Ramblings for the Week of January 24-27

Biggest winner this week: Jagruti Patel ($47,159) (January 27) Streaks snapped: Pick-A-Number (9 straight losses - last win was October 21, 2010) Most frequently played game not played this week: Freeze Frame With the win on Monday, Pick-A-Number's record "improved" to 2-10. So far, Pick-A-Number has only been won when it mimicked Balance Game (ie: the first digit was missing). With the the win on Monday, Pick-A-Number is no longer the one prize quickie game with the worst record. That honor now belongs to Freeze Frame and its 15% (2-13) win rate. On Monday, Gas Money was played sixth for only the second time ever. It was also played last on June 19, 2009. On Tuesday, Flip Flop was played sixth - the first time in 27 playings (since March 3, 2010) that this game was played last. On Tuesday, Shopping Spree offered a $7,000 shopping limit. That ties the highest target ever presented for this game. ($7,000 has been used four other times). In addition, the $8,710 prize package offered on this playing is the highest ever offered in this game. Previous high: $8,379 on December 8, 2009. On Friday, Drew said the word "Kathy" 25 times and said the words "Kathy Greco" 17 times. George also said the word "Kathy" 7 times. So far this season, Secret X is 5-0 when the contestant wins two additional Xs, but 0-2 when they miss at least one of the two small prizes. Total daily winnings: January 19 - $64,873, January 20 - $64,861, January 21 - $63,857, January 24 - $64,590. Talk about being consistent! There were three instances this week where a contestant bid $1 below a previous bidder in a one bid. So far this season, a $1 down has occured nine times. Only two cash games were played this week (It's in the Bag and 1/2 Off on January 5). That's the first time this season and the first time since the week of May 17-21 in Season 38 that less than 3 cash games were played in a 5 episode week. In all four episodes airing this week, the first, second and sixth Pricing Games played were all lost, while the third Pricing Game played was won. If you were one of the first four contestants, you would think it would be more advantageous to avoid the red podium. Apparently not this season. 88% of first four contestants occupying the red podium have managed to make it up on stage, which is higher than the three other positions: Podium S35-38 S39 Red 84.99% 88.76% Blue 83.65% 84.27% Yellow 85.25% 83.15% Green 88.61% 85.39%

Ramblings for the Week of January 17-21

Biggest winner this week: Alex Banyan ($32,288) (January 17) Most frequently played game not played this week: 1 Right Price On Monday, Freeze Frame was played for a $9,878 Hot Tub. This game has now been played for a $9,000+ prize in 8 out of its 15 playings this season, including the past four playings. Only 1 out of these 8 playings resulted in a win. On Monday, the contestant's guess in Freeze Frame was $4,966 away from the actual price of the prize. That's one of the largest misses in this game's history, besting the April 1, 2008 playing where the contestant overbid on 2 motorscooters by $4,937. With the win on Tuesday, Secret extended its winning streak to four games. That's the longest current streak, ahead of Make Your Move, Now or Then, Squeeze Play and Switch? (3 straight wins). On Wednesday, Golden Road was lost for the 17th straight time. Last win: May 3, 2007. During this span, only 6 contestants managed to make it to the end of the Golden Road (and subsequently lost the final prize). On Wednesday, Double Prices became the sixth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season. (Joining Freeze Frame, One Wrong Price, Push Over, Squeeze Play and Range Game). Contestants have now chosen the green rat in 6/7 Rat Race playings this season (the playing where no rats were won is excluded). Who can blame the contestants? The green rat has been money all season long - it has reached the podium in all seven races. On Thursday, Any Number became the 500th Pricing Game to be played this season. (Unless you exclude the January 5 episode, which should have aired next Friday. In that case, the 500th Pricing Game played this season is Flip Flop). Any Number also became the 338th Pricing Game to be lost this season. With a 32.40% winning percentage so far this season, the show is well on its way of bestings the dismal record of 415/1140 (36.40%) achieved in Season 38. On Friday, Temptation was lost for the 34th straight time. The game's last win: February 13, 2007. It should be noted that this streak includes 16 bailouts where the contestants took the gifts and quit. Nevertheless, in the past 34 playings, no one has managed to get the price of the car right (so the 16 contestants that quit made the right decision). On Friday, the seventh, eighth and ninth contestants called all managed to win their way up on stage. Last time that happened: May 6, 2010. So far this season, 19/85 contestants called ninth managed to win their way up on stage. At that pace, 42 contestants won't "blow their one chance to bid" this season. That would be the highest mark in the past 10 seasons. (Previous high: 36 in Season 37) This week had some very close Showcase differences: Monday: $145, Tuesday: $404, Wednesday: $1,397, Thursday: $17, Friday: $122 (Thursday was the closest Showcase results of the season.)

Ramblings for the Week of January 10-14

Biggest winner this week: Edwin Callaise Jr ($49,613) (January 14) Most frequently played game not played this week: Freeze Frame 13 out of 30 Pricing Games were won this week. That ties the weeks of September 27-October 1 and November 1-5 for the most Pricing Game wins so far this season. Last time the Pricing Games had a better performance: May 17-21 of last season (14-16). On Monday, Most Expen$ive was won for the first time since October 13, 2010. Prior to this episode, this Pricing Game had been lost either 11 straight times (if you go by actual airing order) or 7 straight times (if you go by intended airing order). On Monday, Push Over was won for the first time this season (in 10 playings) when it was played for a four digit prize. During this span, the game went 2-1 when it was played for a five digit prize. On Tuesday, Pass the Buck was played fourth. That's only the third time this season that the Pricing Game played fourth was played for a car. (More Or Less on October 7 and Safe Crackers on October 29). Overall, Pass the Buck has been played fourth 9 times in the game's history (9/159 playings). On Wednesday, the contestant failed to get either the first two numbers or the last two numbers in Money Game. Last time that's happened: March 24, 2010. Since Season 30, it's happened a total of 9 times, including 3 times last season. On Friday, Stack the Deck was played for a $51,872 BMW 328i convertible. That could quite possibly be the most expensive car ever offered in a Pricing Game not named 3 Strikes or Golden Road. Other expensive cars offered in the past include a $48,925 Mercedes Benz E30 ofered in That's Too Much on November 3, 2009 and a $46,573 Cadillac Deville offered in Lucky 7 on September 22, 2003. Out of these three cars, only the Cadillac in Lucky $even was won. For the first time this season, the middle digit was right in Pick-A-Number. Unfortuantely, this didn't help out the contestant, as Pick-A-Number was lost for ninth time in ten playings. With a 10% win rate, Pick-A-Number has the worst winning percentage out of all one-prize quickie games this season. Pass the Buck has now been lost (ie: the car was not won) 15 straight times when the contestant had two selections or less. Last time it was won under these cirucmstances: December 22, 2008. During this same span, contestants went 4-8 when they earned all three picks. The first contestant called to the green podium failed to win a one bid three times this week. That's somewhat unusual, since 90% of contestants in this position in the past three seasons have managed to make their way up on stage. To continue my obsession with the third spinner in the Showcase Showdown, I will note that the past six Showcase Showdowns (or 7 out of the past 8) were won by the third spinner. So far this season, Drew has worn a tie 39 times and a bow tie 40 times. Which piece of cloth will prevail in the end???

Ramblings for December 30 & January 5

Biggest winner these two episodes: Luis Medina Hernandez ($73,450) (December 30) (4th biggest winner this season). Streaks snapped: Freeze Frame (8 straight losses - last win October 13), 1/2 Off (8 straight losses - last win June 9 of last season). By being played on both December 30 and January 5, Most Expen$ive is now the most frequently played game this season (16 playings). Lucky $even and Squeeze Play are next in line, with 15 playings. Most Expen$ive is also the game with the most losses this season (13 losing horns). Freeze Frame, Lucky $even and Squeeze Play are close behind with 12 losses. After sixteen playings, the most expensive prize in Most Expen$ive has been evenly distributed between #1 (6 times), #2 (5 times) and #3 (5 times). Between Seasons 29-39, the distribution is 33.69% for #1, 35.87% for #2 and 30.43% for #3. Bottom line, neither #1, #2 or #3 has a significant advantage. On December 30, Luis underbid on his Showcase by $60,739. That's easily the largest miss in at least the past ten seasons. Previous worst: $40,693 on December 23, 2004. (However, unlike Luis, this contestant did not bid $1 on her Showcase. Instead, she bid $29,000 on a $69,693 Showcase featuring a motorhome.) On January 5, Grocery Game was lost by 10 cents. That's the most painful loss since June 25, 2008, when the contestant went over by 3 cents. The worst loss in the past 10 seasons occured on November 21, 2002, when the contestant overbid by two pennies. So far this season, Double Prices is 2-3 when played in front of contestant's row (ie: played for a trip) and 1-8 when played behind the big doors. With the recent Any Number losses, Now.. or Then is now the Pricing Game with the best winning percentage this season (5-1 = 83%). Secret X has the second best record (4-1 = 80%), followed by Cliff Hangers (6-2 = 75%).

Ramblings for the Week of December 20-24

Biggest winner this week: Judy Ho ($101,244) (December 24). Judy is the third biggest winner in daytime history. With Judy's big win, Danielle Torres, the $88,865 winner from the January 13, 1992 episode, has fallen outside of the top 10 on the biggest winners list. All winners inside the top 10 have now appeared in episodes airing in the past six years. The least recent winner in the top 10 is Amy Remple, who won $97,130 on the March 13, 2004 episode. View the complete list here. Streaks snapped this week: Push Over (8 straight losses - last win was September 20) and That's Too Much (5 straight losses - last win was October 25). On Monday, the six one bids totalled $5,213 - the lowest amount this season. The two Showcases also totalled $42,055 - also the lowest total this season. On Tuesday, $129,517 in cash and prizes was won. That's the most won in one day since November 2, 2007 when the total haul was $136,303. On Wednesday, Switch? was played for the 500th time in daytime. Since the start of Season 29, Switch? has a record of 185-103 (64.24%). The prices should have also been switched 55.2% (159/288) of the time. On Wednesday, a $5,434 trip to Harrisburg was offered in the second one bid. That's the second most expensive one bid ever offered in daytime, behind $5,500 watches that were offered on February 13, 2009. (It's also more expensive than the combined total of the six one bids offered on Monday.) On Wednesday, Lucky $even became the 100th car game to be lost this season. That's somewhat fitting since Lucky $even has already been lost 12 times this season (and therefore accounts for 11% of all car game losses so far this season). On Friday, $141,975 in cash and prizes was won. That's the most won since Tuesday, when the total haul was $129,517. Friday's total is also the ninth highest total (for one episode) in daytime history. On Friday, Dice Game became the 300th Pricing Game to be lost this season. On Friday, Secret X was won even though the secret "X" was placed on the bottom row. Last time Secret X was won under this configuration: December 24, 2004. Prior to Friday's playing, Secret X was lost 19 straight times when the "X" was placed on the bottom row. So far this season, Push Over is 0-7 when played for four digit prizes and 1-2 when played for five digit prizes. The cash games (Grand Game, 1/2 Off, It's in the Bag, Pay the Rent, Plinko, Punch-A-Bunch) remain on their futility streak. It has now been seventeen playings since a cash game was last completely won (November 1- Grand Game). Back in the week of November 22-24, I commented that the third spinner has won 31.90% of Showcase Showdowns this season. In the past three weeks, only 16.67% of Showcase Showdowns (5/30) have been won by the third spinner. This has dropped the overall win rate to 28.77% (42/146). Maybe the win rate for the third spinner will reach a record low this season after all?

Ramblings for the Week of December 13-17

Biggest winner this week: Christine Miles ($37,982) (December 9) Streaks snapped: Any Number (5 straight wins), Step Up (7 straight losses), Lucky $even (8 straight losses), Balance Game (13 straight losses). On Monday, Any Number's five game winning streak was snapped. With the loss, Now.. or Then is now the hottest game in the rotation - it is currently on a three game winning streak. On Wednesday, Balance Game was won for the first time in 13 playings. Prior to this week, it had been over a calendar year (November 17, 2009) since this game was last won. It was a ridculously long losing streak - assuming random guessing, there's only a 0.000125% likelihood that a game with 1 in 3 odds will be lost 13 straight times. For the first time in the game's history, 1/2 Off's $10,000 prize was placed in Box #13. Since the game's inception, the cash has been placed in Box #4 the most times (16 times), and in Box #5 the second fewest times (twice). On Tuesday, the contestant captured only one window in Bonus Game. In the past 10 seasons, only four contestants went 1 for 4 on the pricing portion (Last time it's happened: January 21, 2010) and only one of the contestants still managed to win the bonus prize. In the same span, there has only been one shutout: October 18, 2006. By being played fourth on Monday, Range Game became the fifth game to be played in all six slots. (Joining Freeze Frame, One Wrong Price, Push Over and Squeeze Play). Among car games, Any Number, Cover Up, Lucky $even, Money Game and That's Too Much have been played in all six slots, except fourth. On Monday, $26,000 was won in the Showcase Showdown. Last time it's happened: May 26, 2010 (45 bonus spins ago). Also on Monday, Justin won 50% of the refrigerators that were offered to him. If you purchased all five of the prizes presented as the "Holiday gift item of the day" this week, you would have wound up spending $9,115 in presents this year. This total is $518 higher than the gifts offered last week, which confirms that you should never wait until the last minute to buy presents. On Friday, the six one bid prizes totalled $5,514 - the lowest total of the season. In 11 out of the past 13 Showcases, the higher priced Showcase was Showcase #2.

Ramblings for the Week of December 6-10

Biggest winner this week: Andrew Doughty ($40,275) (December 7) Games won for the first time this season: Safe Crackers (first win in four tries), 10 Chances (first win in four tries). The cash games (Grand Game, 1/2 Off, It's in the Bag, Pay the Rent, Plinko, Punch-A-Bunch) are currently on a ten game losing streak. Last time a cash game was fully won: November 3 (Plinko). (Or November 1 (Grand Game) if you consider Plinko won only when the top prize of $50,000 is won.) Since the start of Season 38, Money Game is 5-11 when the contestant gets the first two digits in one try and 14-13 otherwise. I guess having four chances to get the last two digits gives contestant a false sense of security? On Monday, there was a $39,189 difference between the values of both Showcases. That's the largest spread between Showcase values since February 24, 2010, when the second Showcase was more expensive by $40,242. On Thursday, One Away was played for a $15,278 Hyundai Accent. That's the cheapest car offered in this game since November 21, 2001. By being played third on Thursday, One Wrong Price became the fourth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots this season (joining Freeze Frame, Push Over and Squeeze Play). If you purchased all five of the prizes presented as the "holiday gift item of the day" this week (ie: the first item up for bids), you would have wound up spending $8,597 on presents this year. After 63 episodes, over $4.148 million in cash and prizes has been won this season. This result is slightly better than last season's winnings after 63 episodes, but behind the pace set in seasons 36 and 37. The show is on pace to give away over $12.6 million in prizes this season, which would be the third time that more than $12 million was won in one season. Season First 63 Episodes Total Winnings 39 $4,148,586 ??? 38 $4,104,168 $11,965,651 37 $4,279,849 $12,230,774 36 $4,613,062 $12,451,960 35 $4,046,740 $11,518,740

Ramblings for the Week of November 22-24

Biggest winner this week: LeeAnn Malden ($49,962) (November 23) By being played sixth on Monday, Push Over became the third Pricing Game this season to be played in all six slots (joining Freeze Frame and Squeeze Play). Push Over achieved this feat in 8 playings, while it took 9 for Freeze Frame and 10 for Squeeze Play. On Monday, the contestant playing Money Game found the last two numbers before finding the first two numbers. Last time that's happened: November 20, 2009. On Tuesday, five out of the six Pricing Games offered a prize package of at least $10,500. The prizes offered in the sixth Pricing Game, Switch?, weren't bad either: a watch and pool table totalling $8,945. With the win on Wednesday, Shell Game picked up its first win of the season. Presently, there are 17 games with a goose egg in the win column. The four games that have been played the most without being won are all cash games: 1/2 Off (0-7), It's in the Bag (0-5), Pay the Rent (0-5), Punch-A-Bunch (0-5). While these games haven't been fully won, they have at least managed to give away some money (1/2 Off: $1,000, It's in the Bag: $8,000, Pay the Rent: $25,000, Punch-A-Bunch: $1,800) Back in the week of October 11-15, I commented that the third spinner in the Showcase Showdown only won 26.67% of the time this season (16/60), which was below the Season 29-38 average of 36%. Since then, the third spinner has won 37.5% of the time (21/56), which improved its win rate to 31.90%. Looks like the third spinner has bounced back after a slow start to the season. With the losses on Wednesday, Lucky $even and Freeze Frame became the first Pricing Games to be lost 10 times this season. 58 episodes in, and Freeze Frame is well on its way to setting a new mark for most losses in one season (Previous high: 21 in Season 37). Lucky $even is also on pace to better its futility in Season 37 - 27 losses. On a more positive note, Any Number and Switch? were both won for the seventh time this season. Any Number is well on pace to rack up the most wins in one season since at least Season 29 (12 wins). Its current winning percentage (77.78%) is also well ahead of its average in the past ten seasons (35.80%). Switch's current winning percentage (70%) is slightly better than the ten year average (64.5%). The game also has a chance to beat the Season 30 mark of 24 wins.

Ramblings for the Week of November 15-19

Biggest winner this week: Elemuel Gibson ($48,094) (November 10) Streaks snapped: Eazy az 1-2-3 (7 straight losses), One Away (5 straight losses). Both games were also won for the first time this season. Squeeze Play has been played 11 times this season, which is more than any other game. Double Prices, Freeze Frame, Lucky $even, Most Expen$ive, One Wrong Price are next in line with 10 playings. On Monday, the last bidder won all six item up for bids. On Tuesday, the contestant missed one of the small prizes in Spelling Bee by $40. That's the largest miss since the January 2, 2007 playing, where the contestant bid $129 on a $40 cereal dispenser ($89 miss). On Tuesday, the contestant won the car in Any Number by only picking four numbers. There has only been one other perfect playing of Any Number in the past five seasons: November 12, 2008. On Tuesday, 2 for the Price of 1 became the 100th Pricing Game to be won this season. On Tuesday, the contestant bid on the first Showcase even though it did not offer a car. That's the first time this season a non-car Showcase was not passed. On Thursday, Now.. or Then was played for a $16,552 trip to New York City. That's the most expensive prize offered in this game in the past ten seasons. (Possibly even the most expensive prize ever offered in this game). So far this season, 32 car games have been won. Six of these wins (18.75%) were earned in Any Number. Money Game (4 wins) and Cover Up (3 wins) are the only car games to have been won more than 2 times this season. So far this season, contestants in Showcase Showdowns have done a good job spinning 75 cents in bonus spins: Bonus Spin Landed On # Times 75 7 20 5 40, 50 3 30, 35, 90 2 25, 55, 60, 65, 80, 85, 95 1 5, 10, 15, 45, 100 0

Ramblings for the Week of November 8-12

Biggest winner this week: Amber Honeycutt ($61,534) (November 11) Streaks snapped: Cliff Hangers (5 straight wins), Clock Game (5 straight losses) With Cliff Hanger's five game winning streak being snapped, Any Number is now the hottest game - it is currently on a three game winning streak. With Side By Side, Bonus Game, Cliff Hangers and Take Two all being lost this week, every single game played this season has been lost at least once. Even though they were lost for the first time this season, Cliff Hangers and Side By Side still have the best winning percentage this season (4-1 = 80%). With their wins on Thursday, Any Number and Switch? became the first Pricing Games this season to be won five times this season. On Wednesday, the only prizes won (excluding one bids) was a $35 toaster and $50 iron. As a result, only $7,311 was won - the least won since at least Season 28. The previous low in the past ten seasons: $8,219 on December 18, 2007. On Tuesday, Clock Game was won in just under 4 seconds. That's easily the fastest win in the past ten seasons. (Previous best: 12 seconds on October 16, 2007). It's also faster than the playing on the April 4, 2008 Million Dollar Spectacular, where the contestant won in 7 seconds and pocketed a million dollar bonus. Shannon, the Clock Game contestant, also won one of the Clock Game prizes in 1.5 seconds. That's the fastest win for one prize in the past ten seasons, besting the two second record set on March 19, 2001 and February 14, 2002. However, the record doesn't beat the April 4, 2008 Million Dollar Spectacular where the contestant won one of the prizes on the first bid. On Tuesday, the contestant failed to win an additional pick in Pass the Buck. In the game's history, contestants have failed to win an additional pick 13 times. The contestant still managed to win the car in two of those playings (November 4, 2005 and December 5, 2008). For the first time this season, the contestant had to choose the third prize in order to win One Wrong Price. In Seasons 36-37, the third prize had the wrong price 36% (21/58) of the time. By being played fourth on Wednesday, Squeeze Play became the first game this season to be played in all six slots. (Freeze Frame also achieved this feat when it was played last on Friday.) In 16 out of the past 19 Swap Meet playings (since the start of Season 37), the contestant had to pick the least expensive prize in order to win. (The contestant had to choose the least expensive prize in all three playings this season.) In four Money Game playings this season, one of the numbers on the board was lower than 16. In all four of these playings, this number wound up being the last two digits in the price of the car. The last time Dice Game was played for a car priced under $16,667? October 30, 2008 (A $16,542 Ford Ranger - 32 playings ago). For those keeping score, here are the results, by military branch, of the past three "Salute to the Military" specials: Branch Contestants One Bids Won Showdowns Won Showcases Won Pricing Games Total Won Army 6 4 1 0 2/4 $41,166 Air Force 7 4 2 2 2/4 $170,112 Coast Guard 2 2 1 0 1/2 $25,985 Marines 6 5 1 1 3/5 $86,300 Navy 6 3 1 0 1/3 $12,526 Fifty episodes in, and some Pricing Games are on pace to have significant increases or decreases in play from last season. Push Over, Punch-A-Bunch and One Away have all had a cut in play, while Dice Game, Freeze Frame, Coming or Going and Danger Prices have all had an increase in play. View the comparison table

Ramblings for the Week of November 1-5

Biggest winner: Jonathan Siano ($74,929) (November 3) (2nd biggest winner of the season) Streaks snapped: Double Prices (8 straight losses), Make Your Move (5 straight losses) Since the start of Season 37, Switcheroo has always been played either first (15 times) or fifth (4 times). On Wednesday, the contestant lost Pocket Change even though the car was priced at a paltry 75 cents. Since the game premiered, the game has a record of 10-3 when the car is priced at 75 cents. 45 cents is also the least amount of pocket change accumulated by a contestant in this game's history (excluding playings where all the cards were not revealed). The previous low was 50 cents, obtained on April 28, 2005 and October 12, 2009. On Wednesday, the contestant in Plinko won all four small prizes and wound up with five Plinko chips. Last time that's happened: May 6, 2010. Since the start of Season 37, 7 out of 56 contestants got all five Plinko chips. 4 out of these contestants managed to win at least $10,000 (57%). Overall record in past 3 seasons: 23/56 (41.07%). So far this season, the cheapest prize offered in either 1 Right Price or Switch? was a $2,600 HDTV. With Double Prices finally being won, 1/2 Off (0-5) is now the most frequently played Pricing Game this season that has not been won. Eazy az 1-2-3, It's in the Bag and Pay the Rent (0-4) are close behind. With the win on Friday, Side By Side has joined Cliff Hangers as the Pricing Game with the best overall record (4-0). Bonus Game (2-0) and Take Two (2-0) are the only other Pricing Games that have not been lost this season. So far this season, there have been 26 bonus spins in the Showcase Showdowns. Surprisingly, none of these spins have landed on the $1.00 or on a green section. Based on the results of the past five seasons, while it can take a while to get the first $11,000/$26,000 winner, the first $6,000/$11,000 winner usually happens fairly early on in the season: Season First 5¢ or 15¢ in Bonus Spin First $1.00 in Bonus Spin 38 September 28 (4th bonus spins) October 29 (17th bonus spins) 37 September 22 (1st bonus spin) November 3 (9th bonus spins) 36 November 1 (10th bonus spin) October 18 (3rd bonus spins) 35 October 13 (8th bonus spin) January 30 (49th bonus spins) 34 October 27 (12th bonus spin) May 2 (54th bonus spins)

Ramblings for the Week of October 25-29

Biggest winner: Ashley Quadros ($60,158) (October 29) Approximately $13,535 was won on Wednesday - the least won in one episode since May 24, 2010, when only $8,539 was won. After starting the week with a 6-6 Pricing Game record, only 3 Pricing Games were won in the final three episodes of the week (Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going, Squeeze Play). Similarly, while the first three car games played this week were won (That's Too Much, Pocket Change, Cover Up), the next seven car games were all lost. As of Friday, an average of $67,924 is being won per episode. At that pace, about $12.9 million will be won this season, which will surprass the previous high of $12.45 million in Season 36. With help from the technical win on September 29, Cliff Hangers is currently on a five game winning streak. That's the highest current winning streak, with Side By Side and Take Two (3 straight wins) also on a decent streak. The $4,295 bubble chair offered on Friday is the most expensive one bid offered since February 5, 2010, when a trip to Canton, Ohio was given away. Contestants have chosen the green rat in all four Rat Race playings this season. The green rat has been a good choice so far - the rodent has 1 win and has never finished worst than third. On the other hand, no one has chosen the orange rat this season. But they should have - the rodent has won two out of the four races. With the loss on Wednesday, Double Prices now has an 0-8 record this season. For a game with 50:50 odds of being won, that's quite the impressive streak. Since the start of Season 30, the only other time Double Prices has gone on such a run was in Season 34, when the game was won nine times in a row between October 11 and December 9. On the flip side, with the win on Friday, Squeeze Play now has an all-time daytime record of 9-12 (42.85%) when played for five digit prizes. Not bad for a game that is often a 1-in-4 crapshoot when played for $10,000+ prizes. Since the start of season 34 and including Tuesday's win, Cover Up has a record of 10-3 when a contestant gets four or five tries. On Friday, the contestant's combination in Safe Crackers did not end with a zero. Last time that's happened: June 27, 2008 (Season 36) - 24 playings ago. So far this season, the most expensive Showcase was the second showcase 55% (22/40) of the time. Last season, Showcase #2 was the most expensive 64% (122/190) of the time. Side By Side has been played for a trip in all three of its playings this season. Coming or Going has been played for a trip or for a hot tub in all four of its playings this season.

Ramblings for the Week of October 18-22

Biggest winner: Beverly Grandia ($42,251) (October 22) Streaks snaped: Gas Money (14 straight losses), Flip Flop (6 straight losses) Most frequently played games so far this season: Double Prices, Squeeze Play, That's Too Much (7 playings). On Tuesday, Cliff Hangers was won with the mountain climber moving 25 steps. Since Season 29, that dramatic win has happened 12 times. The previous time the mountain climber was left teetering at the edge of the mountain was on May 25, 2009. On Tuesday, Now.. or Then was won with the contestant using all six grocery products. Since Season 33, contestants have used all six products 10 times, with 6 of these playings resuling in a win. The last time a conetstant won after using all six products was on April 24, 2008. On Tuesday, Gas Money was won for the first time since October 29, 2008 and for only the third time in the game's history. The $15,991 Honda Fit was also the cheapest car ever offered in this game. On Wednesday, the "$100 + Second Chance" slip was found for the first time since November 3, 2008. It was also the first time since January 28, 2010 that a second chance slip of any kind was found. On Wednesday, the contestant won Grocery Game by using only one grocery product. The last time a contestant won Grocery Game in this matter was on October 6, 2008. On Wednesday, Money Game was played perfectly (won in two picks) for the first time since November 24, 2008. Since Season 34, there have been 12 perfect playings. Since the start of Season 37, Pricing Games have a record of 6-3 when they are played for restored/vintage vehicles (including Let 'Em Roll's win on Thursday). In every single playing of 1 Right Price this season, the most expensive prize was placed on the right (furthest from the contestant and Drew), while the least expensive prize was placed on the left. Freeze Frame and Most Expen$ive have appeared on the same episode three times in the past three weeks (October 8, October 13, October 18). The one prize games have been played 51 times this season. 21 of these playings offered a trip. So far this season, 18/35 episodes (51.43%) have had at least one Showcase overbid. That's higher than the seasons 30-38 average (710 overbids in 1620 episodes = 43.83%) and is slightly higher than the previous highs: Season 30 (86/175 = 49.14%) and Season 37 (95/191 = 49.74%).

Ramblings for the Week of October 11-15

Biggest winner: Deborah Pryor ($62,861) (October 12) Streaks snapped: Freeze Frame (8 straight losses), Dice Game (7 straight losses) Games with the most wins so far this season: Range Game (4-2) and Switch? (4-1). So far this season, only 4 out of the 35 contestants that bid $1 in a one bid managed to win the prize up for bids (11%). Between Seasons 29 and 38, approximately 25% of contestants that bid $1 wound up winning the one bid. So far this season, 19 contestants have won cash in the Showcase Showdown. At that pace, 120 contestants will win cash by the end of the season. That would be the most winners in one season since at least Season 29. (Current high: Season 36 - 110 cash winners). Between seasons 29-38, 36% of contestants spinning third in the Showcase Showdown have won. So far this season, only 26.67% of contestants spinning third have managed to win. On Friday, Danger Price offered its largest prize package ($14,525) in at least 11 seasons (Previous high: $7,786 on December 17, 2009). The $5,595 pinball machine is also one of the most expensive prize this game has ever offered (Previous high: $3,267 bar set on December 17, 2009). On Friday, one contestant overbid on their Showcase by $51,676. That's one of the largest overbids in the past 11 seasons. Only April 15, 2003 ($68,313) and April 14,2009 ($53,410) had more ridculous overbids. Friday's $8,000 bailout in It's in the Bag is the most won in this game since the game's last $16,000 win (January 22nd - 15 playings ago). During this 15 game span, contestants have walked away with nothing 12 times. With the loss on Monday, Pick-A-Number is now 0-5 lifetime when played for a (five digit) car. In these five playings, the 2nd digit was missing twice, the 3rd digit was missing twice and the 4th digit was missing once. The green and yellow rats have finished in the top 3 in all four of Rat Race's playings. With the exception of Coming or Going (2-0) and Range Game (4-2), the one prize games have had a rough start to the season. Balance Game (0-2), Bonkers (0-2), Coming or Going (0-2), Double Prices (0-6), Flip Flop (0-5) and Pick-A-Number (0-3) are all winless, while Freeze Frame (1-4), Push Over (1-4) and Squeeze Play (1-5) have multiple losses.

Ramblings for the Week of October 4-8

Biggest winner: Richard Couture ($76,866) (October 5 (A)) Streaks snapped: More or Less (11 straight losses), Squeeze Play (6 straight losses). With Pick-A-Pair having a 10 game winning streak snapped last week, the games with the longest current winning streak is Bullseye, Cliff Hangers, Line 'Em Up, Shopping Spree and Take Two (3 straight wins). 75 out of 80 Pricing Games were played in the first four weeks of the season. Only Step Up (which was subsequently played), as well as Gas Money, Golden Road, Shell Game and 3 Strikes were not played. The $6,399 glass bathtub offered on the October 4th playing of One Wrong Price is the most expensive prize offered in this game since at least Season 30. $14,209 in prizes was offered on the October 4th playing of Swap Meet. That's the most ever offered in one playing of this game since at least Season 30. So far this season, 20 Pricing Games have been played at least 3 times. All of these games have been lost at least once, while 5 of these games are still winless (Dice Game, Double Prices, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame, 1/2 Off). With a record of 2-0, Cliff Hangers, Hi-Lo, Side By Side and Take Two presently have the best winning records.

Ramblings for the Weeks of September 20-October 1

Biggest winner: Rodrigo Martinez Jr. ($63,624) (September 28) Streaks snapped: Pick-A-Pair (10 straight wins), Stack the Deck (13 straight losses), Grand Game (10 straight losses), Range Game (6 straight losses), Hi-Lo (5 straight losses) Flip Flop was played for the 200th time in daytime on October 1st (September 23rd if you go by actual airdates). Since Season 29, this game has a record of 77-113. Push Over was not played on the week of September 27-October 1. That's the first time since week 6 of Season 38 that Push Over wasn't played on a week having five first run episodes. On September 24, a contestant in Card Game drew an ace and used it to add $10,000 to his bad. That's the largest value assigned to an ace in at least ten years. Second place goes to the October 6, 2003 playing (Season 32), when the ace was giving a value of $9,850. In the same Card Game playing, the contestant overbid by $6,630. That's far and away the largest overbid in the past ten seasons. In a distant second is the April 22, 2007 playing (Season 36), where the contestant overbid by $2,975. Ten Pricing Games have already been played three times season, while 16 games are still waiting for their first playing. Out of the ten Pricing Games that have been played three times, four of them currently have an 0-3 record (Double Prices, Flip Flop, Lucky $even, Squeeze Play). In Week 4 (episodes airing on As the World Turn's old time slot in September 20-24), there was a span of 13 straight Pricing Game losses. There was also a span of 21 Pricing Games where only one Pricing Game was won. This week finished with an overall Pricing Game record of 5-25, the lowest since the week of January 11-15 in Season 38 (3-27). Out of the 15 contestants that were called ninth (before the sixth one bid), two have managed to win their one bid. Both contestants went on to win the Showcase. So far this season, only one Showcase had a value that was lower than $20,000.