OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE CHATROOM SHOWCASE SHOWOFF GAME -- SEASON SIX!!!
The Chatroom Showcase Showoff (CSS) will be played every day in the 2009-2010 season (Year 38) on the Golden-Road.net site, during all first-run East Coast daytime telecasts of "The Price Is Right" on CBS during the Showcase, occurring around 11:45AM Eastern time. The game revolves around the Showcase on the TV series, and chatroom participants will bid on the showcases as the stage contestants do in an attempt to be the day's best bidder.
The season will start on Monday, September 21, 2009, the first show of the 38th year of "The Price Is Right" on CBS and will include all first-run daytime shows. Any MDS or other prime time shows will be played for fun, but will NOT count towards the year's overall standings.
GAME OFFICIALS
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BuddyTom is the official CSS host. BigJon is the statistician. Since gameplay no longer involves the chat software, unless an announcement is made otherwise, BuddyTom gets all the bids, every day. If he is not present, hell do the tally when he gets home.
OFFICIAL GAMES
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The CSS is played during all first-run episodes of "The Price Is Right", both daytime and Million Dollar Spectacular versions, which air in the Eastern time zone (though MDS' do not count towards the standings, see above). Between 160 and 165 games will be played during a typical regular season.
The CSS will not be played if...
1. The program is not a first-run episode from the current season.
2. Any part or all of the Showcases are interrupted by break-ins or pre-emptions to the network. Isolated local incidents are not grounds for cancellation; members may request a readback in the chat room if they cannot see the Showcases for whatever reason.
3. There are problems with the website such as freezes or other failures during the showcase.
4. There are spoilers emanating from network press releases or local newspapers which divulge winning amounts and/or items in a particular showcase for a day's program
If only the price reveals are pre-empted on a telecast, the game will be official if the ending of the showcase airs in another time zone.
All golden-road.net members who attend tapings of the show are honor-bound not to participate in that day's CSS nor to divulge details of the show to other members. Those who attend tapings now have the option to "opt-out" and take $5,000 and 20.00 CSS points to be added to their total score. This will not count as a game played, so it's a chance to increase your average if you make the pilgrimage!
ELIGIBILTY
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All people on golden-road.net may participate in the CSS, including the game leader and moderators. The two contestants on TV compete as a combined entity known as the "Stage Player." This competitor is a constant foe of all chat room participants, and as such is the only player to be represented in each game of the season.
GAME PLAY
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Using the FORUM PM feature, send a PM to "BuddyTom" with BOTH of your bids at the same time. Obviously, wait until after the second showcase is revealed, but please send it quickly afterwards. If the time stamp is after the time of the reveal, your bids will not count.
Bids may only be accepted during the actual play of the showcase on the show. They may not be messaged at any other time in advance of the show, whether it be one day, one week, or ten minutes in advance of the showcases. This feature keeps the game fair and valid for all and prevents otherwise absent contestants from "proxying" bids to stay in the game.
Once a bid comes in for a showcase it cannot be changed. Most players in the chatroom will know when a showcase is over, but if any player submits an early bid for a showcase and an additional prize is subsequently revealed, the bid stands. The exception for this rule is obvious typos like bidding $150,000 when it was obviously a $15,000 bid.
Chatroom players' differences on the showcases will then be calculated based on the actual retail price (ARP) the TV host reads for each showcase (and as verified by the official Joe_Capitano recap). Scores are then recorded for each player. These results generally get posted after 2PM Eastern on the same day the episode airs.
SCORING
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GAME SCORING -- POINTS
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The day's winner is the player with the highest point score, which represents a percentage of the player's bids against the ARP of both showcases. Important: For a player's score to count, the player must bid under the ARP on each showcase. If a player is over on one or both showcases, that player's score for that day is zero. Over on one, over on both.
DOUBLE POINTS & DOUBLE VALUES
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The point and money values for the day will be doubled on Fridays, as per tradition.
The points will be doubled if the show is a "perfect" show (all six pricing games won).
The points will be doubled with special procedure for Plinko:
Plinko Doubler
Anyone wishing to participate will FORUM PM the CSS host their guess as to how much money will be won in Plinko after the last SP, i.e.: after we know how many chips will be dropped. The closest player(s) to the actual score without going over will have the opportunity to get their points doubled, however only the top TWO scorers will actually receive double points in the event that more than two people tie for the win.
DSW. If the player scores less than $250 away from the ARP of one showcase, WITHOUT GOING OVER ON THE OTHER, they will have their points doubled and receive the money score for both showcases. If this happens on a day when points are already doubled, they will receive 4x points. If they have also won the Plinko doubler, they may receive 8x points!
QSW. If the player scores less than $250 away from the ARP of BOTH showcases, they will have their points quadrupled. They will receive money equal to the value of both showcases if someone beats them on the other; otherwise they will receive the value of both showcases, times two (i.e.: a double DSW).
BLITZ. If the player is the ONLY player to receive points that day (STAGE PLAYER must be over as well) then they will receive double points.
Host Blows It. If EVERYONE (including STAGE PLAYER) scores points one day, but the CSS host goes over, everyone else gets double points.
GAME SCORING -- MONEY
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For each showcase, there will be a designated "showcase winner", who will receive the ARP of that showcase added to their money score. The "showcase winner" is the player who has the highest acceptable bid on each showcase -- without going over on the other. Just like with the points scoring, nobody who goes over has the opportunity to win money. The showcase winner for each showcase also will receive the ARP of the other showcase if that player is $250 or less away from the ARP of that showcase. If the player has the best bid on each showcase and both are $250 or less away from the ARP's, in essence the player wins twice the ARP of both showcases.
Money scores will double on Fridays. Money scores DO NOT double on a perfect show, a CSS BLITZ win or with the Plinko doubler.
WEEK TO WEEK RESULTS
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Daily results will appear in the Play Along forum every day the game is played sometime after the Joe_Capitano recap is posted, as these results will include Stage Player differences that may act as spoilers. The table will be sorted by point score, and will also denote the two showcase winners for that day and their money scores.
Statistics for the game period will be kept and tallied throughout the season. Every Friday night (or so) there will be a new leaderboard released featuring the cumulative point and dollar scores. The chart will track average score based on number of games played (as we go on there will be a minimum number of games to qualify for this), number of daily wins, number of Double and Quadruple Showcase wins, number of times over, lowest difference for any one showcase (which will include days a player is over on one showcase and makes a great bid on the other), single best daily difference, and money score. Every week's chart will be accompanied by "The Lowest of the Low", spotlighting the three best bids of the week (determined on individual showcase bids, possibly including days when the player is over on the other) and the three best daily differences for the week, as well as a recap of the week's action.
POSTSEASON
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In June 2010, there will be a tournament or playoffs. This will be in the new "open" format where all players above the line compete over a two week span to see who comes out on top. The top eight players will then play head-to-head matches over the next week as per tradition.
