A prize is shown as are 6 grocery products. The contestant wins the prize if they select the 3 most expensive grocery products.
Random fact
This game used to be wheeled out on to the stage and the grocery items described before the main prize was revealed This changed in 2008 to a standard reveal of the main prize first and then the game.
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 87-122 (41.63%)
What it would be by random chance: 1/20 (5%)
How often was product X one of the 3 highest priced products (seasons 40-46)?
1 (left most product): 31 playings (64.58%)
2: 16 playings (33.33%)
3: 25 playings (52.08%)
4: 25 playings (52.08%)
5: 26 playings (54.17%)
6 (right most product): 21 playings (43.75%)
Strategy
"Pick the endpoints" is only half true here, as the product on the far right is correct the 2nd-least amount, but the product on the far left is correct the most often. So if you're not sure, pick that one. Besides that, know the prices.
A cash prize is shown as are 16 boxes; one of them has money in it. 3 rows of small items are shown; each small item has a price shown. In each row, one of the prices is the correct price of its prize and the other price is 1/2 off the correct price. If the contestant chooses the prize whose shown price is 1/2 off its retail value, half of the boxes that remain are removed. The box with the money is never removed. (For example, if they get all three prizes right, there will be 2 boxes left, one of which has the money.) The contestant must then choose one of the remaining boxes. If that box has money in it, the contestant wins the cash prize. Also, whether they win or not, if the contestant gets all three small prizes right, they win a bonus of $1,000.
Random fact
This game is usually played for $10,000, but occasionally is played for more. Here's a playing they show while you're at a taping waiting to get in to the studio:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 32-46): 83-179 (31.68%) (Note 1/2 Off was introduced in season 32.)
What it would be by random chance: 27/128 (21.09%)
The money was in box #...(seasons 40-46):
4 playings (3.10%)
8 playings (6.20%)
6 playings (4.65%)
9 playings (6.98%)
9 playings (6.98%)
9 playings (6.98%)
6 playings (4.65%)
8 playings (6.20%)
8 playings (6.20%)
7 playings (5.43%)
11 playings (8.53%)
10 playings (7.75%)
5 playings (3.88%)
13 playings (10.08%)
10 playings (7.75%)
6 playings (4.65%)
The prize with the 1/2 off price was...(seasons 40-46)
On the left: 196 prizes (50.65%)
On the right: 191 prizes (49.35%)
The one with the smaller given price: 216 prizes (55.81%)
The one with the larger given price: 171 prizes (44.19%)
# of times the following left/right combinations were correct (seasons 40-46)
All three on the left were correct: 14 playings (10.85%)
Two on the left and one on the right were correct: 43 playings (33.33%)
One on the left and two on the right were correct: 61 playings (47.29%)
All three on the right were correct: 11 playings (8.53%)
If one price was even and the other odd, the correct one to select was...(seasons 40-46)
The even price: 30 prizes (16.04%)
The odd price: 157 prizes (83.96%)
Strategy
Part 1: Pricing
As you can see by the stats above, it's mostly know the price with one major exception: if one given price is even and one is odd, go with the odd price unless you're sure the even price is the 1/2 off price. For example, if the given prices are $15 and $40, choose $15. But if both prices are even or both are odd, choose the one you think is 1/2 off. If you're not sure at all, choose the smaller given price, but as you can see, the producers are pretty good at making sure that's not a consistent trend in this game.
Part 2: Which box to choose?
First off, don't bother looking at the audience for this, as they have no more clue than you do. If you really want to go by stats, pick the first box in this list that is still available: 14, 11, (12,15), (4,5,6), (2,8,9), 10, (3,7,16), 13, 1. The numbers in parenthesis are tied, so if you see 12 and 15 left, it's a tossup. The problem with using a list like this, though, is it's very dependent on which seasons you choose to analyze, so if you want to go with your favorite number, I have no problem with that. However, two principles do apply here:
Pick the endpoints does NOT apply. 1 and 16 are among the least frequent boxes to see the money.
Try to figure out if the show is in budget mode. Pay attention to the setups earlier in the show to see if the show is in budget mode. For example, if a car in Lucky $even is $21,298, that's a clue the show is in budget mode, as those numbers are all far from 5. But if the price is $24,654, then the show is less likely to be in budget mode. If the show is in budget mode, then go for the more unlikely boxes like 1, 13, and 16. If not, then go for the more standard choices like 11, 12, and 14. Of course, if 1/2 Off is the first game played, then this principle won't help you.
A prize is shown. Then 5 grocery items are shown. The contestant must pick one grocery item at a time and decide how many of that item they wish to buy. A running total of the contestant's purchases is kept; if that total ends up between $20 and $22, inclusive, they win the game. Should they go over $22 or use all 5 items and not be at $20, they lose.
Random fact
There's usually a theme behind the grocery products in this game. One time, they proved they have at least one geek on staff as they went with a popular board game as the theme. See if you can figure out which game it was:
Win-loss rate (seasons 29-46):77-148 (34.22%)
From seasons 32-46, the contestant won the game by using...
1 grocery product: 6 times (9.83% of all wins)
2 grocery products: 23 wins (37.71% of all wins)
3 grocery products: 23 wins(37.71% of all wins)
4 grocery products: 8 wins (13.12% of all wins)
5 grocery products: 1 win (1.64% of all wins)
Strategy
You do need to know the prices of at least a couple of the items. Then the key is to start expensive and finish cheap. Begin with an expensive item and take 2 of that (be careful about taking 3 as they do sometimes use products over $8). That will usually get you to the $10-$15 range. Then look for a mid-level product around $3-$5, and take 1-2 of that. That should get you close to the $20 mark. Finally, take 1 or 2 of the cheapest item to get you over $20 but not over $22. By saving the cheapest item for last, you can adjust this strategy to fit the actual items you get; however, if you use the cheapest item first and end up at something like $19.50 with only expensive items left you probably can't win the game.
A car is shown as is the first digit of the car's price. The contestant is given three choices for the next two digits of the car's price, and three different choices for the last two digits of the car's price. The contestant must guess both correct pairs of digits without making more than one total mistake to win the car.
Random fact
This is the newest game in the pricing game rotation, having debuted in season 46. Thus, I'll be including season 47 statistics in this guide to have some more data to work with.
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 46-47): 14-15 (48.28%)
What it would be by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)
For the second and third digits, the correct choice was...
The cheapest pair of digits: 15 playings (51.72%)
The middle pair of digits: 9 playings (31.03%)
The most expensive pair of digits: 5 playings (17.24%)
For the fourth and fifth digits, the correct choice was...
The cheapest pair of digits: 10 playings (34.48%)
The middle pair of digits: 6 playings (20.69%)
The most expensive pair of digits: 13 playings (44.83%)
Strategy
Don't forget the usual car pricing rules: other than the first two digits, consecutive digits won't be the same (edit: as Kev347 pointed out at golden-road.net, car digits have repeated in this game), and if paint and fabric protection is offered, the price won't end in 5 or 0. Otherwise, know the price, as 29 playings isn't a large enough sample size to make any definitive strategical statements. If you really want to go with the stats, pick the cheapest pair for the first choice and the most expensive pair for the second choice, but the fact that those have been correct the most often is just as likely to be a pattern resulting from a small sample size of a random process instead of being a setup favored by the producers.
Six grocery items are shown as is a target price. Four of the items have an actual retail price less than the target price. The contestant starts with $1 and picks items one at a time. Each time they are right, their winnings multiply by 10. If their first, second, or third guess is wrong, the game ends and the contestant leaves with whatever winnings they have at that time. If the contestant gets the first three products right, they have a choice: quit the game leave with $1,000 or continue and try for $10,000. If they continue and are correct about their last choice, they win $10,000; however, if they are wrong on their last pick, they leave with $0.
Random fact
The first Grand Game winner was a rather memorable one:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 139-270 (33.99%) (Note: bailouts after the third item count as losses. However, there have only been 7 of them.)
Probability of winning by random chance: 1/15 (6.67%)
Item #X was above the target price...(seasons 40-46)
1 (left most product): 44 playings (14.10%)
2: 46 playings (14.74%)
3: 70 playings (22.44%)
4: 58 playings (18.59%)
5: 51 playings (16.35%)
6 (right most product): 43 playings (13.78%)
Strategy
Forget about the target price. What you're really trying to do is pick out the four cheapest items. So for each of your picks, simply choose what you think the cheapest item is.
Forget about the bailout. Even if you just pick the last product by random chance, your cash will increase, on average, by $2,333.33.
"Pick the endpoints" can guide--but not rule--you. Not surprisingly, the left-most and the right-most products are the least frequent products to be over the target price, as contestants don't generally like picking items on the end when given a choice. Note they're not so frequently correct choices compared to the other products that I can say you should always pick them. However, if you're completely clueless, then it's a good place to start.
Three prizes are shown as is a grocery item. The contestant must pick which of the two digits in the price of the grocery item is the hundreds digit in the first prize. If they are wrong, they leave with nothing. If they are correct, they win that prize and continue. They then must pick which of the three digits in the price of the first prize is the hundreds digit of the second prize. If they are wrong, they keep the first prize but the game ends; if they are correct, they win the second prize and continue on. They must finally pick which of the digits of the price of the second prize is the hundreds digit of the third prize. If they are correct, they win all three prizes; if they are wrong, they keep the first two prizes.
Random Fact
This is the first of the "big three" games on the show (the other two being 3 Strikes and Triple Play.) Those games are called the big three because they routinely offer the most expensive prize packages on the game. Here's one example of Golden Road being played for a Corvette:
Win-loss record
Seasons 29-46: 16-76 (17.39%)
What it would be by random chance: 1/24 (4.17%)
First prize stats (seasons 40-46)
Cheaper price was correct: 3 playings (12%)
More expensive price was correct: 22 playings (88%)
Second prize stats (seasons 40-46)
(Note: these only include playings where the contestant got the first prize right.)
Cheapest price was correct: 11 playings (52.38%)
Middle price was correct: 8 playings (38.10%)
Most expensive price was correct: 2 playings (9.52%)
Same number was correct for the first and second prizes: 2 playings (9.52%)
Last prize stats (seasons 40-46)
(Note: these only include playings the contestant got the first two prizes right.)
Cheapest price was correct: 8 playings (57.14%)
Second cheapest price was correct: 2 playings (14.29%)
Second most expensive price was correct: 2 playings (14.29%)
Most expensive price was correct: 2 playings (14.29%)
The digit that was correct for the last prize was also correct for a previous prize: 6 playings (42.86%)
Strategy
I will break down the strategy by prize. One caution: this game is only played 3-4 times a year, so the sample size for these statistics is quite small. Thus, it's hard to tell if these are really patterns or just quirks of what happens when you apply random chance to a small sample size.
But one strategy I can guarantee: Digits NEVER repeat in the price of the first or second prize (if they did, this would cause you to have one less choice for the second or third prize). They can repeat in the price of the final prize.
First prize: Pick the more expensive price! The less expensive price hasn't been right since season 44. There also hasn't been a prize for less than $500 in this game since season 38, so if one of the numbers is less than 5, you really know it's going to be the larger number. But unless you have a really good reason to believe the smaller number is correct or the larger number is the same as one of the other digits in the price, go for the larger number.
Second prize: The key strategy here is to not guess the same digit that was correct for the first prize. It's rare when it's also correct for the second prize; in fact, it hasn't been correct since 42. Further, don't guess the largest digit--as you can see in the stats, it's rare for that to be correct. And finally, don't forget, no two digits in the price of the second prize will repeat. Hopefully, this narrows it down to one choice, but if it doesn't, then you need to know the price.
Final prize: Things get much trickier here. While digits can repeat in the price in the last price, the 3rd to last digit (the one you're looking for), is never the same as the digit before or after it. For example, if the price is $189,_65 (an actual price from season 43), the digit in the blank won't be 9 or 6. However, the 3rd to last digit can be the same as a digit it's not right next to, so in that example, it could have been a 5--and in fact, it was. After applying that rule, if you're not sure, pick the lowest number--it's right more than half the time. Again, note the sample size is small, so my confidence isn't great that this is a pattern and not just a quirk of random chance. But it's better than absolutely nothing.
A car is shown, as are five possible prices for the car. The contestant must pick which prices are NOT the price of the car. Each time they are correct, they win an amount of money from $1,000-$4,000 as indicated on the back of the price tag. They may at any point leave with their accumulated money. If they successfully pick all 4 non-prices, they win the car and $10,000; if they pick the price of the car at any time, they leave with nothing.
Random fact
Gas Money was once played for one of the most valuable prizes in the show's history, an Audi R8. You can see how the contestant did here:
Win-loss record (seasons 37-46)
(Note Gas Money was introduced in season 37. Also note that it's only a win if the contestant wins the car. If they bail out early, it's considered a loss.)
Actual: 12-118 (9.23%)
What it would be by random chance: 1/5 (20%)
Yes, voice from offstage, I know the win-loss record is half of what it would be if they just picked randomly. No, it's not the fact that bailouts count as a loss; there have only been 19 bailouts. Remove those, and the win-loss record is still only a touch above 10%.
The correct price was...(seasons 40-46)
On the far left: 17 playings (17%)
Second from the left: 22 playings (22%)
Dead center: 19 playings (19%)
Second from the right: 19 playings (19%)
On the far right: 23 playings (23%)
The most expensive displayed price: 17 playings (17%)
The second most expensive displayed price: 18 playings (18%)
The middle price: 5 playings (5%)
The second cheapest displayed price: 28 playings (28%)
The cheapest displayed price: 31 playings (31%)
Unknown: 1 playing (1%)
Strategy
First off, when the curtain comes up and you see the car, do not look at the board. Instead, as George is describing the car, think about how much you believe the car costs. You do not want the board to influence you yet! Then before you make your first pick, decide how much the car is worth to you. For example, if you would turn it down completely if you won, then it's worth $0 to you. Or you might try to sell it, in which case a $20,000 car may only be worth $15,000 when you take depreciation and taxes into account. Then start by picking the middle price (middle as in there are two cheaper prices and two more expensive prices, not necessarily the price that's physically in the center)--that's why contestants are so bad at this game. It's a variation of the "pick the endpoints" rule--most contestants think the price has to be somewhere in the middle of the displayed prices and it almost never is. Thus, my advice to decide on a price before looking at the board, and start the game by removing the middle price, price wise.
Once you've done that, now you're going to need that value of how much the car is worth to you. The following table tells you how much your personal value of the car should be to keep playing if you're just picking by random chance. The number on the left is how much cash you have; the number on top is how many picks you've made. A value of "0" for the car means you should always play on because the probabilities state you're likely to win more cash than you would lose by playing on, never mind the value of the car. A value of "N/A" means that combination can't happen--for example, you can't have $1,000 after two picks.
Amt. After 1 After 2 After 3
$1,000 $0 N/A N/A
$2,000 $0 N/A N/A
$3,000 $0 $0 N/A
$4,000 $0 $667 N/A
$5,000 N/A $1,667 N/A
$6,000 N/A $2,667 $2,000
$7,000 N/A $3,667 $4,000
$8,000 N/A N/A $6,000
$9,000 N/A N/A $8,000
Note you should never bail out after the first pick--even if you get the $4,000 card with your first pick and the car is worth nothing to you, you're more likely to make money than lose money due to having 3 good prices to pick and only one bad one. Also note you should never bail out if the car is worth at least $8,000 to you.
Assuming you don't bail out, what do you do after picking the middle price? This is where having that price in mind before you looked at the prices on the board comes in to play. Now you can start picking the prices that are farthest away from the price you had in mind and zero in from there. That said, if you're completely clueless, or the price you had in mind was way off from anything you see on the board, pick the price that's the cheapest every time. That maximizes your chances of winning, but does not replace knowing the price of the car.
Good luck! This is one of the hardest games on the show to win for a reason.
A prize is shown. A board is shown with rotating values and a frame at the top. The contestant must decide when the price of the prize is in the frame; once they believe it is, they pull a lever to stop the rotation. If they are correct, they win the prize.
Random fact
Freeze Frame's price reveal once completely froze:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 130-231 (36.01%)
Probability of winning by random chance: 1/8 (12.5%)
The correct price was...(seasons 32-46)
The most expensive price: 17 playings (11.33%)
The second most expensive price: 32 playings (21.33%)
The third most expensive price: 45 playings (30.00%)
The fourth most expensive price: 46 playings (30.67%)
The fifth most expensive price: 8 playings (5.33%) [none since season 42]
The sixth most expensive price: 1 playing (0.67%) [season 40]
The second cheapest price: 1 playing (0.67%) [season 41]
The cheapest price: 0 playings (0%)
Strategy
Pick one of the four most expensive prices. Make sure you choose a price that's at least $5,000--there hasn't been a prize offered in this game worth less than that since season 40. As for which price to choose after you apply those two facts, know the price. If you're completely clueless, go for the third or fourth most expensive choice.
A prize is shown as is a four digit price. That price is wrong. The contestant must decide whether to reverse the order of the first two digits ("flip"), reverse the order of the last two digits ("flop"), or reverse the order of the first two digits and reverse the order of the last two digits ("flip flop.") If they decide correctly, they win the prize.
Random fact
Someone once managed to cheat at this game (or was just totally idiotic) by pressing the button that reveals the price before doing anything else. Not coincidentally, the button to reveal the price has since been moved. You can see it here:
Win-loss record
Overall (seasons 29-46): 205-227 (47.45%)
Seasons 29-39: 86-134 (39.09%)
Seasons 40-46: 119-93 (56.13%)
Probability of winning by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)
Number of times it was correct to...
Choice Overall S29-39 S40-46
Flip 134 (31.02%) 52 (23.64%) 82 (38.68%)
Flop 167 (38.66%) 62 (28.18%) 105 (49.53%)
Both 131 (30.32%) 106 (48.18%) 25 (11.79%)
("S" stands for "seasons".)
Strategy
You can see why I split the stats into seasons 29-39 & seasons 40-46. Contestants never want to flip & flop, and that was dragging the win percentage of this game way down. So in season 40, the producers must have decided this is a game they generally want to be won and made it so it's quite infrequent that flip & flop is the correct answer. Thus, my strategy is to either flip or flop, depending on what you think the correct first two numbers of the prize are. Note they haven't offered a prize in this game worth less than $5,000 since season 42, so if flipping or not flipping would result in a price less than $5,000, then choose the other option. And in any event, don't flip & flop unless you're somehow absolutely certain.
A car is shown as are five price tags, one of which is the price of the car. Then four small prizes are shown one at a time. For each small prize, the contestant must guess whether the price displayed is true (correct) or false (incorrect). For each small prize they guess correctly, they get one choice of the five price tags for the car. If they can choose the price of the car within the number of guesses they have, they win the car.
Random fact
This game was host to one of the more memorable bloopers of recent years on the show:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 65-114 (36.31%)
What it would be by random chance: 40%
The correct price...<voice from offstage again.> Hold it, hold it, hold it. I thought Cover Up was bad with its win rate just above random chance. But now you're telling me people play Five Price Tags WORSE than random chance?!?! What in the ?!?!?!
Ugh. You again. I thought I shooed you off after Cover Up was over. Nope. Nice try.
OK, OK, I'll get there and this time it'll be pretty quick. Happy? Yup!
Small Prize Pricing
Let's start with the first half of this game, the pricing of the small prizes. The "worse record than random chance" will become clear pretty quickly...
# of times _____ was correct (seasons 32-46)
True: 359 prizes (60.64%)
False: 233 prizes (39.36%)
# of times the contestant chose (seasons 32-46)
True: 129 prizes (21.79%)
False: 463 prizes (78.21%)
Any questions on where the discrepancy comes from? Yikes. The contestants love to say "false"; the producers know this and make most of the prizes "true." Remember, things almost always cost more than you think! So here's the strategy for this part...
Strategy (small prize portion)
If you have any doubt, CHOOSE TRUE!!!!!!! Though don't forget the "all choices will not be the same" rule; at least one price will be false. But if you just choose true for everything, you're very likely to get at least 2, if not 3, picks. From seasons 40-46, here was how often different combinations of true and false came up:
1 True, 3 False: 5 playings (6.58%)
2 True, 2 False: 20 playings (26.32%)
3 True, 1 False: 51 playings (67.11%)
It was never the case that all four prices were true or all four prices were false. But choosing true for all four prizes would have gotten you at least two picks over 93% of the time.
Car pricing
If you followed my advice above, you should have two, if not three, choices for the price of the car. Let's look at some stats for this portion of the game...
Correct car price was...(seasons 32-46)
Tag #1 (the top tag): 35 playings (23.65%)
Tag #2: 23 playings (15.54%)
Tag #3: 19 playings (12.84%)
Tag #4: 30 playings (20.27%)
Tag #5 (the bottom tag): 41 playings (27.70%)
The cheapest shown price: 53 playings (35.81%)
The second cheapest shown price: 52 playings (35.14%)
The middle shown price: 8 playings (5.41%)
The second most expensive shown price: 17 playings (11.49%)
The most expensive shown price: 18 playings (12.16%)
Strategy (car pricing portion)
Remember the pick the endpoints rule. Choose the bottom tag and then the top tag. If they're both wrong, then choose the cheapest price left unless the top and bottom tags were the two cheapest prices; if that's the case, then choose the most expensive price left.
Three prizes are shown as are three blocks number 1, 2, and 3. The contestant must place block 1 with the prize that has the cheapest price, block 2 with the prize that is neither cheapest nor most expensive, and block 3 with the most expensive prize to win.
Random fact
There was another game on the show, Clearance Sale, that was functionally equivalent to this one. But Eazy Az 1-2-3 was introduced first and has gotten a lot more love than Clearance Sale ever did. Here's a video of Clearance Sale if you want to judge for yourself:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 129-110 (53.97%)
Probability of winning by random chance: 1/6 (16.67%)
The correct ordering of the blocks was (seasons 31-46)...
1-2-3: 24 playings (13.04%)
1-3-2: 16 playings (8.70%)
2-1-3: 55 playings (29.89%)
2-3-1: 19 playings (10.33%)
3-1-2: 44 playings (23.91%)
3-2-1: 26 playings (14.13%)
Strategy
Know the prices. If you're completely clueless about the prices, put block #1 in the middle, as it's belonged there 53.8% of the time, then make an educated guess about blocks 2 and 3.
A prize is shown along with two prices. The contestant must choose which of those two prices is the price of the prize to win the prize.
Random fact
Double Prices has been played more than any other game in the show's history.
Random review
At golden-road.net, there's a section where people can post reviews of the pricing games on the show. User gamesurf wrote one about this game that's of the most poetic things I've ever read about anything on The Price is Right. Here's how it starts:
"Bless you, Double Prices.
You are the glue that holds the show together. The common, unpretentious, one prize quickie, meant to save time so that longer games may exist..."
If you want to read the whole thing, first you must register at golden-road.net, then click here:
The pair rule can help here--if you're playing for 2 of the exact same thing (e.g. 2 identical motorcycles, 2 identical surfboards, etc.), the price will almost certainly end in an even number. Otherwise, know the price.
Two prizes are shown as is a board with two long thin screens that intersect to look like an X. There are seven numbers on each screen. The screen from the top left to the lower right corner is a touchscreen; the contestant uses that touchscreen to highlight the price of the prize on the left. As they change that price, the highlighted price on the other screen also changes. If the two prices the contestant highlights match the prices of the two prizes, the contestant wins.
Random fact
In the game's first playing, there was no think music:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 40-46): 62-34 (64.58%) (Note this game was introduced in season 40.)
What it would be by random chance: 1/4 (25%)
The correct prices were...
At the very top: 7 playings (7.29%)
The second from the top: 39 playings (40.63%)
The second from the bottom: 41 playings (42.71%)
At the very bottom: 9 playings (9.38%)
Strategy
This game inverts the "pick the endpoints" rule--here, it's DON'T pick the endpoints unless you're absolutely sure the first or last price is right. (I guess the producers actually want this game to be won.) Instead, pick one of the middle two possibilities; which one of those to choose comes down to pricing knowledge.
Two prizes are shown as is an amount of money. The contestant must decide if the price of the first prize plus the amount of money shown equals the price of the second prize or if the price of the first prize minus the amount of money shown equals the price of the second prize. If they are correct, they win both prizes and the amount of money.
Random fact
Former CBS & Price is Right employee Scott Robinson came up with the concept that would become this game. He is also a frequent poster at golden-road.net and shared with us the story of how Do the Math came about:
(Sadly, some of the videos and photos that were once in that thread have been lost to time, but it's still a great read.)
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 42-46): 71-46 (60.68%) (Note Do the Math was introduced in season 42.)
What it would be by random chance: 1/2 (50%)
Number of times it was correct to...
Add: 53 (45.30%)
Subtract: 64 (54.70%)
Strategy
Forget the actual prices or the amount of money, this is really a game of which prize is more expensive. If the second prize is more expensive, select "plus"; if it's less expensive, select "minus." And don't forget the trip rule--if you're playing for two trips, whichever destination is farther from Los Angeles is the more expensive trip.
A car is shown and the first digit of the car's price is revealed. The remaining four digits in the car's price are guaranteed to be between 1 and 6 inclusive. The contestant rolls four dice one at a time, representing the second through the fifth digits of the car, in that order. For each roll, the host checks if the value on the die is correct; if it is, it is lit up. If it is not, the contestant must guess whether that digit in the car's price is higher or lower than the number rolled. After all dice are rolled, the actual digits are revealed, and if the contestant's higher/lower guesses are all correct, they win the car.
Random fact
Believe it or not, a contestant did once roll all the numbers in the price of the car in spite of the 1/1296 (0.08%) chance of that happening:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 179-184 (49.31%)
What it would be by random chance: 625/1296 (48.23%) Note: That assumes the digits of the car are equally likely to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, and that you go with the odds on every roll.
Which digit of the car had which value? (Seasons 40-46)
When I first saw that the actual win-loss record was just barely better than the random chance record, I figured it would be because the producers were using 1s and 6s all over the place, but this turned out to not be true. It's really more a testament to the fact that the producers can add whatever options they want to turn car pricing into a crap shoot (pun not intended.) So here's the strategy:
2nd digit: The show rarely offers cars less than $15,000, so if the first number is a 1, feel free to say higher for anything you roll besides 6. Yes, that means if you roll a 5 and the first number is a 1, you should seriously consider saying "higher." On the flip side, if the first digit is a 2 and you roll a 2, you should seriously consider saying "lower."
3rd & 4th digits: Go with the odds. Period.
5th digit: Go with the odds unless you roll a 4. Look how often the last digit is 5--by saying "higher" on a 4, you're more likely to win than if you say "lower."
Four prizes are shown as is a price. The contestant must pick the three prizes that do not cost the amount of the price shown to win.
Random fact
This game used to have a pirate themed set. Here's a playing of it:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46): 68-107 (38.86%)
What it would be by random chance: 1/4 (25%)
From seasons 32-46, the prize with the danger price was...
The prize on the left: 38 playings (24.20%)
The second prize from the left: 38 playings (24.20%)
The second prize from the right: 39 playings (24.84%)
The prize on the far right: 42 playings (26.75%)
Strategy
Know the prices. There's no pattern as to the location of the prize with the danger price or whether that prize is the most expensive, the cheapest, or in between.
A car is shown. Then a board is shown with five columns. The first column has two numbers in it, the second column has three numbers in it, the third column has four numbers in it, the fourth column has five numbers in it, and the last column has six numbers in it. The contestant must take one number from each column to create the price of the car. Drew checks if that price is right. If it's not, he checks if any number is right. If at least one number is right, the game continues. The contestant then covers up the wrong number(s) with other choices from its/their respective column(s). If that price is right, the contestant wins. If it's not, then at least one of the numbers covered up in that round must be right to continue. The game continues until the car is won or there's a round where the contestant doesn't have any new numbers right.
Random fact
When Drew started as host, he constantly talked about how the initial numbers shown were pointless and might as well be blank. The show got him back for that:
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 29-46):145-292 (33.18%)
What it would be by random chance: 77/240 (32.08%)
<voice from offstage> Hang on a second. That can't be right! Most contestants know at least the first digit, if not the second digit, of the car's price. How are they barely doing better than random chance?
I'll tell you soon. Can we get back to this now? Fine, though my mind will be too occupied thinking about this to pay attention to anything you say before you answer.
Thank you, and too bad.
Correct digit by location (seasons 41-46)
3.01%
24.06% 22.56%
21.05% 19.55% 23.31%
40.60% 27.82% 17.29% 15.79%
41.35% 28.57% 27.07% 18.05% 20.30%
58.65% 30.83% 24.06% 21.05% 15.04%
C O V E R
Unwritten rule: The number at the top of the last column is almost never correct because if the contestant is shorter than about 6 feet tall, they can't easily reach it. The producers have broken that rule on rare occasions, but not since season 43. And no, this isn't why contestants are doing just barely better than random chance.
Strategy
Hey! Offstage voice! I'm ready to tell you why people are so bad at this game. Are you paying attention now? Yes? Good. There's a strategy to this game that loyal viewers call the Cover Up strategy, and it's simply this: get the first or second number WRONG on purpose on your first guess. Why? Because you can then get it right on your second turn and guarantee at least a third turn. But if you get the first two numbers right on the first turn, it makes your second turn that much harder. I've also heard strategies like "get the first two numbers wrong on purpose" so that you can get the first number right on the second turn and the third number right on the third turn. It turns out that doesn't work as well as the get the first number right on the first turn, second number right on the second turn strategy. Here are some numbers to show this point...
Chance of winning Chance of winning
Strategy w/o unwritten rule w/ unwritten rule
Complete randomness 32.08% 38.50%
Get the first two digits 21.67% 26.00%
right on the first turn
Get the first digit right
on turn 1 and the second 40.83% 49.00%
digit right on turn 2
Get the first digit right
on turn 2 and the second 34.17% 41.00%
digit right on turn 3
(The above table assumes digits 3-5 are always chosen randomly. The last column assumes the top number of the last column is incorrect and is never chosen by the contestant.)
As you can see, getting the first two digits right on the first turn is the worst thing you can do, and that's why the win percent of this game is so low. So don't be afraid to intentionally get the second number wrong on the first turn, as it almost doubles your chances of winning. In fact, if you don't follow that strategy, be afraid for my TV when I throw something at it in frustration of yet another contestant playing this game seriously sub-optimally. Instead, make me and my fellow TPiR geeks proud--get that second number wrong on purpose on the first try!
As for digits 3-5:
Don't forget the repeated digits rule--other than the first two digits, no two consecutive digits will be the same.
For whatever reason, they like making the 4th digit a 1 a little more frequently than you would expect by random chance. It's not hugely over, but if you see a 1 as an option for the 4th digit, it's worth a try.
Cars in this game rarely end in 0 or 5 (EDIT: or 9--see below). Since season 43, there's never been more than 3 playings of this game in a season where the car ended in a 0 or a 5 (or 9). EDIT: Thanks to RatRace10 at golden-road.net for also pointing out the price rarely ends in 9. From seasons 40-47, there were a total of 4 cars that ended in a 0, 9 that ended in a 5, and 4 that ended in a 9.
A prize is shown as are 4 digits that slide on a platform. The contestant must decide whether the digits should be coming toward them or going away from them. If they guess correctly, they win the prize.
Random fact
When this game first debuted, it didn't have a price tag to reveal the price; instead, Bob or Drew simply asked if the contestant was right and the platform would flash if they were.
Win-loss record
Actual (seasons 32-46): 223-149 (59.95%) (Note Coming or Going was introduced in season 32.)
What it would be by random chance: 1/2 (50%)
# of times each choice was right
Coming: 176 (47.31%)
Going: 196 (52.69%)
Based on the initial digit on the platform, what was correct? (seasons 40-46)
Digit Coming Going
4 4 2 5 20 21
6 9 26
7 16 33
8 20 11 9 18 10
Strategy
Know the price. If you're completely clueless about the price, you can use the above table to suggest that if you see a 6 or 7 when the prop is first shown, then select "going" while you should set an 8 or 9 as "coming." But that's not really enough playings to recommend that as a pattern. And they're very careful with the 5s--not only was it basically 50/50 as for whether the correct answer was coming or going when 5 was the initial digit, but overall, there were 34 prizes that ended in 5 and 29 that started with 5 from seasons 40-46. So this is a "know your prices" game. Addendum: there is a very common pattern! Thanks to GameShowFan9001, 123123123, and Kev347 at golden-road.net for pointing out a pattern in this game. In every playing since 12/11/2015, "going" has been correct for every trip and "coming" has been correct for every non-trip. So if you just remember that you're going on a trip or coming home to a prize, you'll win this game every time (at least unless they change this pattern.)
Season 49 edit: there were a couple of playings in season 49 for trips that did NOT follow this rule. All non-trips did follow this rule. Be aware.
Two prizes are shown. The contestant must bid on each prize individually; after each of their bids, Drew tells them whether the actual retail price is higher or lower. The bids continue until the contestant gets the price right. The contestant has 30 seconds total to win both prizes; if they win both, they also win a third bonus prize.
Random fact
One of the people who made golden-road.net what it is, John Sly, got his start by playing this game. He played it so well that Bob told everyone watching, "If you want to prepare yourself to play the Clock Game on The Price is Right, play it exactly as this young man played it. It cannot be played better than that." The show he was on is here (jump to the 2:30 mark to see his Clock Game playing):
Win-loss record (seasons 29-46):167-94 (63.98%)
Strategy
All prizes in this game are between $500 and $999 (inclusive)--they tried 4 digit prizes a couple of different times in this game's history but the results were fairly disastrous. So follow exactly what John did in the video above:
Start at a price evenly divisble by $100. I like starting at $800, but if you want to start at $500, $600, $700, or $900, there's no problem with that.
Zero in on the hundreds digit, keeping the tens and ones digits as 0. Go up or down $100 at a time and no more.
Zero in on the tens digit, keeping the ones digit as 0. Start at X50 (where X is the hundreds digit from above), and then move up or down $10 at a time, and no more.
Zero in on the ones digit.
Let me illustrate with an example. Let's say the price is $674.
You: 800
Drew: Lower
You: 700
Drew: Lower
You: 600
Drew: Higher
* You now know the price is 600 something. Go for the 10s digit, starting at the $50 mark:
You: 650
Drew: Higher
You: 660
Drew: Higher
You: 670
Drew: Higher
You: 680
Drew: Lower
* You now know the price is $670 something. On to the ones digit...
You: 671, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (The show has always accepted just the last digit once you've zeroed in to a $10 range. Don't wait for Drew to say "higher" or "lower" after each digit--spit out "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9" as fast as you can!)
This can easily be done in 15 seconds or less as long as you keep things moving.
As a suggestion, practice this while you're waiting to get into the studio! You have three hours between the time you arrive and the time you actually enter the Bob Barker studio, and most of that is down time. So find someone else in line, ask them to come up with a three digit number between 500 and 999, and you have to find it within 15 seconds using the strategy above. Switch roles afterward.
Special note: do NOT use binary search! If you don't know what binary search even is, then don't worry about this. But I bring this up because I've seen multiple places on-line suggest binary search as a strategy in Clock Game. For the uninitiated, binary search simply means that when you're looking for an element in a range, cut the range in half every time. Let's demonstrate with that same $674 example:
Bid 1: You know the prize is between $500 and $1000, so you bid the average, $750.
Drew: Lower.
Bid 2: You know the prize is between $500 and $750, so you bid the average, $625.
Drew: Higher.
Bid 3: You know the prize is between $625 and $750, so you bid the average, $688.
Drew: Lower.
Bid 4: You know the prize is between $625 and $688, so you bid the average, $657.
Drew: Higher.
Bid 5: You know the prize is between $657 and $688, so you bid the average, $673.
Drew: Higher.
Bid 6: You know the prize is between $673 and $688, so you bid the average, $681.
Drew: Lower.
Bid 7: You know the prize is between $673 and $681, so you bid the average, $677.
Drew: Lower.
Bid 8: You know the prize is between $673 and $677, so you bid the average, $675.
Drew: Lower.
Bid 9: The prize is now obviously $674, so you bid that and win.
Sounds good, right? It's a provable fact that binary search is the way, on average, to find a number in a range in the fewest number of guesses. So what's the problem? You're a human, not a computer. And for a human, fewer guesses doesn't mean a faster result. For a computer, it does, so if you're programming a computer to play Clock Game, go ahead and use binary search. But the typical human is not going to be able to calculate those averages very fast. (Quick! What's the average of $657 and $688? Could you do even just that one in 15 seconds or less?) Thus the "hone in on each individual digit" method that John Sly used is so much better, and anyone who tells you to use binary search in this game either thinks you have the math capabilities of a computer or is wrong.
A large prize is shown. Then three small prizes are shown and described. The contestant guesses the price of each of the small prizes. The difference between the contestant's guess and the actual price is calculated; the difference is considered positive whether the contestant's guess was too high or too low. If the sum of those three differences is less than or equal to $25, the contestant wins the large prize.
Random fact #1
In spite of how easy this game is, people have lost it in spectacular fashion. See how Bob handled one of those cases here:
Random fact #2
The song this game uses is called "On the Franches Mountains" and comes from a collection of Swiss Mountain music. You can hear the whole thing here:
Win-loss record (seasons 29-46):257-112 (69.65%)
Pricing trends for the three prizes (seasons 40-46)
The following data is courtesy of AvsFan at golden-road.net. Thanks so much!!
Average price for prize #1: $21.09
Median price for prize #1: $20
Average price for prize #2: $32.05
Median price for prize #2: $32
Average price for prize #3: $43.24
Median price for prize #3: $43
Average difference, SP #2 and SP #1: $10.89
Average difference, SP #3 and SP #2: $11.19
Strategy
20-30-40! No need to bore you with a lot of stats here. The guesses of $20, $30, and $40 (in that order) would have won this game every single time except twice in the last 15 years. In fact, on the "super fan" show they did, the producers lampshaded this fact by making the prizes exactly $20, $30, and $40. There are only two exceptions I could find: one had prizes of $10, $20, and $30, and the $10 prize was a Libman mop that had been on the show quite a few times. The other was a playing from Big Money Week that used different rules; I'll cover that case below. So unless the first item is a Libman mop or it's Big Money Week, guess $20, $30, and $40, and you'll win every time.
Big Money Week note: There have been two times during Big Money Week when they played Cliff Hangers such that the contestant got $10,000 per step the mountain climber didn't climb. For example, if you're off by a total of $15 between the three items, you win (25-15)*$10,000 = $100,000. They're not afraid to break the 20-30-40 rule here, so if they're giving you $10,000 per step you survive by, your guesses should most likely be $5 to $10 higher than 20-30-40, though it depends on the exact prizes. Note this exception only applies when they play Cliff Hangers during Big Money Week for $10,000 per unclimbed step. Nowadays, they usually play Cliff Hangers during Big Money Week for a flat $20,000. If that's the prize you're playing for, 20-30-40 applies.
A prize is shown as are 5 grocery products. The contestant guesses the price of each grocery item. If the total of the contestant's guesses is within $2 of the actual total price of the grocery items, they win the prize. It doesn't matter if the contestant's total is above or below the actual total; they win if they are within $2 either way.
Random fact
This game used to have the coolest calculator ever. You can see a playing with it here:
Win-Loss record (seasons 29-46):75-114 (39.68%)
Correlation between the grocery total and the value of the main prize (seasons 40-46)
Overall: 0.11
When played for a prize over $15,000 (such as a car or a lot of cash): 0.07
When played for a prize less than $15,000: 0.04
Correlation is sometimes known as the R-squared value. The above simply means this: the total of the grocery items has nothing to do with the prize's value. In other words, a higher valued prize doesn't mean the total of the grocery items is any higher or lower than usual.
Bar graph of the grocery totals (seasons 40-46)
Totals that would have won the game the most often (seasons 40-46)
Note: All ranges below are inclusive.
$19.75-$19.80: 36 playings (48.65%)
$18.25-$18.34, $19.36-$19.45, $19.65-$19.74, and $19.81-$19.85: 35 playings each (47.30%)
$18.35, $18.41-$18.44, $18.96-$19.15, $19.31-$19.35, and $19.46-$19.64: 34 playings each (45.95%)
Strategy
Nothing beats knowing the prices of the grocery items, but there are some key points that can help you here:
You can ignore the price of the main prize as the grocery total has nothing to do with the prize value.
Only the total counts. So if you think you were way under on one item, feel free to go way over on another item to make up for it.
If you're not sure about each individual item but have an idea what the total should be, aim for that total. For example, if you think the total of the items is about $20, guess $4 for each item.
If you're completely clueless, aim for a total of $19.75, as that total has been a winning total more often than contestants have actually won the game over the years. In fact, if you want to totally troll the audience and the staff but still quite possibly win, go ahead and price the first item at $19.71 and the other items at 1 penny each. If you thought Philadelphia booed loudly, they got nothing on what the audience will do to you when you price candy at $19.71. You have my full permission to then stick your tongue out at them when you win with this strategy. (I should note I spent the first 23 years of my life in the Philadelphia area before anyone complains I'm stereotyping a region I know nothing about.)
CAUTION: The following guide was written for seasons 43-47, when the range was $7,000 to $8,000. The range was upped to $8,000 to $9,000 in season 48, so it remains to be seen how the strategy of this game will play out. In other words, you should use this article very cautiously or possibly ignore it entirely, with one exception: all prizes will still be at least $5,000, so don't write the check for more than $3,000.
Rules
A prize is shown as is a blank check. The contestant must write an amount of money on the check so that the amount of the check plus the price of the prize totals between $7,000 and $8,000, inclusive. (EDIT: this was upped to $8,000 to $9,000 in season 48.) If they do, they win the prize and cash in the amount of the check.
Random fact
For whatever reason, this game attracts way more than its fair share of clueless contestants. Here's one example:
Win-loss record (seasons 29-46):60-94 (38.96%)
Number of prizes that cost...(seasons 43-47)
Between $5,000 and $5,999, inclusive: 35 (74.47%)
Between $6,000 and $6,999, inclusive: 12 (25.53%)
Less than $5,000 or more than $6,999: 0 (0%)
If you wrote the check for X, how often would you have won? (seasons 43-47)
$400 or below: 0 playings (0%)
$500: 1 playing (2.13%)
$600: 2 playings (4.26%)
$700: 3 playings (6.38%)
$800: 5 playings (10.64%)
$900: 7 playings (14.89%)
$1,000: 12 playings (25.53%)
$1,100: 16 playings (34.04%)
$1,200: 16 playings (34.04%)
$1,300: 22 playings (46.81%)
$1,400: 24 playings (51.06%)
$1,500: 28 playings (59.57%)
$1,600: 32 playings (68.09%)
$1,700: 33 playings (70.21%)
$1,800: 34 playings (72.34%)
$1,900: 36 playings (76.60%)
$2,000: 35 playings (74.47%)
$2,100: 31 playings (65.96%)
$2,200: 31 playings (65.96%)
$2,300: 26 playings (55.32%)
$2,400: 23 playings (48.94%)
$2,500: 18 playings (38.30%)
$2,600: 13 playings (27.66%)
$2,700: 11 playings (23.40%)
$2,800: 8 playings (17.02%)
$2,900: 4 playings (8.51%)
$3,000 or more: 0 playings (0%)
Strategy
Don't write the check for too much. The winning range was upped to $7,000 to $8,000 in season 37. Since then, including season 47, the record of this game has been 25-45 (31.25%). Of those 45 losses, 8 were by writing the check for too little and 37 of those losses were by writing the check for too much. Since the prizes they use in this game are now all between $5,000 and $6,999, there are only three check values you need to remember:
Write the check for $1,000 if you think the first digit of the prize is 6.
Write the check for $2,000 if you think the first digit of the prize is 5.
If you're not sure, split the difference and write the check for $1,500.
To be clear: under no circumstance should you write the check for more than $2,000. Yes, sometimes amounts more than $2,000 will win the prize. However, in all those cases, due to the fact that no prize is less than $5,000, a check for $2,000 will also win the prize, and you lessen the risk of going over by capping your check at $2,000. And don't be afraid to write it for $1,000--with each passing season, the number of $6,000 prizes is getting closer and closer to the number of $5,000 prizes.
A car is shown. The contestant starts by drawing a card from a deck of cards showing different values between $1,000 and $5,000; whatever they draw is how close they must come to the actual retail price of the car without going over. They then start with a bid of $15,000 (except if playing for a luxury car) and draw cards from a standard deck of 52 playing cards. All cards except aces are worth their face value times $100 (2's are worth $200, 9's are worth $900, face cards are worth $1,000), and the worth of each card drawn is added to the contestant's bid. If the contestant draws an ace, they may make it any positive number they want, or they can tell Drew what they want their bid to be. The contestant may stop at any time, including before drawing any cards. Once the contestant stops, the price of the car is revealed, and if the contestant was within the range without going over, they win the car.
EDIT: As Guint at golden-road.net pointed out, as of the 2014 refurbishment, you can no longer save an ace. You must use it immediately.
Random fact
This game was out of the rotation for almost 3 years (most of season 40, all of season 41, and most of season 42) while it was being refurbished. All stats below are from the post-refurbishment era, and they exclude the two luxury cars Card Game was played for in season 43 (both of which were lost.)
I owe a serious debt of gratitude to TPIRfan#9821 at golden-road.net for going to YouTube, watching every Card Game playing they could find since the refurbishment, and coming up with the above table for which range card was where in the range deck. (If you're curious how the # of reveals is larger than the # of picks, it's because sometimes Drew shows the whole range deck after the contestant makes their choice to prove it's fair.) I also should give credit to Flerbert419 at golden-road.net for pointing out the range deck isn't shuffled and thus we should look at that deck for any trends.
Stats per range...
Range W-L W-L % Avg. diff.* # overbids
$1,000 2-20 9.09% $1225 6
$2,000 12-14 46.15% $1618 4
$3,000 18-12 60.00% $1401 6
$5,000 5-0 100.00% $2515 0
* Average difference between the car and the contestant's final bid.
Stats per range if we take out the overbids...
Range W-L W-L % Avg. diff.
$1,000 2-14 12.50% $2297
$2,000 12-10 46.15% $1967
$3,000 18-6 54.55% $2255
$5,000 5-0 100.00% $2515
Bar graphs of the contestant's guesses and the actual prices of the car...
(Note: while the second bar graph above shows that no non-luxury cars over $24,000 were used in Card Game up to and including season 46, they have used a couple of $24,000+ cars in season 47.)
Strategy
Part 1: Drawing a range card.
As you can see by the table above, "pick the endpoints" very much applies here. Choose the card either on the far left or the far right of the range deck and you're much more likely to have a $5,000 range. Part 2: Bidding on the car I admit I went into this thinking contestants constantly way underbid on the car, and that turned out to be wrong. I'm happy to see that! But as for an actual strategy, the numbers don't present any patterns that I can see other than "know the price." (EDIT: As Guint pointed out at golden-road.net, there hasn't been a car in this game worth less than $20,000 since 4/13/18. So if your bid is $19,000 or less, you should absolutely keep drawing.) Here are a couple of things that can help, though:
As soon as you see the stagehands wheel out Card Game, think about what you think the price of the car is, and stick to it. Then set your desired bid to be that price minus 1/2 the range. For example, if you think the price is $23,000 and the range is $1,000, set your bid to $23,000-1/2*$1,000 = $22,500. I say you should drop by 1/2 the range in case the price you're thinking of is below the price of the car.
The temptation in this game is to stop too early because you feel like you just can't keep drawing. But if you draw nothing but 2s and 3s, you need to keep drawing! If you have a specific price in mind you're targeting (see point #1), you're much less likely to fall for the temptation of stopping because it just feels wrong to keep going.
If you draw an ace, use it immediately and stop the game. If you followed point #1 above, you already have a price in mind you want to stop at. You gain nothing by waiting to use an ace, and you certainly gain nothing by using the ace to be a specific amount and then continuing to draw.
