The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Range Game

Range Game

Rules

A prize is shown as is a $600 range for that prize. The contestant chooses a $150 range inside that $600 range. If the range the contestant guesses for the prize contains the price of the prize, they win.

Random fact

The rangefinder is manually controlled by a stagehand. Usually that stagehand behaves, but not always...

Win-loss record (seasons 29-47)

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 212-189 (52.87%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/4 (25%)

The price was how far from the bottom? (seasons 41*-47)

• $0-$149: 0 playings (0%)
• $150-$199: 3 playings (2.21%)
• $200-$249: 17 playings (12.50%)
• $250-$299: 54 playings (39.71%)
• $300-$349: 34 playings (25%)
• $350-$399: 18 playings (13.24%)
• $400-$449: 9 playings (6.62%)
• $450-$600: 1 playing (0.74%)

* I'm starting with season 41 because season 40 had some patterns that have not been repeated since--for example, the value of the prize was between $150 and $200 from the bottom of the range 12 times in that season.

The last two digits of the prize's value were...(seasons 41-47)

• Between 00 and 24: 31 playings (22.79%)
• Between 25 and 49: 29 playings (21.32%)
• Between 50 and 74: 40 playings (29.41%)
• Between 75 and 99: 46 playings (33.82%)

Strategy

Since no price is in the bottom $150, you should make sure the range moves up by $150 before you press the button. Beyond that, know the price, though if you're clueless, let the rangefinder move up $250 from the bottom before you press the button. There used to be a pattern where the last two digits were more frequently between 75 and 99 than the other options, but that has been changed in the last couple of seasons; in fact, there were only 3 playings in season 46 and 4 in season 47 where the last digits were in that range. Thus, a strategy like "make sure two multiples of $100 are covered by the range" is no longer any better than random chance.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Race Game

Race Game

Rules

Four prizes are shown as are four price tags. The contestant must match up the price tags to the corresponding prizes. The contestant is then shown how many they got correct; if they got fewer than 4, they get to make changes and try again. They keep going until they either run out of the allotted 45 seconds or get all 4 right.

Random fact

The show kicked off its 40th season by playing Race Game for four cars. Here's how it went:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 113-97 (53.81%)
• What it would be by random chance: N/24, where N is the number of unique solutions the contestant can try in 45 seconds.

Which combinations were correct? (seasons 40-47)

• 1234: 7 playings (8.05%)
• 1243: 5 playings (5.75%)
• 1324: 0 playings (0%)
• 1342: 2 playings (2.30%)
• 1423: 0 playings (0%)
• 1432: 3 playings (3.45%)
• 2134: 8 playings (9.20%)
• 2143: 5 playings (5.75%)
• 2314: 8 playings (9.20%)
• 2341: 2 playings (2.30%)
• 2413: 3 playings (3.45%)
• 2431: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 3124: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 3142: 0 playings (0%)
• 3214: 3 playings (3.45%)
• 3241: 2 playings (2.30%)
• 3412: 0 playings (0%)
• 3421: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 4123: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 4132: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 4213: 4 playings (4.60%)
• 4231: 2 playings (2.30%)
• 4312: 7 playings (8.05%)
• 4321: 6 playings (6.90%)

The way to read the above table is that "1" means the cheapest prize, "2" means the second cheapest prize, "3" means the second most expensive prize, and "4" means the most expensive prize. So 2143 means the prize on the left was the second cheapest, the second prize from the left was the cheapest, the third prize was the most expensive, and the prize on the far right was the second most expensive.

Strategy

DO NOT LOOK AT THE AUDIENCE!!!

You simply do not have time. Your goal is to get 4 tries in the 45 seconds (no one has had more than 4 attempts since at least season 29.) Looking at the audience wastes valuable time. So this really comes down to a "know the prices" game--unfortunately, there's no mathematically clever way to guarantee a win in just 4 tries. Do try to keep track of your previous guesses--they can help you narrow down what prices go where. Also note that if you get two right, switch two, and you end up with none right, you know the correct answer: switch the two back that you just switched, and then switch the other two. For example, let's say you try 4132 and you get two right. You then switch the first two to get 1432 and have none right. Then you know the correct answer must be 4123--switch the first two back and the switch the last two.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Push Over

Push Over

Rules

A prize is shown as is a set of blocks with numbers on them. Somewhere in that set is the four or five digits of the price of the prize. If the contestant selects the price of the prize correctly, they win.

Random fact

When Push Over first debuted, it had a red and yellow set instead of the blue and yellow set we have now. Here's the debut playing:

Win-loss rate

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 254-256 (49.80%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/6 (16.67%) for four digit prizes or 1/5 (20%) for five digit prizes. Of course, this assumes all possible prices are equally likely, which is almost always bogus.

Which price was correct? (seasons 40-47)

Four digit prizes

• x x x x x [X X X X] was right: 0 playings (0%)
• x x x x [X X X X] x was right: 36 playings (21.43%)
• x x x [X X X X] x x was right: 51 playings (30.36%)
• x x [X X X X] x x x was right: 38 playings (22.62%)
• x [X X X X] x x x x was right: 38 playings (22.62%)
• [X X X X] x x x x x was right: 5 playings (2.98%)

Five digit prizes

• x x x x [X X X X X] was right: 0 playings (0%)
• x x x [X X X X X] x was right: 23 playings (50%)
• x x [X X X X X] x x was right: 16 playings (34.78%)
• x [X X X X X] x x x was right: 5 playings (10.87%)
• [X X X X X] x x x x was right: 2 playings (4.35%)

Strategy

Mostly know the price, but a couple of things can help you here:

1. The correct price is never the first one. You must always push at least one block over.
2. Similarly, the very last possible price is rarely correct. Only select that one if you're sure of it.
3. There hasn't been a prize worth less than $5,000 in this game since the end of season 41. So any prices less than $5,000 can be immediately thrown out.
4. Since season 44, there haven't been more than 3 prizes in a season in this game that ended in a 5 or a 0. So if you're not sure, throw those prices out. However, prizes that end in 9 do come up with reasonable frequency, so don't throw those out.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Punch a Bunch

Punch a Bunch

Rules

Four small prizes are shown, each with an incorrect price. The contestant must decide if the actual price is higher or lower than the price shown. However many they get correct, they get that many punches on the punch board. The contestant then punches that number of holes. One at a time, Drew reveals how much each punch was worth; the contestant can choose to throw that money away and keep playing or quit with the amount of money shown. The contestant wins whichever amount of money they keep, or the last amount of money revealed if they played until their last punch.

Random fact

When this game first debuted, it was played much differently. You can see an example here:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 22-336 (6.15%)
  (Note: it only counts as a win if the top prize, $25,000, is won.)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/25 (4%)

The correct choice for the small prizes was...(seasons 40-47)

• Higher: 239 prizes (43.61%)
• Lower: 309 prizes (56.39%)

How often was each combination of highers and lowers correct? (seasons 40-47)

• 4 Higher: 0 playings (0%)
• 3 Higher, 1 Lower: 13 playings (9.49%)
• 2 Higher, 2 Lower: 77 playings (56.20%)
• 1 Higher, 3 Lower: 47 playings (34.31%)
• 4 Lower: 0 playings (0%)

Stats for each hole (seasons 40-47)

The way to read the following table is for each hole, the first line is how often it contained $10,000 or more, and the second line is how much money it contained on average. For example, the top left corner reads "0/18"--this means that in 18 punches, it contained $10,000 or more 0 times. The average of all the values that were found in that hole was $1,302. Note this excludes the playing where a dream car was offered.

 0/18   0/5    0/11   0/10    0/6   0/7    0/8    0/10   0/5   0/14

$1302  $2200  $1736  $1450   $792  $1121  $1813  $1125  $2350 $1686

 1/5    0/8    1/17   1/13   0/12   0/12   0/9    0/20   0/14   0/4

$2900  $1344  $3059  $1308   $583   $588  $1122  $1183  $2264  $563

 0/3    0/11    0/9   1/10   0/27   0/14   0/11   2/12   0/9    0/0

$1083   $714  $1889  $1950  $1535  $1682  $1114  $3600  $1667   N/A

 0/2    0/11   0/16    0/6   1/8    0/9    0/7     0/9   0/15   1/3

$1375   $632   $916   $767  $4169  $1317  $2571   $761  $1130 $3533 

 0/6    1/10   0/6     0/3    0/2   0/5    0/4    1/10    0/8  0/11

$625   $1345  $1958  $1867   $175  $3700   $588  $2475   $650  $782

Bold means $10,000 or more was found there at least once.

Strategy

Part 1: Small prize pricing

Know the prices. They don't make this part hard because they want people to punch the board. Do note that it's never been all four prices are higher or all four prices are lower, so if the first three have the same answer, you know the fourth will be the opposite answer.

Part 2: Which holes to punch?

DON'T PUNCH THE CORNERS!! The producers know that people like to punch the corners so they never place the big money there--you can see none of the corners has had the big cash since season 40. (To be fair, the dream car was in the top right corner; I excluded that playing because the car replaced a $100 slip. I don't know if the producers placed all the slips, then replaced a $100 they had put in the top right corner with the car or if they intentionally placed the car in that spot.) Otherwise, it's really a crapshoot. I personally would go for the 4th through 7th spots on the bottom row, because very few people punch those spots. If you want to try something no one else has, punch the far right spot in the middle row--no one has tried that since season 39 at least.

Part 3: Should you continue?

The naive analysis would simply be to look at the average amount on the board, which is $2,260 $2,060 (thanks to TPIRfan#9821 for the correction!), and say that if you have more than that you should stop. So that analysis would state that if you get $2,500 or more, stop, $1,000 or less, and you should continue. I'm going to go a little deeper than that, though. Here's another table...

If you   # of picks     Probability of all other picks being

 have       left        strictly less than what you have now

$250         1                        10.20%

$250         2                         0.85%

$250         3                         0.054%

$500         1                        30.61%

$500         2                         8.93%

$500         3                         2.47%

$1,000       1                        51.02%

$1,000       2                        25.51%

$1,000       3                        12.48%

$2,500       1                        71.43%

$2,500       2                        50.60%

$2,500       3                        35.52%

$5,000       1                        87.76%

$5,000       2                        76.79%

$5,000       3                        66.98%

$10,000      1                        95.92%

$10,000      2                        91.92%

$10,000      3                        88.01%

Note: this table assumes that the amount you currently have is the one and only punch you've taken so far. It doesn't change things drastically if you remove that assumption. 

As you can see, I've highlighted the rows where continuing would mean that you'd lose money more likely than not. Here's that strategy in a simple bullet list:

• If you have $500 or less, continue.
• If you have $1,000, stop if and only if you have exactly 1 pick left.
• If you have $2,500, stop if and only if you have 1 or 2 picks left. If you have 3, continue.
• If you have $5,000 or more, stop. Period. (Yes, I know of the guy in the 1990s who threw away $5,000 when the top prize was $10,000, and then managed to get the $10,000. That's so incredibly unlikely you should not follow suit.)

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pocket Change

Pocket Change

Rules

A car is shown as are 6 numbers. 5 of those numbers are in the price of the car and the 6th number is a fake. The first digit of the car is shown to the contestant and they are given a slip worth 25 cents. The car has a price tag in front of it that shows it costs 25 cents at that moment. The contestant guesses what they think the next number is based on the remaining digits. If they are wrong, the price of the car goes up by 25 cents; if they are right, they get to take a card off the board. That card will be an amount of money worth anywhere from nothing to $2. At the end of the game, if the amount the contestant has accumulated through envelopes is greater than or equal to the price of the car, the contestant wins the car.

Random fact

In early playings of this game, In the first playing of this game, the contestant was not given the first number for free. You can see an example here:

(Thanks to SteveGavazzi at golden-road.net for pointing out this rule was in effect for the first playing only!)

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 33-47): 83-97 (46.11%)
• What it would be by random chance: 239351/581400 (41.17%)

For each digit, how often was it in the car vs. being a fake? (seasons 40-47)

Note: the following table excludes the first digit of the car's price.

          # times       # times in      # times it

Digit     on board      car price       was the fake

  0          24         23 (95.85%)       1 (4.17%)

  1          43         42 (97.67%)       1 (2.33%)

  2          24         21 (87.50%)       3 (12.50%)

  3          60         44 (73.33%)      16 (26.67%)

  4          45         39 (86.67%)       6 (13.33%)

  5          47         20 (42.55%)      27 (57.45%)

  6          45         43 (95.56%)       2 (4.44%)

  7          58         45 (77.59%)      13 (22.41%)

  8          56         45 (80.36%)      11 (19.64%)

  9          53         42 (79.25%)      11 (20.75%)

Strategy

Part 1: Car pricing

Mostly know the price, but you can sniff out the fake. If you see a 5, there's a better than 50% chance it's a fake--avoid it unless you're certain it belongs. On the other hand, if, after the first digit is revealed, you see a 0, 1, 2, 4, and/or 6 remaining, there's a very good chance it or they will be in the car.

Part 2: Which cards to pick

Unfortunately, they don't reveal the cards that the contestant doesn't pick, so I don't have anything brilliant here. For example, the card that's been revealed to be the $2 card the most often is the top card of the second column...but that's been revealed to be the $2 card a whopping three times in 180 playings. No other spot has been shown to have the card more than twice. So you have nothing to lose by picking the top card of the second column, but don't bet your house on it. Otherwise, I would pick cards at the very top, very left, very bottom, or very right, as most contestants go for cards in the middle.

Part 2b: If you're daring

If you look closely, whenever the contestant picks an envelope, Drew quickly looks at the back of it. I believe there's a mark on the $2 envelope so that if the contestant picks it, Drew can put it last to maximize the drama. So if you're daring, you can try to look at the back of the envelope briefly as you pull the envelope out of its slot and put it back if you don't see a mark; IMHO, this wouldn't be cheating because you're not looking at the actual value. Of course, the staff might not agree, so do this at your own risk...

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Plinko

Plinko

Rules

The contestant is given a Plinko chip for free. Four small prizes are then shown, each of which has a wrong price. The contestant must decide if the first digit in the wrong price is the first digit in the actual price or if the last digit in the wrong price is the last digit in the actual price. If they are correct, they get another Plinko chip. They then take their Plinko chips to the board and drop them one at a time. They win whatever money their chips land in.

Random fact

For the game's 30th anniversary, the show had an episode where they played Plinko 6 times. Buzzfeed wrote a behind the scenes article about it here:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/inside-the-all-plinko-episode-of-the-price-is-right

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 0-564 (0%)
• What it would be by random chance: 35/958579 (0.0037%)
  (That assumes the contestant drops every chip from the center slot.)

<voice from offstage> WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

Hey, I don't make the rules. According to the show's staff, a game is considered to be won if and only if its main announced prize is won. In Plinko's case, that means the full $50,000 must be won for the game to be won. 

Yeah, but...

But what?

Can we consider it to be a win if the contestant hits the center slot at least once? Please?

OK, fine. Here are the stats for that...

Win-loss record if a win means the center slot was hit at least once

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 257-307 (45.57%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1456/2799 (52.02%)
  (That assumes the contestant drops every chip from the center slot.)

Correct choice for the small prizes... (seasons 40-47)

Last digit of   % of time first   % of time last

 wrong price    digit was right   digit was right

      0               2.90             97.10

      1              94.20              5.80

      2              57.89             42.11

      3              71.79             28.21

      4              82.76             17.24

      5               7.03             92.97

      6              73.97             26.03

      7              50.77             49.23

      8              65.79             34.21

      9              18.67             81.33

Strategy

Part 1: Small Prizes

Simply put, if the last digit is 0, 5, or 9, your guess should be that the last digit is the correct one, unless you have strong reason to believe otherwise. If the last digit is 1, 3, 4, 6, or 8, your guess should be that the first digit is the correct one. If it's 2 or 7, you need to know the price. That said, to simplify this, if you want to think of it as "0, 5, or 9 means last, otherwise choose first," I won't object to that.

Part 2: Where to drop the chip from

Drop every chip from the center slot. I repeat, drop every chip from the center slot. One more time:

DROP EVERY CHIP FROM THE CENTER SLOT!!!!

Your expected winnings are highest if you drop the chip from the center slot. This makes sense--the chip is equally likely to bounce left or right. If you drop the chip from the center slot, you need an equal number of left and right bounces to get the $10,000. If you drop the chip from one slot left of the center slot, you need seven bounces to the right and five to the left to get the $10,000. Which do you think is more likely--six bounces to the right and six bounces to the left or seven bounces to the right and five to the left? Yup, the first one. One thing this means is that you should NOT correct for a previous bad bounce. In other words, if you drop your first chip from the center slot and it goes into the left $0, do NOT move one spot to the right for your next drop. You should drop every chip from the center slot no matter what the previous results were!

Let me back this up with some data from a simulation I created where I "released" 10 million chips over each slot. 

Where the chip       % of time center       Avg. winnings

was dropped from        slot was hit         of each chip

Left- or right-             3.21               $779.54

most slot   

Second slot from            5.67             $1,009.77

the left or right      

Third slot from            12.11             $1,606.17

the left or right     

Slot adjacent to           19.37             $2,269.45

the center slot    

Center slot                22.58*            $2,559.93

* The theoretical rate of the chip hitting $10,000 if you drop it from the center slot is 924/4096, or 22.56%. So my simulation gets pretty close to that rate.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pick-A-Pair

Pick-A-Pair

Rules

A prize is shown as are six grocery items. The contestant picks two grocery items. If they have the same price, the contestant wins the prize. Otherwise, the contestant keeps one of the two grocery items they initially chose and try to find the item that matches its price. If successful, they win; if not, they lose.

Random fact

When this game first debuted, it used a mini-Ferris wheel to display the products. You can see a playing here from the 1980s nighttime show:

(Jump ahead to the 6:45 mark to see the Pick-A-Pair playing.)

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 223-68 (76.63%)
• What it would be by random chance: 2/5 (40%)

Strategy

The easiest way to play this game is to pick either the two most expensive products or the two cheapest products, whichever is easier for you to deduce. But because they never reveal the prices of more than four items, and usually only reveal only two or three of the prices, I cannot draw any conclusions about which pairs are more or less likely to be correct.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pick-A-Number

Pick-A-Number

Rules

A prize is shown as is the price for the prize; however, one digit is missing from the price. Three choices are shown for that missing digit. If the contestant picks the correct value for the missing digit, they win the prize.

Random fact

The missing digit has not been either of the last two digits of the prize since season 42. Thus, the statistics for this article will be mostly based on seasons 43-47.

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-47): 115-172 (40.07%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)

Which digit was the correct digit to choose? (seasons 43-47)

Overall

• The lowest valued digit: 21 playings (18.75%)
• The middle valued digit: 57 playings (50.89%)
• The highest valued digit: 34 playings (30.36%)

When the thousands digit is missing

• The lowest valued digit: 15 playings (16.13%)
• The middle valued digit: 53 playings (56.99%)
• The highest valued digit: 25 playings (26.88%)

When the hundreds digit is missing

• The lowest valued digit: 6 playings (31.58%)
• The middle valued digit: 4 playings (21.05%)
• The highest valued digit: 9 playings (47.37%)

Strategy

A couple pieces of advice:

1. If the thousands digit is missing (meaning the first digit in a 4 digit prize or the second digit in a 5 digit prize), you should lean toward the middle number being correct. 
2. If the hundreds digit is missing, you should lean toward the lowest or highest digit. But note that's not based on a lot of playings so use that with caution.
3. This game has a variation on the "digits don't repeat except for the the first two" that cars usually follow. In this game, digits don't usually repeat except for the last two. Of course, the last two digits are given to you. This means that the missing digit won't usually be the same as the digit to its left or right. I say "usually" because it has happened 1-2 times per season since season 43 that other digits have repeated. But if you're unsure of the missing digit, there's a good chance it's not the same as the digit to its left or right.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pay the Rent

Pay the Rent

Rules

6 grocery items are shown, as is a "house" with 4 floors. The bottom floor of the house has room for 1 item, the second and third floors have room for two items each, and the top floor has room for the last grocery item. The contestant must arrange the items so that each floor is worth more than the floor below it. The bottom floor is worth $1,000; the second floor is worth $5,000; the third floor is worth $10,000; the top floor is worth $100,000. For each floor the contestant has right, they win that amount of money. After each floor is revealed, the contestant can stop with the money or continue. If they continue and the next floor's worth is less than the last floor's worth, they lose everything.

Random fact

When they first debuted this game in season 39, they usually arranged it so there was only one possible solution. However, since season 43, there have been at least two possible solutions to every playing. Thus, most of my stats will be from season 43 onward.

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 39-47): 5-75 (6.25%)
• What it would be by random chance: N/180, where N is the number of solutions the game has. For example, if the setup has exactly two solutions, then the probability of winning by random chance would be 2/180 (1.11%).

The game had exactly how many solutions? (seasons 43-47)

• 1: 0 playings (0%)
• 2: 9 playings (23.08%)
• 3: 23 playings (58.97%)
• 4: 2 playings (5.13%)
• 5: 1 playing (2.56%)
• 6: 1 playing (2.56%)
• 7: 0 playings (0%)
• 8: 1 playing (2.56%)
• 9: 1 playings (2.56%)
• 10: 0 playings (0%)
• 11: 1 playings (2.56%)
• 12 or more: 0 playings (0%)

How often was each combination a correct solution? (seasons 43-47)

• (1) < (2) + (3) < (4) + (5) < (6): 2 playings (5.13%)
• (1) < (2) + (4) < (3) + (5) < (6): 3 playings (7.69%)
• (1) < (2) + (5) < (3) + (4) < (6): 3 playings (7.69%)
• (1) < (3) + (4) < (2) + (5) < (6): 3 playings (7.69%)
• (2) < (1) + (3) < (4) + (5) < (6): 2 playings (5.13%)
• (2) < (1) + (4) < (3) + (5) < (6): 3 playings (7.69%)
• (2) < (1) + (5) < (3) + (4) < (6): 20 playings (51.28%)
• (2) < (3) + (4) < (1) + (5) < (6): 9 playings (23.08%)
• (3) < (1) + (2) < (4) + (5) < (6): 1 playing (2.56%)
• (3) < (1) + (4) < (2) + (5) < (6): 7 playings (17.95%)
• (3) < (1) + (5) < (2) + (4) < (6): 13 playings (33.33%)
• (3) < (2) + (4) < (1) + (5) < (6): 25 playings (64.10%)
• (4) < (1) + (3) < (2) + (5) < (6): 2 playings (5.13%)
• (4) < (1) + (5) < (2) + (3) < (6): 4 playings (10.26%)
• (4) < (2) + (3) < (1) + (5) < (6): 32 playings (82.05%)
• (5) < (1) + (3) < (2) + (4) < (6): 1 playing (2.56%)
• (5) < (1) + (4) < (2) + (3) < (6): 2 playings (5.13%)
• (5) < (2) + (3) < (1) + (4) < (6): 2 playings (5.13%)

(1) means the cheapest item, (2) means the second cheapest item, and so forth. The percentages add up to over 100 because there are multiple solutions that can win the game.

Strategy

Step 1: Decide how much you want to play for

Your strategy changes based on whether you'll be happy with the $10,000 or go for the whole $100,000.  Given the unlikelihood of winning $100,000*, I personally would go for the $10,000, but it's entirely up to you. 

*Exception: if you're playing this during a season opening show or Big Money Week, the producers may have set this up to be much easier than usual. Use your judgement to decide if they're doing that or not.

Step 2a: If you're playing for $10,000

If you're playing for $10,000, just put the items from cheapest to most expensive. You'll have wiggle room to make mistakes, and if there's an item you're not sure of at all, just wait until the end and put it in the attic. Even just having an idea of which items are cheaper and which are more expensive should result in an easy $10,000. Just remember to bail out after you reach the $10,000 mark.

Step 2b: If you're playing for $100,000

If you're going for the full $100,000, then do not, I repeat, do NOT, I repeat DO NOT place the cheapest item in the mailbox (the bottom floor). That's a guaranteed loss unless the producers are being really really nice. Instead, the correct way to play this game for $100,000 is to solve this game mentally before you give Drew any selections. You should think top to bottom, not bottom to top. The most expensive item must be placed in the attic. Then you're looking for two products whose total is just below that; mentally place those in the third floor. Then look for two items whose total is just below that; mentally place those in the second floor. Whatever's left must go in the mailbox. That's the way you have to do it--if you just place items on each floor without thinking about the placements on the other floors, you're going to have to get really lucky to win the full $100,000.

All that said, do note there is one combination that is quite frequently correct: (4) < (2) + (3) < (1) + (5) < (6) wins over 82% of the time. If you know the prices of each of the items but can't do the mental arithmetic to figure what goes where, follow that particular pattern.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pathfinder

Pathfinder

Rules

A car is shown. The contestant is placed in the middle of a 5x5 grid of numbers, and they are standing on top of the first number of the price of the car. The next number is non-diagonally adjacent to them; they must guess the next digit of the price of the car. If they are right, they move to the correct square and must guess the next digit from the non-diagonally adjacent numbers to that digit; the path cannot return to an already-used digit. If they are wrong, they must guess the price of one of three small prizes to get another chance. Each small prize has two possible prices to choose between. If the contestant correctly guesses the price of the prize, they get another chance. The game continues until the contestant has found the price of the car or they run out of extra chances.

Random fact

For the second digit of the car, the contestant will always have four choices; for the third digit of the car, the contestant will always have three choices; for the fourth digit of the car, the contestant could have two or three choices; for the last digit of the car, the contestant will always have two choices. I will call the case with three choices for the fourth digit the "harder" path and the case with two choices for the fourth digit the "easier" path. Examples of each:

Harder path    Easier path

 o o o o o      o o o o o

 o o o o o      o o o o o

 o o x o o      o o x o o

 o o x x o      o o x o o

 o o o x x      o o x x x

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 54-170 (24.11%)
• By random chance:
• If the correct path is a "harder" path: 43/288 (14.93%)
• If the correct path is an "easier" path: 13/64 (20.31%)

Car pricing stats

Number of times each type of path was used (seasons 40-46)

• Easier path: 14 playings (14.74%) [not more than twice in a season since season 42]
• Harder path: 81 playings (85.26%)

For the second digit, the correct option was...(seasons 40-46)

• Largest possible digit: 27 playings (28.42%)
• 2nd largest possible digit: 16 playings (16.84%)
• 2nd smallest possible digit: 17 playings (17.89%)
• Smallest possible digit: 34 playings (35.79%)
• Unknown because the author missed one and can't find what he missed: 1 playing (1.05%)

• Directly in front of the contestant: 14 playings (14.74%)
• Directly to the left of the contestant: 25 playings (26.32%)
• Directly to the right of the contestant: 26 playings (27.37%)
• Directly behind the contestant: 30 playings (31.58%)

Small prize stats

The correct choice was...(seasons 40-46)

• The price on the left (the smaller price): 146 prizes (54.28%)
• The price on the right (the larger price): 123 prizes (45.72%)

If one price ended in 0, 5, or 9, and the other didn't, the correct one was...(seasons 40-46)

• The price that ended in 0, 5, or 9: 24 prizes (51.06%)
• The price that didn't: 23 prizes (48.94%)

Strategy

Car pricing

• Second digit: The second digit is usually the lowest or the highest option ("pick the endpoints") and is rarely the number in front of you ("that'd be too easy.")
• Third digit: Usually, the third digit is NOT on the edge of the board. That would result in an "easier" path being correct instead of the hard path.
• Fourth digit: I don't have anything for this one. Sorry :(.
• Last digit: As is not unusual in car games, the last digit in Pathfinder is rarely 0, 5, or 9. Since season 42, the last digit hasn't been 0, 5, or 9 more than 4 times in a season and there have been a couple of seasons where there were no cars with any of those last three digits.

Small prizes

Know the prices. There are no trends here that I could find--in particular, they don't try to trap you with a fake price that ends in 0, 5, or 9.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Pass the Buck

Pass the Buck

Rules

A car is shown as is a board with 6 numbers. Behind one of those numbers is a picture of a car, one of them has $1,000, one has $3,000, and one has $5,000, and two say "lose everything". The contestant has one pick for free. A pair of grocery items is shown with prices; one of the prices is its correct price, and one is $1 below its item's correct price. If the contestant guesses which price is $1 below the actual price of the grocery item, they get an extra pick. They are then shown another pair of items, which the same choice to make. Thus, the contestant starts with one pick but can have a total of three. Then they start picking numbers off the board. They keep whatever is behind the numbers they choose, and they accumulate the winnings; for example, if they pick $1,000 and then $3,000, they get a total of $4,000. However, if they choose "lose everything," they lose everything they've won up to that point. Thus, they are allowed to bailout after any pick if they so desire. They win whatever prizes they've accumulated at the end of the game.

Random fact

When this game first debuted, there were 8 numbers and 3 pairs of grocery items; no picks were given for free. You can see a playing of it here:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 30-46): 63-167 (27.39%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)
  (Note: that assumes that a contestant bails out if and only if they win the car.)

The correct item to pass the buck to was...(seasons 40-46)

• On the left: 57 playings (43.85%)
• On the right: 73 playings (57.15%)

The car was behind...(seasons 40-46)

• #1: 20 playings (30.77%)
• #2: 6 playings (9.23%)
• #3: 4 playings (6.15%)
• #4: 2 playings (3.08%)
• #5: 8 playings (12.31%)
• #6: 25 playings (38.46%)

Strategy

Part 1: Grocery Pricing

Know the price. There's a slight preference toward pushing the buck toward the right, but not enough to suggest that as a strategy unless you're clueless about the price.

Part 2: Which numbers to pick

Pick the endpoints! Pick #6, then #1, and then #5. Just between #6 and #1, you have an over 69% chance of winning the car.

Should you bail out? Rarely. You should ONLY bail out under the following circumstances:

          # picks  # lose everythings  Car is worth less

You have    left   left on the board    than this to you

$4,000       1            2                $3,000

$5,000       1            1                $1,000

$5,000       1            2                $4,000

$5,000       2            2                $1,250

$6,000       1            2                $9,000

$8,000       1            2               $15,000

The right-most column indicates the minimum value of the car to you to keep playing under the given circumstances. For example, if you win $8,000 with your first two picks, you should only take a third pick if the car is worth $15,000 to you. Any combination not shown is a combination where you should always keep playing; in particular, if you have $3,000 or less, you should always continue as the just the cash on the board is worth playing for.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: One Wrong Price

One Wrong Price

Rules

Three prizes are shown, each with a price. One of those prices is not the price of the prize it is next to. If the contestant correctly guesses which price is wrong, they win.

Random fact

It's hard to see on TV, but the stand above the prize the contestant chooses lights up. It's very easy to see in the studio.

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 195-219 (47.10%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)

The correct prize to choose was...(seasons 40-46)

• On the left: 56 playings (30.43%)
• In the middle: 75 playings (40.76%)
• On the right: 53 playings (28.80%)

Strategy

Two things that have been true since season 44 can help you here:

1. There have been no prizes under $1,000 offered in the game.
2. As PunchABunchFan at golden-road.net pointed out, there haven't been two prizes with the same first digit in their price. For example, there hasn't been a $1,043 prize and a $1,987 prize.

So your strategy starts there. If you see a price of less than $1,000, pick it--it's as good as guaranteed to be the wrong price. Also, if you see two prices with the same first digit, you know one of those prices must be the wrong price.

Beyond that, this game inverts the "pick the endpoints" rule--the center prize is the correct one to choose more often than either the left or the right prize. One the other hand, it's not so much more often that I'd recommend picking the middle as a general strategy; instead, know the price. But if you're clueless, go for the center prize.

Season 49 edit: Both the points above were broken in season 49. There were prizes of value less than $1,000 offered in this game and there were times that two prizes started with the same digit. So sadly, those strategies are no longer as foolproof as they were.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: 1 Right Price

1 Right Price

Rules

Two prizes are shown as is a price. If the contestant can choose which prize has the given price, they win both prizes.

Random fact

For a long time after this game debuted, it shared its set with Double Prices.

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 231-180 (56.20%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/2 (50%)

The correct prize to choose was...(seasons 40-46)

• On the left: 78 playings (48.15%)
• On the right: 84 playings (52.85%)
• The more expensive prize: 102 playings (62.96%)
• The less expensive prize: 58 playings (35.80%)
• Unknown: 2 playings (1.23%)

Strategy

Mostly know the price, though if you're clueless, pick the prize you think is more expensive.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: One Away

One Away

Rules

A car is shown as is a 5 digit price. None of those numbers is correct; each digit is exactly one away from the correct value of that digit in the car's price. The contestant guesses the price of the car. If they are correct, they win the car; if they are wrong, they are told how many digits they had correct and, as long as they got at least one digit right, they get one more chance to guess the price of the car. If they get it right the second time, they win; otherwise, they lose.

Random fact

In one of the earliest playings of this game, Bob really wanted to hear a little horn during the part of the game the price is supposed to revealed by sliding the bar at the bottom of the prop. See how the staff handles it here:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 149-227 (39.63%)
• What it would be by random chance: 5/32 (15.63%)
• What it would be if you know the first digit but choose everything else by random chance: 5/16 (31.25%)

Was the correct choice higher or lower? (seasons 40-46)

   Digit 1      Digit 2      Digit 3      Digit 4      Digit 5

#  L     H      L     H      L     H      L     H      L     H

1 N/A   N/A   61.8% 38.2%  33.3% 66.7%    0%   100%  41.7% 58.3%

2 100%   0%   94.1%  5.9%   80%   20%   66.7% 33.3%   75%   25%

3 98.6% 1.4%   75%   25%   72.7% 27.3%  62.5% 37.5%   50%   50%

4 N/A   N/A   85.7% 14.3%  73.9% 26.1%   68%   32%   91.7%  8.3%

5 N/A   N/A    50%   50%   30.8% 69.2%  45.8% 54.2%   75%   25%

6 0%    100%  42.9% 57.1%  35.7% 64.3%  69.2% 30.8%  35.7% 64.3% 

7 N/A   N/A   28.6% 71.4%   15%   85%   37.5% 62.5%  21.7% 78.3%

8 N/A   N/A   22.9% 77.1%  33.3% 66.7%   50%   50%   63.6% 36.4%

(The left most column above refers to the wrong digit shown at the beginning of the game. N/A means that digit was never an option--in other words, the wrong number for the first digit has never been 1, 4, 5, 7, or 8.)

How often was each combination of higher and lower correct? (seasons 40-46)

• 5 Lower: 0 playings (0%)
• 4 Lower, 1 Higher: 5 playings (3.8%)
• 3 Lower, 2 Higher: 26 playings (19.5%)
• 2 Lower, 3 Higher: 57 playings (42.9%)
• 1 Lower, 4 Higher: 45 playings (33.8%)
• 5 Higher: 0 playings (0%)

 Strategy

There's no over-arching strategy here, but here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Don't forget the "no digits repeat except the first two" rule--this rule has been true in every playing of this game in since the middle of season 40.
2. In general, if you're not sure, lean toward "higher" instead of "lower." You can see that in the last table above--the 1 lower/4 higher combination is right almost twice as often as the 3 lower/2 higher combination. But of course make sure at least one of your guesses is lower.
3. If the second or third wrong digit is a 2, say lower. 94.1% of the time, that's been the correct guess for the second digit, and it's been right 80% of the time for the third digit.
4. The fourth digit of the car is never 0. So if you see a 1 there, say higher.
5. If the last digit is a 4, say lower. That's correct 91.7% of the time. The producers are trying to trap you into thinking the last digit is a 5.
6. If the last digit is a 6, it's a good bet to be higher, but not quite as automatic as saying lower when the last digit is 4. But guessing higher still avoids the trap of you thinking the last digit is 5 that the producers want you to fall for.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Now...or Then

Now...or Then

Rules

A prize is shown. Then 6 grocery items are shown in a circle along with a past month and year. For each grocery item, the contestant must choose if the shown price is the price today or was the price in the month and year shown. If they are correct about 3 adjacent items, they win the main prize.

Random fact

There has been an unwritten rule used in this game for a long time: there are exactly 4 items for which "now" is the correct answer and exactly 2 items for which "then" is the correct answer.

Win-loss rate

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 139-57 (70.92%)
• What it would be by random chance: 25/64 (39.06%)

For each product, how often was it "now" or "then"? (seasons 41-46)

                  Now: 16 playings (50%)

                 Then: 16 playings (50%)

Now: 20 playings (68.97%)        Now: 21 playings (63.64%)

Then: 9 playings (31.03%)       Then: 12 playings (36.36%)

Now: 22 playings (68.75%)        Now: 20 playings (68.97%)

Then: 10 playings (31.25%)      Then: 9 playings (31.03%)

                 Now: 25 playings (73.53%)

                 Then: 9 playings (26.47%)

Strategy

Mostly know the prices, but the following can help you:

1. Keep the unwritten rule in mind. There will be four now's and two then's.
2. Ask yourself if the product even existed during the "then" timeframe. If it didn't, the correct answer must be "now."
3. Most importantly: do not jump across the board, especially if you get one wrong. For example, let's say you start at the top and get it wrong. Do NOT go to the bottom product! Yes, you will need to eventually get that one correct. But if you go straight there and get it wrong, the game is over. Instead, go to the first product clockwise from the top. (Or you can go counter-clockwise; direction doesn't matter.) If you get that right, great! If not, you're still in it. And then keep going one at a time in whichever direction you chose. Why? Because you want to find the two "then" products. So give yourself as many chances as possible to find them. If you do find them, you know everything else must be "now."

EDIT: As gamesurf at golden-road.net pointed out, the folks at Slate figured out how to win this game 100% of the time as long as there are 4 now's and 2 then's:

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: Most Expen$ive

Most Expen$ive

Rules

Three prizes are shown. The contestant must choose which one is the most expensive prize to win.

Random Fact

They sometimes use the announcer George Gray as one of the models in this game. It usually goes well, but not quite always...

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 265-227 (53.86%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/3 (33.33%)

The most expensive prize was #...(seasons 40-46)

• 1: 70 playings (35.71%)
• 2: 56 playings (28.57%)
• 3: 70 playings (35.71%)

Strategy

Mostly know the prices. Don't forget the trip rule--if you're playing for three trips, the destination farthest away from LA is very likely to be the most expensive trip. And if you're completely clueless, pick an endpoint (i.e. pick #1 or #3). But this is a know the prices game.

The Ultimate Price is Right Strategy Guide: More or Less

More or Less

Rules

3 prizes are shown as is a car. For each prize, a wrong price is shown, and the contestant must guess whether the actual price of the prize is more or less than the wrong price. If they are right, they advance to the next prize; if they are wrong, the game ends but they win any prizes they guessed correctly.

Random fact

This was the last pricing game to premiere while Bob Barker was still hosting. You can see the first playing here:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 35-46): 25-110 (18.52%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/16 (6.25%)

For each prize, the correct choice was...(seasons 40-47)

First prize:

• More: 55 playings (58.51%)
• Less: 39 playings (41.49%)

Second prize:

• More: 42 playings (48.28%)
• Less: 45 playings (51.72%)

Third prize:

• More: 22 playings (31.88%)
• Less: 47 playings (68.12%)

The car:

• More: 11 playings (23.40%)
• Less: 36 playings (76.60%)

Of course, for the second prize and later, only playings where the contestant got to that prize are counted.

How often was more or less correct based on the fake price? (seasons 40-47)

(The data below is courtesy of AvsFan on golden-road.net. It only applies to the first three prizes.)

Fake price        More         Less
$0-$999         55 (100%)     0 (0%)
$1,000-$1,499   15 (33%)     30 (67%)
$1,500-$1,999   14 (45%)     17 (55%)
$2,000-$2,499   17 (41%)     24 (59%)
$2,500-$2,999   13 (36%)     23 (64%)
$3,000-$3,499    7 (32%)     15 (68%)
$3,500 and up    0 (0%)      23 (100%)

How often was each combination of more and less correct? (seasons 40-47)

Note: the following statistics only count playings where the contestant reached the car.

• 4 More: 0 playings (0%)
• 3 More, 1 Less: 8 playings (18.18%)
• 2 More, 2 Less: 17 playings (38.64%)
• 1 More, 3 Less: 19 playings (43.18%)
• 4 Less: 0 playings (0%)

Strategy

Mostly know the prices, but with a couple of tips:

• For the first three prizes, you should guess "more" for any fake price of $999 or lower and "less" for any fake price of $3,500 or higher.
• Note the escalating probabilities of each prize being "less" as the game goes along, so that should be what you lean toward later in the game. 
• That said, it's never been correct that all four prizes had the same correct choice; in fact, from seasons 40-47, it was only true once that the first three prizes had the same correct choice (again, only counting playings the contestant reached the third prize.)

The Price is Right Ultimate Strategy Guide: Money Game

Money Game

Rules

A car is shown as is a board with 9 pairs of numbers. The middle number of the price of the car is given to the contestant. The contestant must pick the pair of numbers that corresponds to the first two digits of the car and the pair of numbers that corresponds to the last two numbers; they may make up to three wrong guesses. Whether the contestant wins the car or not, they win money equal to the sum of the wrong guesses they made.

Random fact

When Money Game first debuted, it was played on the stage instead of the turntable. You can see a playing here:

Win-loss record

• Actual (seasons 29-46): 244-292 (45.52%)
• What it would be by random chance: 1/2 (50%)
  (Note: the above assumes there are three reasonable choices for the first two digits and six reasonable choices for the last two digits. That's a fact that has been true in every playing since at least season 40.)

<voice from offstage> You already know what I'm going to say, right?

Yes, yes, yes. Why is the win rate lower than the random chance win rate? I'm getting there.

Thank you. 

Of the three choices for the first two digits, which was correct? (seasons 40-47)

• The lowest: 113 playings (52.07%)
• The middle option: 29 playings (13.36%)
• The highest: 75 playings (34.56%)

How often was the number in each position a correct choice to make? (seasons 40-47)

21.66%  3.69% 24.42%

20.28% 17.05% 29.49%

25.81% 28.57% 29.03%

Strategy

While there's nothing completely foolproof in this game, here are some tips:

• Ignore the "digits don't repeat except for the first two" rule. Repeating digits do happen in this game.
• Start by trying to find the last two digits! No one ever does this, but since you get the money for the wrong choices you make, you might as well start with the larger numbers so you make more money if you're wrong.
• Speaking of the last two digits, if you see an "el cheapo" (a number less than 10) on the board, pick it. From seasons 40-46, it was a correct choice 57.89% of the time. (Oddly enough, el cheapo was never even an option in season 47. I don't know if that's a trend or a one season oddity.)
• The number in the top center has been the season number of the show since season 35. (There have been a couple of exceptions, but they've been extremely rare.) The season number hasn't ever been correct more than twice in a season, and more often, it's correct once or not at all. In other words, you should avoid it.
• For the first two numbers of the price of the car, pick the endpoints applies. As you can see, for the three choices you have for the first two numbers, the middle one is correct less than 1 out of every 7 playings. This is why the win rate is lower than the win rate by random chance--contestants like to pick the middle option for the first two digits and they waste a pick in the process.