Comments for the Week of October 31-November 4

Biggest winner this week: Scott Chappell ($45,611) (November 4) Streaks snapped: That's Too Much (13 straight losses - last win was April 26, 2011) On Monday, Bonus Game was played first. Last time that's happened: February 13, 2007 (it was also played for a car in that playing.) Susan also missed all four small prizes in Bonus Game. Last time that's happened: October 18, 2006 (the only other time in the past 11 seasons where there has been a wipeout in Bonus Game) Also on Monday, Most Expen$ive offered a $650 electric bicycle - the cheapest prize offered in this game since at least Season 29 (Previous low: A $900 electric guitar offered in Season 30 and a $900 washer/dryer offered last season) Sticking with Monday, Veronica bid on the first Showcase even though it did not offer a car. Last time the top winner kept a non-car Showcase: May 31 of Season 39. Finally, on Monday, no regular car games were played (Two games not normally played for a car were played for a car instead). May 11, 2009 is the only other known time a one-hour episode did not feature a pure car game. On Tuesday, the second Showcase had a retail value of $19,792 - the first time this season a Showcase has been under $20,000. Also on Tuesday, Flip Flop was won for the sixth time this season. That's easily the most wins for any game season. (Push Over and Side By Side, with 4 wins, are in second.) Flip Flop is off to a fantastic start (6-1) and is on track to reverse the difficult record it amassed in the past three seasons (6-18, 9-20, 9-24). Switch? has now been played in all six slots at least once this season. Switch? accomplished this feat in just seven playings, which would be very impressive if Squeeze Play hadn't already been played in all six slots after just six playings. On Wednesday, there was a $2,672 difference between both prizes in Magic #. That's the largest spready offered in this game since at least Season 29 (previous high: $2,400 on May 17 of this year). Unfortunately, the large spread didn't help Magic # reverse its current trend. Since the start of Season 38, the game has an abysmal record of 1-11. So far this season, contestants bidding first have won 20.5% (42/204) of one bids. That's a pretty good start to this season - only 18.31% of contestants bidding first between Seasons 29 and 39 managed to win. The first bidders have also managed to win more often than both the second (20.1%) and third bidders (18.6%) so far this season. It has now been eleven episodes (since October 20) since the top winner in the Showcase went on to win his or her Showcase. Contestants bidding third went 0/30 in one bids this week. In other words, all one bids were won either by the first, second or fourth bidders.

Comments for the Week of November 7-11

Biggest winner this week: Sergeant Christopher Tucker ($59,458) (November 11) Streaks snapped: Spelling Bee (5 straight losses - previous win was November 2, 2010 - over a year ago!) Freeze Frame (7 straight losses - previous win was May 10, 2011). Freeze Frame was won for only the fifth time in the past 48 playings. Flip Flop (6 straight wins - previous loss was September 20, 2011). One Wrong Price (6 straight losses - previous loss was June 14, 2011). Several games were played in unusual slots this week: Spelling Bee was played second. Last time it wasn't played first: May 10, 2009. Pocket ¢hange was played first. Last time that happened: March 16, 2009. With One Wrong Price finally picking up its first win of the season, Cover Up/Punch-A-Bunch (0-5) and Pick-a-Number (0-4) are now the games that have been played the most this season, but have not yet been won. For the second time in three weeks, nine one prize quickie games were played in one week. In this instance, only Bonkers and Pick-a-Number were not played this week. On Monday, Range Game was played for a $9,545 trailer - the cheapest prize offered in this game so far this season. (The median value of the prizes offered in Range Game this season is $10,521.) In all seven playings of 1 Right Price this season, the contestant wound up assigning the "one right price" to the least expensive prize. Unfortunately, the "one right price" has been the least expensive prize only three times this season. On Tuesday, Raul lost One Away after getting only one number right on his first try. Last time that happened: January 19, 2004. (The contestant first guessed $37,840 on a Pontiac Vibe, then changed it to $39,642.) Between both losses, eight different contestants only got one number right on the first try but still went on to win the car. Also on Tuesday, Gary had to spend at least $7,500 in order to win Shopping Spree. That's the largest target ever offered in this game. (Previous high: $7,000). So far this season, four contestants have managed to win all four punches in Punch-A-Bunch. That feat was accomplished only 6 times in Season 38 and 7 times in Season 39. On Friday, Donny failed to win 5 Price Tags despite winning three choices out of the five price tags. Surprisingly, that is not an unusual result. Since the start of Season 33, 15 contestants have won exactly three choices. Only 8 of these contestants went on to win the car. The Showcases offered on Friday's episode were the first ($58,458) and the third ($51,959) most expensive Showcases offered this season. Only two other Showcases have exceeded $50,000: The first Showcase on September 21 ($53,186) and the second Showcase on September 19 ($50,969). For those keeping score, here are the results, by military branch, of the past four "Salute to the Military" specials: Branch Contestants One Bids Won Showdowns Won Showcases Won Pricing Games Total Won Army 8 5 1 0 2/5 $44,165 Air Force 9 6 3 2 3/6 $181,159 Coast Guard 4 3 1 0 2/3 $35,062 Marines 8 6 2 2 3/6 $145,758 Navy 7 4 1 0 1/4 $13,707

Comments for the Week of November 14-18

Biggest winner this week: Christina Sanchez ($43,928) (November 14) Streaks snapped: Make Your Move (7 straight losses - previous win was January 11, 2011) Monday's second Showcase ($69,485) was the most expensive Showcase of the season (and the most expensive since a $74,472 Showcase was offered on April 6 of this year), while Friday's second Showcase ($19,756) was the least expensive Showcase of the season (and the cheapest Showcase since a $18,453 Showcase was offered on June 9 of this year). On Monday, Switch? was won for the fourth straight time. Switch? currently has a record of 5-4, which is a nice rebound after starting the season at 1-4. Switch? has also been played for a 3D HDTV in five out its last seven playings. Tuesday could have turned out to be a slump busting episode. Unfortunately, it was the status quo instead: Cover Up was lost for the eighth straight time, including all six playings this season. Danger Price was lost for the twelfth straight time, including all three playings this season. It has now been a full calendar year (October 15, 2010) since this game was won. To make matters worse, losses have come quick and fast during this streak - 9/12 contestants lost on either their first or second pick. Pick-a-Number was lost for the sixth straight time, including all five playings this season. Thanks to Pass the Buck, Tuesday was not all negative. Pass the Buck was won for the second straight time (after snapping a twelve game losing streak). Lynette also earned both of the additional picks, which had not happened since September 24 of last season (15 playings ago). On Wednesday, Flip Flop was played for a $9,896 living room - the most expensive prize ever offered in this game (Previous high: a $9,875 golf cart on June 11, 2009). That is pretty much the highest possible price you can have in this game - the only other compatible prices that could beat this mark is $9,897 and $9,898 (unless they somehow start playing this game for five digit prizes). On Friday, Secret "X" became the 100th Pricing Game to be won this season. Also on Friday, Rashaad got all three grocery product pairings right in Stack the Deck. Last time that happened: February 9, 2011. February 9 is also the last time this game was won. Unfortunately, perfect pricing on the grocery items wasn't enough to give us a win this time around. Since Stack the Deck premiered, the game has a record of 13-11 when the contestant gets all three grocery pairings right. Conversely, the game has been won only three times when contestants miss at least one of the pairings. It has been more than one month (Grand Game and 1/2 Off on September 28) since a cash game has been fully won (However, $21,000 was won in Plinko on October 14). After starting the season at 6-2, the cash games have since gone on a 0-17 run.

Comments for the Week of November 21-23

Biggest winner this week: Josephine Olivo ($29,734) (November 21) The car games are currently mired in an eleven game losing streak. The last time a car game was won was Lucky $even on November 16. The Big Wheel is also struggling. Since $26,000 was won on November 4, there have been only 3 $1,000 winners. In general, the show has been in a rut over the past few weeks. Since $106,533 was won on November 4, only two episodes have given away more than $61,000 (November 11 and 14). In addition, the past seven episodes have all given away less than $60,000 and have had at least four Pricing Game losses. One game that is not struggling is Most Expen$ive. This game is currently on a three game winning streak and has rebounded nicely from a 0-5 start to the season. Also good news: The Grand Game win on Monday snapped a seventeen game losing/partial win streak for the cash games. So far this season, five Showcases have offered one or two motorcycles as the main prize. All five of these Showcases wound up being won. On Monday, Brenda picked the green and orange rats in Rat Race. That was only the third time in the game's history where a contestant put faith in the orange rat (the yellow rat has also only been chosen three times). On the other hand, the green rat is by far the most popular rat - it has been chosen 13 times (the blue rat has been chosen nine times; the pink rat eight times). Also on Monday, Grand Game was played with a target price of $2.00. That ties the mark for the lowest target price offered in this game since at least Season 29. (A $2.00 target price was also offered on May 31 of this year - that playing was lost on the first pick.) Also on Monday, Squeeze Play became the first (and still only) game to be played ten times this season (Switch? joined this club on Tuesday) and the first game to be lost seven times this season. On Wednesday, Darril missed the fourth number in Lucky $even by 7. Since the start of Season 36, that's only happened two other times: November 11, 2010 (guesses 9, actual number was 2) and February 2, 2011 (guessed 2, actual number was 9). (No contestant managed to miss a number by more than 7 during this span.) Also on Wednesday, Carmen lost by Grocery Game by one cent. That beats a two cent loss that occured on November 21, 2002. It also tied a one cent loss that occurred in 1996.

Comments for the Week of November 28-December 2

Biggest winner this week: Jacob Krause ($64,913) (November 29) (Third biggest winner so far this season) Streaks snapped: Any Number (5 straight losses - previous win was October 14, 2011) On Monday, Side By Side was played first for only the third time in the game's history (it was also played first on May 23, 1994 and May 4, 2011). In addition, with the win, Side By Side is now 6-0 this season when it has been played for anything other than a snowmobile. Also on Monday, Hi-Lo was played second. Last time the game was played second: January 20, 2000. Sticking with the slotting theme, Switcheroo was played sixth on Tuesday. Last time the game was played sixth: January 3, 2002. Pass the Buck was won for the third time this season on Wednesday. That already beats the number of wins in Season 39 (one) and in Season 38 (two). The win in Pass the Buck also snapped a sixteen game losing streak amongst the car games. (Prior to Wednesday, both car games had been lost in seven straight episodes.) In 5 Price Tags so far this season, contestants have guessed "false" for 15/16 small prizes. Unfortunately, "false" has been correct only seven times. On Thursday, Temptation was played for gifts totalling $3,185. That's the cheapest prize package since June 17, 2008 ($2,663). On Thursday, Pocket ¢hange was played fourth - the first time this season the Pricing Game played fourth was played for a car. Also on Thursday, flipping AND flopping was the correct choice in Flip Flop for the first time this season. The game has now been lost 15 straight times (and in 37 out of the previous 38 playings) when flipping and flopping is the correct decision. Finally, on Thursday, Annie overbid on her Showcase by $134. That's the smallest overbid of the season and the smallest since March 11 of last season ($27). Wednesday was the 50th episode of the season. So far, Cliff Hangers (-10) and Freeze Frame (-11) are on pace to see a dougle digit decrease in play compared to last season. Clock Game (-7) and Lucky $even (-8) are also on pace for a significant decrease. On the flip side, Side By Side (+10), Switcheroo (+8) and Take Two (+8) are all on pace to have significant increases in play this season. Magic # has also had a significant increase: It has been played three times this season - it was played only five times last season. View the complete comparison chart Monthly stats: Month Winnings Pricing Games Wheel Winnings Cars Won September $820,500 AVG: $82,050 27/60 45.00% $16,000 16/35 45.72% October $1,314,402 AVG: $67,070 42/120 35.00% $23,000 24/60 40.00% November $1,217,991 AVG: $60,900 40/120 33.33% $58,000 13/60 21.67%

Comments for the Week of December 5-9

Biggest winner this week: Wendeline Ellis ($55,592) (December 7) Streaks snapped: Danger Price (12 straight losses - previous win was October 15, 2010) We have now reached 200 Pricing Game losses on the season: Monday's Cover Up was loss #200 (and loss #7 for Cover Up this season). On Tuesday, Secret X was played for a $21,615 trip to Las Vegas. That's very likely the most expensive prize ever offered in this game in daytime, including cars. (Previous high: A $14,865 Chevrolet Aveo offered on May 10, 2007). So far this season, three contestants managed to get two rolls exactly right in Dice Game. Unfortunately, only one of these contestants wound up winning the car. In fact, since the start of season 36, Dice Game only has a record of 5-4 when contestants roll two numbers right. (Related stat: Last time a contestant rolled three numbers right: November 5, 2004 - that playing was won). On Wednesday, Wendeline became the third contestant to win $26,000 in the Showcase Showdown this season. The Big Wheel is off to a fast start: It took until December 13 before $26,000 was won for the first time last season, Push Over was won for the seventh time this season on Thursday. Push Over is off to an impressive 7-3 start. It Push Over keeps up this pace, it will finish the year above .500 for the first time since Season 29 (when it went 13-12). On Thursday, the six one bids totalled $4,724 - the smallest total so far this season and the smallest since August 19 of this year ($4,444). On Friday, there was only a $495 difference in price between both prizes in 1 Right Price. Since the start of Season 36, the smallest span between prizes in 1 Right Price was a mere $440 on April 8, 2009 (that playing still managed to be won). On Friday, Freeze Frame was won for the third straight time. Freeze Frame has a record of 3-3 this season and it has already been won the same number of times as it was in all of last season (the game went 3-27 in Season 39). Last season, Cliff Hangers and Side By Side had the best start to the year by going 4-0 before being lost. This season, Cliff Hangers (5-0) and Pick-a-Pair (5-0) have already surpassed this mark. Will either game tie the 6-0 start of Side By Side in Season 38?

Comments for the Week of December 12-16

Biggest winner this week: Patricia Mellor ($76,285) (December 15) (Second biggest winner so far this season) Streaks snapped: Let 'em Roll (5 straight losses - previous win was April 27, 2011) The car games have been struggling lately. After the October 31 episode, the car games had an overall record of 21-40 (34.4%). There was also two weeks (October 10-14 and 24-28) where the car games went 6-4. The record for the car games since November 1 is much less impressive - 10-54 (15.6%). The best weekly performance is also underwhelming - a 3-7 record on November 7-11. There have been a lot of good Showcase bids so far this season: 3 contestants were less than $250 away from the actual retail price of their Showcase, another 5 contestants were less than $500 away and another 8 were less than $1,000 away. So far this season, there has been little advantage in spinning second or third in the Showcase Showdown: 41 Showdowns were won by the first spinner, 41 by the second spinner and 42 by the third. In Seasons 29-39, the winning percentage was 30% for the first spinner, 34% for the second spinner and 36% for the third spinner. By my count, Monday marked the 1,000th daytime episode that Rachel has appeared on. Rachel is currently (or will soon be) fifth on the all time appearance list, behind Janice, Dian, Holly and Kathleen (Anitra also had around 1,000 appearances, so if Rachel has not passed her yet, she will sometime in the next few weeks.) In the past 12 playings of Swap Meet, contestants had to choose the least expensive prize in order to win. Contestants haven't been very lucky during this streak: Swap Meet has a record of 3-9 in these past 12 playings (including a current streak of seven straight losses). On Wednesday, Quitresa missed the third prize in Rat Race by $370. That was not the largest miss in this game - here are the current records: Grocery product: $2.21 (April 6, 2011) Prize under $100: $36 (February 24, 2011) Prize over $100: $450 (November 12, 2010) On Thursday, Patricia won Cliff Hangers with Hans/Yodely Guy only taking 6 steps. That's the best performance in this game since April 28, 2009 - on that day, the cliff hanger only took one step. Related stat: The last time Cliff Hangers was played perfectly was June 4, 2002. In all four playings of Let 'em Roll this season, the grocery products were placed in ascending order (meaning contestants had to guess "higher" twice in order to get three rolls). Only one contestant managed to win the two extra rolls under this set up. On Friday, the six one bids totalled $4,524 - the smallest total so far this season and the smallest since August 19 of this year ($4,444). Also on Friday, one of the prizes offered in One Wrong Price was a $839 laptop - the cheapest prize offered in this game since June 12, 2009 (a $750 buffet server). Finally on Friday, Vera was only $1,299 away from the actual retail price of her Showcase - the closest bid among non-Showcase winners this season. (And the closest since May 14, 2009 when a $483 difference was not good enough to win.) Switch? is currently the game that has been won most often this season (8 wins). (It also had the most wins last season). Flip Flop (7 wins) and Push Over (7 wins) are close behind. Conversely, Money Game, One Wrong Price, Squeeze Play and That's Too Much all have all best lost 9 times this season. Which game will reach double digit losses first?

Comments for the Week of December 19-23

Biggest winner this week: Wesley Linton ($38,074) (December 22) Streaks snapped: Pick-a-Number (8 straight losses - the game was won for the first time since June 9, 2011) Stack the Deck (8 straight losses - the game was won for the first time since February 9, 2011) Most Expen$ive (5 straight wins - the game was lost for the first time since October 31, 2011) 1 Right Price (5 straight losses - the game was won for the first time since November 4, 2011) Cliff Hangers (6 straight wins - the game was lost for the first time since August 19, 2011) The good news: Four out the first six Pricing Games played this week were won. The bad news: Only four out of the next 22 Pricing Games played this week were won. The good news: Pick-A-Number was won for the first time in eight tries this season. The bad news: Cover Up didn't follow suit, and is still winless in eight tries this season. The good news: Side By Side has a record of 6-0 this season when it offered a prize that's not a snowmobile. The bad news: The game has a record of 0-3 this season when it offered a snowmobile. The good news: Balance Game is 3-0 this season when the contestant had to choose the two smallest bags in order to win. The bad news: The game is 0-3 this season (and is 0-19 since the start of Season 36) when the contestant had to choose the two largest bags in order to win. On Monday, Brittany won the first prize in Clock Game in one second - one of the fastest wins for one prize in this game since at least Season 29. (Excluding the Million Dollar Spectacular that had a perfect bid.) On Tuesday, Side By Side was played third, becoming the third game to be played in all six slots this season (joining Squeeze Play and Switch?). On Wednesday, Coming or Going was played for 2 motorscooters worth $9,978. Surprisingly, that's not the most expensive prize ever offered in this game - on May 27 of this year this game was played for a $9,998 barbecue island (the highest possible price you can have in this game). On Thursday, Now.. or Then was played for a $18,368 trip to Las Vegas. That's the second most expensive prize ever offered in this game, behind only a $19,995 Chrysler 200 offered last season. (In fact, the game has been played for a $10,000+ prize in 8 out of its last 18 playings.) Also on Thursday, there was a $3,205 difference between both prices in Double Prices - one of the largest spreads since at least Season 36. On Friday, That's Too Much was lost - the 100th time a car game was lost this season. Friday's Showcase set some new marks for the season: The first Showcase ($19,612) was the cheapest of the season. The two Showcases totalled $42,696, which was the lowest total of the season. The first Showcase offered snowmobiles as a main prize, but it was not won. (All other Showcases offering a snowmobile this season were won.) There was a $28 difference between the Showcase differences ($2,112 vs. $2,084) - the closest margin of the season. Congratulations(?) to 1 Wrong Price and That's Too Much, which became the first games to be lost 10 times this season. With Squeeze Play getting the week off, Switch? is the now the game that has been played most often this season (14 playings). Squeeze Play is now in a tie for second place with Flip Flop (13 playings). The most expensive "Holiday Gift Item of the Day" offered this year: 2 Blackberry Bold Smart Phones ($2,120) (December 15) The least expensive "Holiday Gift Item" offered this year: GE Digital Camera & Camcorder ($618) (December 6) Average price of the "Holiday Gift Items" this year: $1,210

Comments for the Week of December 26-30

Biggest winner this week: Anya Boyer ($50,697) (December 30) Streaks snapped: Gas Money (16 straight losses - previous win was October 19, 2010) Five out of six Pricing Games played on Monday were won. Last time we had a 5/6 day: August 31 of last season. Since the start of season 38, only 5 episodes have had a minimum of five Pricing Games won. On Monday, Margaret won Pass the Buck despite only having one pick. That's only happened two other times in the game's history (December 5, 2007 and November 4, 2005). Also on Monday, Stephanie bid on a Showcase that ended with a trip. Last time a contestant bid on a trip Showcase: March 24 of this year. (Between both dates, contestants passed 25 trip Showcases). Friday's six one bids totalled $12,014 - the highest amount of the season. (However, that total is still well behind last season's high - $15,092 on September 20, 2010) Also on Friday, Sheri won Bonkers on her first try and in only five seconds. That's one of the fastest wins in the game's history (the game was won in four seconds on May 4, 2005, and in five seconds on March 24, 2008 and on January 22, 2009). It was also the 13th time since Season 33 that the game was won in one try. Pick-A-Pair has now been won ten straight times - matching the 10 game winning streak it had from June 10, 2008-January 14, 2009 and from January 18, 2010-September 23, 2010. Pick-A-Pair has still some work to do to match some recent record streaks: Bullseye was won 21 straight times between January 22, 2007-December 2, 2008, Pick-A-Pair was won 18 straight times between June 7, 2005-May 11, 2006 and Cliff Hangers was won 15 straight times between November 28, 2006-December 6, 2007. Friday's Showcase round set some new marks for the season: The second Showcase ($71,628) was the most expensive Showcase of the season Both Showcases totalled $121,565 - the highest total of the season (and the highest since November 11, 2009). Sheri's bid of $28,000 was $43,628 away from the actual retail price of her Showcase - the second largest difference since the start of Season 39 (a contestant was $60,739 away from his Showcase on December 30, 2010). Anya won her Showcase despite being $17,937 away from the actual retail price of her Showcase - the largest difference among all Showcase winners this season. Monthly stats: Month Winnings Pricing Games Wheel Winnings Cars Won September $820,500 AVG: $82,050 27/60 45.00% $16,000 16/35 45.72% October $1,314,402 AVG: $67,070 42/120 35.00% $23,000 24/60 40.00% November $1,217,991 AVG: $60,900 40/120 33.33% $58,000 13/60 21.67% December $1,301,906 AVG: $68,521 42/114 29.17% $32,000 20/56 35.71%

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