Speaking of blind luck, I have to raise an eyebrow in askance at the quotes in the article about TPiR suddenly becoming “a game of luck.” Duh. Luck abounds in at least half the games. And it’s not like memorizing prices by watching a metric buttload of episodes is particularly skillful, IMO.
PS: The superfans at GoldenRoad.net, one of the sources of said drama, has a forum thread on this article, as you might expect.
It’s not that crazy an idea. You can’t make yourself better at a game based purely on luck and random numbers. Even if the only way you can get “better” is by exploiting weaknesses in the game design, that’s still the challenge that gets people interested. Poker players strive to improve their game despite the heavy element of chance, but nobody can be a “good” slot machine player.
As has been mentioned, the audience whoop and holler as if skill is involved or mystical good fortune can be influenced.
It is a running advertisement for the gamblers fallacy and as such adds to the general ignorance of those who watch it.
The front man is merely the turdy cherry on a rather cacky cake.
Okay, I’m reading the Esquire article and get to the part about Michael Larson, who figured out the patterns on Press Your Luck in 1984. I’m also listening to the local public radio station. While I’m reading about Michael Larson, a promo comes on for This American Life and their upcoming interview with…Michael Larson (cue Twilight Zone music).
Just thought I’d share that.
No way this wasn’t a fix. I don’t know how you’d prove it or not, but to nail that goofy number on the button is unbelievable.
As someone else mentioned, people tend to use the $100 increment on the showcase. maybe $50. and the last number is either a 5 or a 0. And Drew looked like he knew something was wrong because he just read the number like it was no big deal.
If it was on the level, that guy should go out and play the lotto right now.
This reminded me of the guy who figured out that “press your luck” only had 4 different boards, and they rotated in a predictable order. So, if you watch the show long enough, you could memorize the pattern. The guy hit “Big Bucks” for a day and a half.
The funny thing was that the guy had trouble hitting an “out” square, where he didn’t lose all his money, or gain a spin. He eventually won, but they figured out what he was doing as the show was happening. But, there was nothing they could do, as the show’s producers knew the flaw in the game and didn’t think anyone would figure it out.
Big Bucks! No Whammies! Stop!
Psssst… Stink Fish, read Dewey Finn’s linked article in post #52.
I remember that happening…and never read the article before.
VERY interesting.
Someone didn’t read the whole thread(which started 2 years ago) before posting.
I agree that nailing it to the dollar still isn’t fully explained in the article. Why take the massive risk of being one dollar over with that precise guess?
I was also very surprised by Drew’s reaction when the show originally aired. Now I understand where his mind was at.
They’re all precise guesses. Unless the show’s makers deliberately go for specific numbers, picking ??00 is just as likely to screw you over like that as picking ??26.
IIRC if you go over by even a $1 you lose on Price is Right.
No one would deliberately try to guess the exact value. It’s too dangerous.
Getting within $200 still gets both showcases and there’s room for error.
The guys research helped some. He was able to add up the prices a lot more accurately then someone else. But hitting it exact was just bad luck. He mentions in Esquire it would have caused less uproar & suspicion if he missed by $100.