performance: The week of November 10-14, 2008 (18 wins). On Monday, Eazy az 1-2-3 was played first. Last time this game led off the show: June 2, 2009. By being played first, Eazy az 1-2-3 became the fifthteenth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season (Joining Squeeze Play, Freeze Frame, Push Over, One Wrong Price, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number, Switch?, Flip Flop, Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going, 1 Right Price, Side By Side and Most Expen$ive). Also on Monday, Stack the Deck was played third. Last time this game was played right before the first Showcase Showdown: July 15, 2008. On Tuesday, the target price in Grand Game was $2.00. That's the lowest target price in at least 11 years. (Previous low during this span: $2.25 on December 8, 2000) Last time Grand Game was lost on the first selection (prior to Tuesday's playing): December 18, 2009. On Wednesday, That's Too Much was played for a $16,995 Chevrolet Cruze. That's the cheapest car offered in this game since January 13, 2009 (in that playing, a $16,505 Ford Focus was offered). On Wednesday, Switch? was won for the 20th this season. Switch? is easily the Pricing Game with the most wins this season - second place Any Number, Cliff Hangers and Squeeze Play have only been won 13 times. On the other end of the spectrum, Freeze Frame (3-26), Lucky $even (6-26) and That's Too Much (5-26) continue to battle it out to avoid ending the season with the most losses. On Wednesday, Shikima failed to send any of the Push Over blocks off the table and into the box to China. Last time that's happened: May 22, 2009. On Friday, Flip Flop was played for the 30th time this season. This is the first time Flip Flop has been played 30 times in one season. In the past six Flip Flop playings, each contestant chose to "flip" the wrong price. (Unfortunately, flipping was the correct choice in only two of those playings.) So far this season, nearly all contestants have chose either to "flip" or "flop". In fact, only one contestant "flipped" and "flopped" this season - Tiffany back on October 14. With flip flopping being the right decision 13 times this season, it's no wonder this game has a record of 7-23. Freeze Frame was also played for the 29th time this season on Wednesday - the most since Season 24 (33 playings). With a 3-1 record, 3 Strikes should end the season with a winning record for the first time ever. The 3 wins are the most since Season 34. It's also the first time since Season 33 where the game was won 3 straight times. Rachel has appeared in 169 episodes this season - the most appearances since Season 30, when Claudia, Heather and Nikki were permanent models. On Wednesday, Michael became the 100th contestant this season that spun $1.00 in the Showcase Showdowns. With Daniel and Melanie also spinning $1.00, we've had 102 bonus spins this season. In the past ten years, only Season 30 (105) and Season 36 (110) have had more bonus spins. So far this season, bonus spins have landed on 30 and 75 more often than any other number: Bonus Spin Landed On # Times 30, 75 8 20, 35, 65 7 15, 50, 80, 85, 100 6 40, 60, 90, 95 5 5 4 25 3 10, 45, 55 2 70, Boo 1

Ramblings for the Week of May 23-27

Biggest winner this week: David Ristau ($38,973) (May 26) Streaks snapped: Check-Out (6 straight wins - last loss was October 18, 2010) Check-Out also marked the 100th time this season where a grocery product Pricing Game was lost. On Tuesday and Friday, the top winner bid on a Showcase that had a motorcycle as the main prize. Last time a Showcase ending with a motorcycle was bid on: January 6, 2010 So far this season, Line 'em Up has been played for a Nintendo Wii package three times, a Poulan XT riding lawnmower twice and North Face backpacks twice. There have now been 8 $1.00 Showcase Showdown spin-offs this season. The current high in the past eleven seasons is 9 $1.00 spin-offs, which occurred in Season 33. On Thursday, Range Game became the 12th Pricing Game this season to be won at least ten times. (Joining Any Number, Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going, Double Prices, Money Game, Most Expen$ive, One Wrong Price, Plinko, Side By Side, Squeeze Play and Switch?) On Friday's Magic # playing, there was a $2,400 difference between the refrigerator and the diner booth. That's the largest spread offered in this game since at least Season 29. (Previous high: $2,104 on May 24, 2010) Friday's Magic # contestant also chose $746 as the magic number. That's the lowest number since April 21, 2010, where the contestant set the magic # to $496. (A Direct TV satellite package and a Sony HDTV was offered in this playing). Flip Flop has been played for the $9,729 Yamaha VX Deluxe Jet Ski three times this season. In all three playings, the game was lost. In fact, Pricing Games this season have a record of 1-8 when they are played for the Yamaha VX Deluxe jet ski. The only win occurred on December 9, when the jet ski was offered in Make Your Move. Chantil was the first contestant this season that got two numbers exactly right in Lucky $even. (Last season, four contestants got two numbers right in Lucky $even - three wound up winning the car.) Last time a contestant guessed three numbers correctly in Lucky $even: November 14, 2002. Chantil also overbid on her Showcase by $22,411 - the third largest overbid of the season.

Ramblings for the Week of May 16-20

Biggest winner this week: Diana Young ($49,350) (May 17) Streaks snapped: Rat Race (5 straight losses - previous win was January 19, 2011) On Monday, the four gifts in Temptation totalled $3,328. That's the cheapest prize package since May 14, 2008. In that playing, the four prizes totalled a mere $2,295. (The contestant actually took the gifts in that playing) On Tuesday, both Pricing Games that were played for a car (Lucky $even, Rat Race) were won. Last time two car games were won in the same episode: February 18 - nearly three months ago. Eazy az 1-2-3 has been played 13 times this season. In seven of those playings, the correct combination was to place block #1 on the middle prize, block #2 on the leftmost prize and block #3 on the rightmost prize. On Thursday, Jerome won Clock Game with only one second left on the clock. That's the closest win since October 24, 2007 - that contestant won with only 0.5 seconds left. In the past five playing of 5 Price Tags, no contestant has managed to win more than one pick out of the five price tags. No wonder this game is presently on a five game losing streak. In addition, 5 Price Tags was played third on Thursday. Last time this game was played in a slot other than first, second or fifth: January 16, 2008. With the $11,000 and $1,000 wins on Friday, $309,000 has now been won in Showcase Showdowns this season. That's the most amount of money ever given away at the big wheel in one season. (Previous high: $305,000 in Season 38). Adjusted to the old bonus values, $189,000 was won this season, which is well behind the marks set in Season 29 ($256,000) and Season 30 ($265,000). On Friday, Most Expen$ive was played sixth, becoming the fourteenth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season (Joining Squeeze Play, Freeze Frame, Push Over, One Wrong Price, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number, Switch?, Flip Flop, Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going, 1 Right Price and Side By Side). Also on Friday, Lucky $even was played for a $15,268 Honda Fit. That's the cheapest car offered in this game in at least the past ten seasons. With the win on Friday, Most Expen$ive was won for the tenth time this season. Grand Game has only been won twice this season. As a result, this game has the lowest total winnings among all cash games. That's quite a dramatic change - this game is usually slotted second or third in terms of total winnings among cash games: Game  Season 39   Season 38   Season 37   Season 36   Season 35  Grand Game $20,530 $40,631 $51,520 $121,601 $150,520 1/2 Off $31,500 $73,500 $53,000 $45,000 $80,000 It's in the Bag $32,000 $37,000 $42,000 $88,000 $41,000 Pay the Rent $35,000 - - - - Plinko $126,200 $169,400 $136,600 $306,500 $204,000 Punch-A-Bunch $21,550 $20,550 $38,100 $37,050 $31,000

Ramblings for the Week of May 9-13

Biggest winner this week: Gina Coultas ($80,112) (May 9) - fourth biggest winner this season, 22nd biggest winner in daytime history. Streaks snapped: Freeze Frame (12 straight losses - last win was December 30, 2010) and Any Number (5 straight losses - last win was March 24, 2011). If you exclude games that have had partial wins (ie: Temptation, Punch-A-Bunch), Freeze Frame was on one of the longest losing streaks of the season (12 straight playings where absolutely nothing was won). Only Balance Game and Stack the Deck (13 straight losses) were on longer losing streaks. Gina was the seventh Double Showcase Winner of the season. We are now one away from tying Seasons 33, 34 and 37 for the most number of double showcase winners in one season (past 11 seasons only). The past seven times contestants have made it to the car in More or Less, they guessed "more". Unfortunately, in only one out of these seven playings, "more" turned out to be the correct choice. In the first 11 playings of Punch-A-Bunch this season, only $3,350 was won. In its most recent six playings, $18,200 was won. That's quite an improvement. On Tuesday, Danger Price was lost for the tenth time this season. That's the first time in at least eleven seasons where the game reached double digit losses. The game currently has a 2-10 record, which is still an improvement over season 37 (when it went 0-7). Side By Side has now been played for a trip in 11 out of its 18 playings this season. The game has a 7-4 record when played for a trip and a 4-3 record otherwise. It has now been three straight playings of Stack the Deck where the contestant missed all three product pairings. Flip Flop was lost for the 20th time on Thursday, trying the mark set last season when the game went 9-20. With a current record of 7-20 (25.93%), this game could best Season 37 (6-18; 25%) for the worst record in one season. With the win on Friday, Bullseye improved its record to 8-2. This game currently has the highest winning percentage of the season, followed by Check-Out (7-2), Shell Game (3-1), Now.. or Then (7-3) and Pick-A-Pair (9-4). Nine one prize quickie games were played this week. Only Balance Game and Range Game got the week off. Rachel was not one of the three models on Thursday's episode. That was the first time this season where she got a day off. There have been several big winners this season. Nine contestants have won more than $70,000 and four contestants have won more than $80,000. In fact, the seventh biggest winner this season (Leona - $75,790 on January 31) would have been the second biggest winner in Seasons 36 and 38 or the third biggest winner in Season 37. Only Season 35 had as many big winners - five contestants in that season managed to win more than $90,000.

Ramblings for the Week of May 2-6

Biggest winner this week: Elisabeth ($53,166) (May 3) Cliff Hangers was the only car game that was won this week. At least the only car game win resulted in two cars being won! Money Game was the first Pricing Game to be played 30 times this season (Squeeze Play joined this club soon after). While both games have been played a lot this season, neither should match the 38 playings that Push Over got last season. Money Game could, however, reach 37 playings this season, which would tie Season 36 for the most number of playings for this game since at least Season 24. The Bonkers playing on Monday was the 600th time where a Pricing Game was lost this season. Neither a grocery product game nor a small prize game was played on Monday. October 17, 2008 and April 1, 2011 are the only other times where this has happened. On Tuesday, Elisabeth bid on the first Showcase even though a ski boat was its main prize. Last time the top winner bid on a boat Showcase: May 17, 2010 (37 straight boat Showcases had been passed). On Wednesday, Side By Side was played first. The only other time this Pricing Game was the lead off game was May 23, 1994. By being played first on Wednesday, Side By Side has become the thirteenth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Squeeze Play, Freeze Frame, Push Over, One Wrong Price, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number, Switch?, Flip Flop, Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going and 1 Right Price). One Wrong Price has now been won ten times this season. It joins Switch?, Any Number, Money Game, Side By Side, Plinko, Double Prices and Cliff Hangers in the double digit win club. There was an (aired) double overbid on Thursday's third one bid. Last time that's happened: March 29, 2010. On Friday, Apple electronics were offered on four separate occasions: Eazy az 1-2-3 (iMac), the fourth one bid (iPhones), the fifth one bid (iPads) and Plinko (iPod). Since Season 29, Cliff Hangers has been played for a car (or for two cars) seven times. Friday's playing was only the second time where the game was won under these conditions. (The other instance was when a PT Cruiser was offered on April 25, 2006.) After starting the season at 2-16, Flip Flop has been won 5 times in its last 8 playings. That has improved its record to 7-19. Nice turn around.

Ramblings for the Week of April 25-29

Biggest winner this week: Emily Regal ($41,702) (April 27) Streaks snapped: 1 Right Price (9 straight losses - last win was December 16, 2010) Lucky $even (9 straight losses) - last win was January 13, 2011) That's Too Much (8 straight losses - last win was February 8, 2011) Push Over (7 straight losses - last win was March 4, 2011) This was the first time this season where Lucky $even and That's Too Much were played in the same week, and both Pricing Games were won. (Both games have been played in the same week 22 times this season) With winning percentages of 18.5% for Lucky $even (5-22) and 19.2% for That's Too Much (5-21), wins have been hard to come by for both games this season. 14 Pricing Games were won this week, matching the week of February 28-March 4 for the best performance of the season. For the first time season, Flip Flop was won when flipping was the correct decision. All five of Flip Flop's other wins occured when contestants had to "flop". (May 31 of last season was the last time a contestant won when they had to both "flip" and "flop"). The six one bid prizes on Thursday totalled $3,733. That is by far the lowest total in the past two seasons. (Previous low: $4,932 on March 23, 2010). The five grocery products in Check-Out on Thursday totalled $12.75 - the second lowest total in the past four seasons. (Current low: $11.55 on March 16, 2010) With a current record of 7-2 (77.8%), including a current winning streak of 6 games, Check-Out is having an amazing season. The game is well ahead of its Season 35 winning percentage of 62.5% (the best performance in the past 10 years). The game is also one win away from matching Season 37 (8 wins) for the most wins in one season (in the past 10 years). 1/2 Off has been played either first or second in each of its last 19 playings. It has been a full calendar year since it was played in a different slot (5th on March 15, 2010). So far this season, there have been 302 Pricing Game wins. The 300th win occured on Friday when Cassandra won Push Over. Eazy az 1-2-3, Most Expen$ive and One Wrong Price were all lost this week. That means the three prize quickie games have now been lost 8 straight times. The last win occured on March 30, when One Wrong Price was won. Several of the non-cash and non-car grocery product games are on some pretty impressive streaks: Bullseye (5 straight wins), Check-Out (6 straight wins), Grocery Game (3 wins in last 5 playings) and Pick-A-Pair (7 wins in last 8 playings). Only Hi-Lo (7 losses in past 8 playings) and Now.. or Then (2 losses after being won 6 straight time) are in slumps. With their wins this week, Double Prices and Cliff Hangers have now been won 10 times this season. (Joining Switch?, Any Number, Money Game, Side By Side and Plinko) After 150 episodes, some interesting trends are noted in the Pricing Game frequency: Coming or Going is on place to be played 11 more times than in Season 38. Gas Money and Freeze Frame are on pace to be played 7 more times than in Season 38. One Away is on pace to be played 7 fewer times than in Season 38. Balance Game was played 5 times in the first 100 episodes, but 6 times in the past 50 episodes. Punch-A-Bunch was played 8 times in the first 100 episodes, but 8 times in the past 50 episodes. 10 Chances was played three times in the first 50 episodes, but only twice since. Race Game has already matched the number of playings it received last season. View the complete comparison table

Ramblings for the Week of April 18-22

Biggest winner this week: Kelsey Clements ($53,688) (April 18) On Wednesday, Patricia had some bad luck and missed all four small prizes in 5 Price Tags. Last time that's happend: April 27, 2009. In total, there have been five wipeouts in the past eleven seasons. On Tuesday, two out of the first four contestants failed to make their way up on stage. That's only happened two other times this season: October 25 and March 14. 1 Right Price, by being played fifth on Wednesday, became the twelfth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Squeeze Play, Freeze Frame, Push Over, One Wrong Price, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number, Switch?, Flip Flop, Cliff Hangers and Coming or Going). Freeze Frame was lost for the 22nd time this season - more losses than any other Pricing Games. Freeze Frame has also "beat" the mark set in Season 37, when it was lost 21 times. Spelling Bee has now been played first in 12 out of its last 13 playings. (The lone exception: May 10, 2010, when it was played fifth). Spelling Bee has also been played first or fifth in its past 18 playings. November 4, 2009 (3rd slot) was the last time Spelling Bee was played in a different position. So far this season, Money Game has a record of 3-3 when the last two digits in the price of the car are a low number ("el cheapo"). That's on par with last season - the el cheapo record then was also 3-3. For the third time this season, there was a bailout in It's in the Bag even though the contestant had all five bags right and could have won $16,000. Thanks to the bailouts, it has now been 27 straight playings since the $16,000 was last won. It's in the Bag was also the last Pricing Game played on Thursday - the first time in the game's history that it was played sixth. Only one additional Plinko chip was won on Friday. Last time that's happened: May 26, 2010. In the past four seasons, 12 contestants have managed to win only one additional chip. However, four out of these twelve contestants still managed to win at least $10,000. So far this season, the biggest winner in Plinko was Jennifer on November 3, who won $12,000. If that holds up, that will be the lowest top score in the past eleven season. (Previous season low was $12,100 in Season 29). Plinko also had its tenth $10,000+ winner on Friday, so it could be argued this game has also joined the double digit win club. There have now been 16 episodes this season where no Pricing Games were fully won. That's the most number of winless shows since at least Season 29 (previous worst: 14 in Season 38). However, it should be noted that only three out of these 16 episodes were truly winless (where there were no partial wins or bailouts).

Ramblings for the Week of April 12-15

Biggest winner this week: Josephine Meniscalo ($37,464) (April 13) Streaks snapped: Pathfinder (7 straight losses - last win was June 4, 2010) $165,288 was won this week, or an average of $41,322 per episode. That's the lowest weekly average of the season. It's also the worst performance since the week of January 11-15 from Season 38, where only $206,383 was won (average of $41,277 per episode). Due to the poor week, we are no longer on pace to pass the $13 million mark for total winnings this season. (But that could easily change with a few strong weeks.) On Wednesday, a second chance slip in Punch-A-Bunch was found for the fifth time this season. Since Season 29, the most number of second chance slips found in one season was 9, on Season 30. On Thursday, Cliff Hangers was lost for the fourth straight time and for the sixth time in the past seven playings. Cliff Hangers currently has a winning record of 9-8 (52.94%), which would be the worst performance for this game in the past eleven seasons. (Current low: Season 38 - 13-11 record). With the win on Thursday, Side By Side became the fourth Pricing Game to be won at least 10 times this season (joining Any Number, Money Game and Switch?). With a 10-5 record, Side By Side is the one prize quickie game with the best winning percentage this season, followed by Balance Game (6-4). In fact, no other one prize quickie game is currently above the .500 mark. Prior to this week, the six Pricing Games played on Friday's episode had a combined winning record of 25-98 (20.32%). Pay the Rent, Lucky $even, Push Over and Freeze Frame were also riding a combined losing streak of 30 straight losses (Most Expen$ive and Cover Up were on "lengthy" one game winning streaks). Based on these dismal results, Friday's result should not have been surprising. Out of the 12 Pricing Games played in the second half this week (after the first Showcase Showdown), Pathfinder was the only game that was won. Go figure. The $9,359 International Outdoor Furnishings barbecue island has been offered five times in Pricing Games this season (Flip Flop once, Make Your Move once, Push Over once, Squeeze Play twice). In all five playings, the game was lost. (The $9,495 barbecue island has a slightly better 1-1 record).

Ramblings for the Week of April 4-8

Biggest winner this week: Valencia Thompson ($51,328) (April 8) Streaks snapped: Magic # (10 straight losses - last win was March 10, 2009) and Cover Up (6 straight losses - last win was February 3, 2011) Both Showcases on Monday totalled $41,042 - the second chapest combined Showcases of the season. Conversely, both Showcases on Wednesday totalled $119,892 - the second most expensive combined Showcases of the season. The second Showcase on Wednesday ($74,472) was also the second most expensive individual Showcase of the season. On Monday, 1 Right Price was lost for the seventh straight time. That's a pretty impressive streak, considering this game has a 50% chance of being won (assuming random guessing). On Tuesday, the contestant set the Magic # to 3104 - the second highest number ever set in this game. The current record is 3564, which was set on March 24, 2010. (But, even with such a high number, that playing was still lost - the cheapest prize was a $3,995 hot tub.) On Thursday, Claudine won $47,558, including $26,000 and a Toyota Corolla. That's the most won among all non-Showcase winners this season. On Thursday, the contestant failed to get the $1,000 bag right in It's in the Bag. Last time that's happened: April 27, 2005. On Friday's Plinko, the first digit was right for all four small prizes. Last time that's happened: September 21, 2009 The contestant at the red podium failed to make his/her way up on stage in 3 out of 5 episodes this week. All eight one prize quickie games played this week were lost. The last time these games got shut out was the week of May 10-14, 2010 (0-7). With a string of five victories in six playings, Money Game (12 wins) has passed Any Number (11 wins) to become the Pricing Game with the second most victories this season. Money Game will have to continue its hot streak if it wants to catch Switch? (16 wins) for the top spot. More cash has been won in Pass the Buck this season ($30,000) that has been won in Grand Game ($20,420), 1/2 Off ($23,000), It's in the Bag ($22,000) and Punch-a-Bunch ($13,450). Over $9.4 million in cash and prizes has been won this season. The show is currently on pace to give away over $13.1 million this season, which would be the first time the total winnings in one season exceeded $13 million. The show is also well ahead of winnings in previous seasons after 136 episodes: Season First 136 Episodes Total Winnings 39 $9,400,055 ??? 38 $8,550,954 $11,965,651 37 $8,987,933 $12,230,774 36 $8,955,664 $12,451,960 35 $8,973,973 $11,518,740

Ramblings for the Week of March 28-April 1

Biggest winner this week: Shaista Kassam (March 29) ($85,174) - third biggest winner this season; 16th biggest all-time daytime winner. On Tuesday, Cherie missed all three grocery product pairings in Stack the Deck. That's only happened two other times in the game's history: March 2, 2010 and May 14, 2007. Cherie did the best in these misfortunate playings - she got 2 numbers right, while the other two contestant went 1/5. On Tuesday, Shaista was $26 away from the actual retail price of her Showcase. That's the closest bid since December 16, 2008 ($0) and December 6, 2005 ($8). $11,100 was won in Plinko on Thursday, bringing the total season winnings to $103,500. It took 17 playings for Plinko to crack six digits, compared to 17 for Season 38, 19 for Season 37 and 11 for Season 36. On Friday, neither a small prize game nor a grocery product game was played. This is believed to be only the second time where that's happened. (It also happened on October 17, 2008) On Friday, Lucky $even became the first Pricing Game to be lost 20 times this season. Lucky's current record is 4-20 (heh heh heh). $28,000 was won in the ten Showcase Showdowns this week, bringing the total winnings to $223,000 this season. At that pace, $323,000 will be won by season's end. That would top the $305,000 won last season. Adjusted to the old bonus amounts, the pace is $200,000, which is well below the marks set in Season 29 ($256,000) and Season 30 ($265,000). Twelve one prize quickie games were played this week, mostly because five of them were played on Friday. Pick-a-Number was the only one-prize quickie that got the week off, while Balance Game and Side By Side got played twice. In three out of five episodes this week, the contestant at the blue podium failed to win a one bid. More was won in the Showcase Showdowns this week ($28,000) that has been won all season in Grand Game ($20,410), 1/2 Off ($23,000), It's in the Bag ($22,000) and Punch-a-Bunch ($13,450).

Ramblings for the Week of March 21-25

Biggest winner this week: Anthony Lopez ($56,720) (March 21) Streaks snapped: Pick-A-Pair (5 straight wins - previous loss was November 23). With the loss, Check-Out (with four straight wins) is now the game with the longest current winning streak. Cliff Hangers (by being played fourth on Tuesday) and Coming or Going (by being played fifth on Wednesday) became the tenth and eleventh Pricing Games to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Squeeze Play, Freeze Frame, Push Over, One Wrong Price, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number, Switch? and Flip Flop) On Monday, $10,000 was won in Punch-A-Bunch. The last time $10,000 was won in this game was March 25, 2009 (46 playings ago). More cash was won on Monday's Punch-A-Bunch ($10,000) than in the past 16 playings combined of this game ($8,800). Monday's Punch-A-Bunch was also the first time since at least Season 29 where a contestant selected hole #49 (the hole directly to the left of the bottom right corner) with one of their punches. With the win on Tuesday, Money Game became the third Pricing Game to achieve double digit wins this season (joining Any Number (11 wins) and Switch? (15 wins)) On Tuesday, Cliff Hangers was lost on the first small prize. Last time that's happened: January 12, 2010. The Cliff Hangers contestant also overbid on the first small prize by $51. That's the largest miss since February 14, 2005 (bid $90 on an $18 electric toothbrush) and January 7, 2005 (bid $350 on a $25 cookie press). The targest price in Tuesday's Grand Game was $9.50. That's the highest target price since May 18, 2009 ($13.00 target price). Neither playing was won. The six one bids in Tuesday's episode had a combined value of $4,972. That's the lowest total of the season and the lowest since March 23, 2010 ($4,932). On Tuesday, Stephanie's bonus spin was under one revolution. Last time that's happened: June 11, 2010. That's also the 16th time it's happened since the start of Season 29. On Friday, Freeze Frame was lost by $971. That's the closest loss since January 28, 2010, where the contestant's pick was $159 away from the actual price. Friday's Freeze Frame loss was also the 500th Pricing Game to be lost this season. The show is currently on pace to reach 757 Pricing Game losses this season, or 32 more losses than last season. It has now been nearly three months (1/2 Off on January 5, or 24 playings) since a cash game was fully won. (But there has been 2 partial $10,000+ Plinko wins and a partial $10,000 Punch-A-Bunch win during this span).

Ramblings for the Week of March 14-16

Biggest winner this week: Patric De Boer ($44,606) (March 15) (Biggest winner this season among all contestants named Pat) Out of the 18 one bids this week, only one was won by a contestant at the red podium (Audra - 6th one bid on Wednesday). Both Elaine (Monday) and Leslie (Tuesday) spent an entire episode stuck at the red podium. Two cash games were played on Tuesday's episode (Pay the Rent and Plinko). Last time that's happened: April 6, 2009 (the episode promoting Bob Barker's autobiography). Congratulations to the yellow rat, who picked up its first Rat Race win of the season. All five rats have now won at least one race this season. The orange rat continues to dominate the competition - it has 3 wins and 3 runner-up finishes in nine races. With the loss on Monday, Balance Game has now been lost 13 straight times when contestants had to place the two most expensive bags on the scale in order to win. Last time the game was won under these conditions: April 23, 2007 (Season 35) With the win on Wednesday, Line 'em Up has now been won five straight times when contestants fail to get any numbers right on the first try. Last time a complete miss on the first try ultimately led to a loss: April 15, 2009 (Season 37). With 18 losses, Lucky $even and That's Too Much are the Pricing Games with the most number of losses this season. Both games are on pace to achieve 28 losses this season, which would tie the mark set by That's Too Much last season. (For what it's worth, 28 losses is also the most number of losses achieved by one game in one season in the past 11 seasons.) Meanwhile, Switch? has been won 15 times this season and is on pace for 23 wins. That would easily beat last season's high of 20 wins (set by Double Prices). Switch? also has a chance of achieving 24 wins this season, which would tie the mark set by this game in Season 30 and by Barker's Bargain Bar in Season 31.

Ramblings for the Week of March 7-11

Biggest winner this week: Jill Calhoun ($77,392) (3rd biggest winner this season) Streaks snapped: Switch?: 5 straight wins - last loss was January 27 Bonkers: 6 straight losses - last win was October 26 Hi-Lo: 5 straight losses - last win was September 27 Approximately $452,867 in cash and prizes was won this week (the winnings in Master Key were estimated). That's the most won in one week since at least Season 37. Five car games were won this week - the best result for car games all season. The last time the car games had at least five wins in one week was the week of March 1-5 from last season. On Monday, Traci won $47,152 - the second best performance among all non-Showcase winners this season. On Tuesday, Flip Flop was played fifth, becoming the ninth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Freeze Frame, One Wrong Price, Push Over, Squeeze Play, Range Game, Double Prices, Pick-A-Number and Switch?). Also on Tuesday, Brian lost Secret "X" even though he had won the two additional Xs. Prior to the loss, it has been 10 straight playings where the game was won when it was played perfectly. Last time there was a "painful loss": November 6, 2009. Overall, since Season 36, Secret X has a 15-7 record when all three Xs are in play. Also on Tuesday, Dice Game was played for a $15,231 Honda Fit. That's the first time since October 30, 2008 where Dice Game was played for a car under $21,111. (25 playings ago) On Wednesday, a three prize game (One Wrong Price) and a four prize game (Race Game) was played. November 24 is the only other time this season where two multi prize games were played on the same episode. Also on Wednesday, Michelle bid on the first Showcase even though it didn't feature a car. That's only happened one other time this season - on November 16, where a conetstant bid on a Showcase featuring electronics and two trips. On Thursday, Yvette made eight mistakes in Pocket ¢hange, which raised the price of the car to $2.25. That ties the record for the worst performance in the game's history - eight mistaks were also made on the April 7, 2006 playing. Not surprisingly, neither playing was won. On Friday, for the first time in its history, Pick-A-Number was won when it was played for a five digit car. It previously had an 0-5 record when played for a car. Also on Friday, Jeffrey overbid on his Showcase by $27. That's the smallest overbid since January 27, 2009, where the contestant overbid by a mere $9. So far this season, there have been 4 $26,000 winners in the Showcase Showdown. That ties the mark set in the past two seasons. In the past ten years, the highest number of $26,000 (previously $11,000) winners in one season is 9 - set in Seasons 29 and 30. There have also been four Double Showcase winners this season, which is one better than the mark set last season. In the past ten years, the highest number of Double Showcase Winners in one season was 8 - set in Seasons 33, 34 and 37. 13 Honda vehicles were offered this week, with 7 of them being won (5 in Pricing Games, 2 in Showcases). The Honda Accord was the most popular model - it was offered five times (an EX, a SE, a LX, two LXS) and was won twice. In Punch-A-Bunch, since the start of Season 30, contestants have punched Hole #10 (the top right corner) more frequently than any other hole. If you exclude corners, then hole #13 (third column of the second row) is the most frequently punched hole. In the past ten seasons, hole #49 (next to the bottom right corner) has never been selected. Here is the complete breakdown: # Times Hole Punched 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 22 10 16 7 11 5 10 7 16 43 2 3 26 27 15 16 21 24 18 5 6 3 1 4 19 11 18 24 15 16 3 1 4 2 14 8 5 16 6 11 18 13 3 5 11 3 6 11 5 9 5 6 0 26 Out of the 43 times that the top right corner was selected, the top prize was found four times. The top prize was also found in all three instances where Hole #40 was selected (September 26, 2002, November 19, 2002 and March 24, 2004). Despite being selected 27 times, the top prize has never been found in Hole #13. Here's how many times the top prize was found in each hole (Note that some slips were not revealed): # Times Top Prize Found 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Ramblings for the Week of February 28-March 4

Biggest winner this week: Claire Pauley ($42,706) (March 2) Winning streaks snapped: Now.. or Then (6 straight wins). With five straight wins, Pick-A-Pair and Switch? now have the longest current winning streak. Losing streaks snapped: Flip Flop (8 straight losses). Last win: December 24, 2010. Most frequently played game not played this week: Squeeze Play. Despite not being played, Squeeze Play is still the most frequently played game this season, with 22 playings. Double Prices, Lucky $even and Most Expen$ive are next in line, with 21 playings. Fourteen Pricing Games were won this week - the most Pricing Games won in one week this season. (The previous best was 13/30). Out of the 14 games won this week, 12 wins came in non-cash and non-car games. Plinko and Push Over were the only car or cash games that were won. Prior to Push Over's win on Friday, 14 straight car games had been lost. On Tuesday, Coming or Going was played for the 13th time this season. That matches the total number of times the game was played all of last season. While Coming or Going has seen an increase in play from last season, it's still well off the pace of matching the 28 playings it received in Seasons 33 and 34. Not to be outdone by last Friday's episode, both Showcases on Wednesday totalled $108,624. That's the third highest Showcase total this season. (Behind only the Showcases presented on the season premiere and on Veteran's Day). On Thursday, a one-prize quickie game was not played. There has only been two other episodes this seasons where a one prize quickie game was not played: September 23 and October 8.

Ramblings for the Week of February 21-25

Biggest winner this week: Tatia Ingram ($57,412) (February 25) Most frequently played game not played this week: Pick-A-Number (The 16 most frequently played games were all played) For the first time this season, Let 'em Roll was won even though the contestant didn't win all three rolls. Last time that's happened: May 18, 2010 (11 playings ago). (The contestant won two rolls in both playings - the game has never been won when the contestant missed both grocery products) On Wednesday, Switch? was played fifth, becoming the eighth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Freeze Frame, One Wrong Price, Push Over, Squeeze Play, Range Game, Double Prices and Pick-A-Number). For the first time in 52 playings, the contestant had to stop at the fifth price in That's Too Much in order to win the car. Last time that's happened: June 23, 2009. (While the June 23, 2009 playing was won, sadly Wednesday's playing was not.) With the win on Wednesday, Now.. or Then has extended its winning streak to six games. That's the longest winning streak of the season for any game, behind only Pick-A-Pair, that had a 10 game winning streak (that straddled seasons 38-39) snapped in early September. Side By Side has been played for a trip in six out of its eleven playings this season. The game's record is 5-1 when it's played for a trip and 2-3 otherwise. Tough break for the yellow rat, who was whiskers away from picking up its first win of the season. The yellow rat is the only rodent that has not won this season. Thankfully, it still has its victory from last season to fall back on. (The orange rat leads with three wins - too bad only one contestant has picked it this season.) Both Showcases on Friday totalled $105,527 - the third highest Showcase total this total. (Behind only the Showcases presented on the season premiere and on Veteran's Day). In all five episodes that aired this week, the first two Pricing Games played were lost. In fact, Monday, Wednesday and Friday's episodes all had winless first halves. Six small prize games were played this week (Plinko, Master Key, 1/2 Off, Cliff Hangers, 5 Price Tags (aired out of order), Switcheroo). The last time six small prize games were played in one week was April 6-10, 1998 (because two small prize games were played on the 5,000th episode).

Ramblings for the Week of February 14-18

Biggest winners this week: Charles & Anna Petersen ($85,353) (February 14) (15th biggest winners in daytime history) So far this week, $389,844 in cash and prizes has been won. Although only four episodes have aired, that total is already the third best weekly total this season. (Behind $444,672 earned the week of October 11-15 and $424,040 earned the week of December 20-24.) Five different contestants won more than $40,000 this week: Charles & Anna on Monday ($85,353), Puya on Wednesday ($49,152), Tatiana on Thursday ($46,380) and Jalesse ($47,282) and Steven ($48,841) on Friday. On Wednesday, the Pocket Change contestant accumulated $2.55 in pocket change. This was the eighth time in that game's history that the $2.00 card was found. Among playings where all cards were revealed, the most pocket change ever accumulated was $3.05 (December 2, 2008). On Wednesday, the Magic # set by the contestant was $1,350 too low. That's the worst miss in this game since March 9, 2006, when the contestant lost by $1,419. On Thursday, Card Game was won for the first time this season. Last win: June 1, 2010. Thursday's Card Game playing was also the tenth straight time the contestant chose the $1,000 or $2,000 range card. The last time the $3,000 range card was picked was September 22, 2010 and the last time the $5,000 range card was picked was April 6, 2007. On Friday, 3 Strikes was won for the first time since October 15, 2008. Prior to Friday's playing, the game had been lost five straight times. Friday's win was also the first time 3 Strikes was won since it reverted back to the five chips, three strikes in the bag rule By winning 3 Strikes, Jalesse Heath took home $47,282 in prizes on Friday - the most won among all non-Showcase winning contestants this season.

Ramblings for the Week of February 7-11

Biggest winner this week: Gary Farell ($57,069) (February 11) Most frequently played game not played this week: Most Expen$ive On Monday, Flip Flop was lost for the fourteenth time this season. Flip Flop has only been won when the correct decision was to "Flop". Also on Monday, the first Showcase had an actual retail price of $18,563 - the second cheapest Showcase of the season. Both Showcases also totalled $38,692 - the cheapest combined Showcases this season (by over $3,000). On Tuesday's second Showcase Showdown, a contestant won $10,000 after landing on a green section. Last time that happened: June 17, 2010. (50 bonus spins ago) There was also a three-way spin-off in Tuesday's first Showcase Showdown. Last time that happened: April 16, 2010. (In fact, there were five 3-way spin-offs last season) On Wednesday, the contestant got all three grocery product pairings right in Stack the Deck. Last time that's happened: September 24, 2009 (19 playings ago - Stack the Deck was won only once during this span.). On Friday, Now.. or Then was won for the fifth straight time. Now.. or Then currently has the longest winning streak. (Hole in One and Pick-A-Pair, with 3 straight wins, are also on a hot streak.) With a 7-1 record (88%), Now.. or Then also has the best winning percentage this season. Hole in One (3-1; 75%), Cliff Hangers (8-3; 73%) and Secret X (5-2; 71%) are also having good seasons. The last two times One Wrong Price was played, there was a $1,759 and $2,208 difference between the fake and actual price of the prize with the wrong price. While these were the largest gaps used this season, it didn't help the game produce more wins. After 99 episodes, there remains 11 Pricing Games that have not been fully won this season (Card Game, Golden Road, It's in the Bag, Magic #, Pathfinder, Pay the Rent, Punch-A-Bunch, Switcheroo, Temptation, 3 Strikes, Triple Play). However, 5 of these games did have partial wins (Golden Road, It's in the Bag, Pay the Rent, Punch-A-Bunch, Temptation). Last season, 8 games went the entire year without being won (Gas Money, Golden Road, Magic #, Punch-A-Bunch, Temptation, 3 Strikes, Triple Play and technically Rat Race). With 5 cents being landed on a bonus spin this week, 15 cents is now the only amount that has not been landed on in a bonus spin this season: Bonus Spin Landed On # Times 75 7 20 5 40, 50, 95 4 35, 65, 90, 100 3 30, 55, 85 2 5, 10, 25, 45, 60, 80 1 15 0 Frequency Comparison: After 100 Episodes

Ramblings for the Week of January 31-February 4

Biggest winner this week: Leona Jackson ($75,790) (January 31) - third biggest winner this season. Most frequently played not played this week: Most Expen$ive. With Most Expen$ive getting the week off, Squeeze Play has become the most frequently played game this season, with 19 playings. Most Expen$ive is now in a tie for second, along with Lucky $even (18 playings). On Monday, Switch? became the first Pricing Game to be won 10 times this season. Any Number and Cliff Hangers are next in line, with 8 wins. In constrast, the first Pricing Game to be lost 10 times was Lucky $even - that happened back on November 24. In total, 12 Pricing Games already have losses in the double digits (Double Prices, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame, Lucky $even, Money Game, Most Expen$ive, 1 Right Price, One Wrong Price, Pick-A-Number, Push Over, Squeeze Play, That's Too Much). Lucky $even still leads the way with 14 losses. Also on Monday, Pick-A-Number became the seventh Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Freeze Frame, One Wrong Price, Push Over, Squeeze Play, Range Game and Double Prices). On Tuesday, five out of six Pricing Games were won. Last time that's happened: May 18, 2010. Also on Tuesday, the contestant missed both grocery product pairings in Pass the Buck, and picked a Lose Everything with his lone pick. Last time that's happened: May 6, 2010. Since the game premiered, 14 contestants only had one pick of the Pass the Buck board. Three chose a Lose Everything, while 2 picked the car (December 5, 2007 and November 4, 2005). Pass the Buck was also played in the first half for the first time this season, and for only the second time in the past two seasons. (It was played second on November 4, 2009) On Wednesday, the contestant got all three small prizes wrong in Pathfinder. Last time that's happened: December 15, 2009. It also happened on October 14, 2009, where the contestant got all the way to the last digit before whiffing on all three small prizes. On Thursday, the top winner passed a Showcase featuring a car, only to be offered another car in the second Showcase. That's now happened four straight times. On Friday, the contestant flopped in Flop Flop for the sixth straight playing (or for the seventh time in eight playings). Unfortunately, during this span, flopping has only resulted in 1 win. Also on Friday, Kimmmmberly Adams won $33,758 - the second highest winnings among all non-Showcase winners this season. Also on Friday, Double Prices became the 100th one-prize quickie game to be lost this season. Also on Friday, the contestant won four punches in Punch-a-Bunch. Last time that's happened: May 7, 2010. Friday's winnings ($1,050) was also the most won since May 7, 2010, when a $5,000 was won. After getting off to a 6-2 start, Any Number has cooled off and picked up only 2 win in its past 7 playings. Any Number now has a 8-7 record and is at risk of falling to the .500 mark. A trip has been offered in each of the past five Balance Game playings. It has now been 49 straight playings where stopping at the fifth price was wrong in That's Too Much. Last time stopping at price #5 was the correct decision: June 23, 2009. While there have been 47 bonus spins this season, no one has managed to land on a green section (5 or 15). On a more positive note, 3 contestants landed on the $1.00 and won $25,000.

Previous Ramblings