Author Topic: The REAL Plinko record...how many times has the center slot been hit three times  (Read 3497 times)

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Offline Estil

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You often hear in terms of the Plinko "record" how much cash overall has been won...but that isn't really a fair way of measuring the record because not only did the center slot get upgraded from $5K to $10K in 1998(?)...but especially in recent years they've often given the center slot a bonus increase for anniversaries and other special sorts of shows.

So all that being said, the REAL record was when someone in the $5K era hit the center slot four times out of five...I don't suppose that episode is on YouTube anywhere is it not?

I think most TPIR fans know about that moment...but how many times has the center slot been hit three times?  I mean that's gotta be a pretty rare moment too...shoot even just hitting it twice is fairly uncommon is it not?

Offline gamesurf

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I think most TPIR fans know about that moment...but how many times has the center slot been hit three times?  I mean that's gotta be a pretty rare moment too...shoot even just hitting it twice is fairly uncommon is it not?

Three known times:

  • On November 30, 1990: 4 $5K slot hits and one $1,000 slot. AFAIK no video is on the internet. The current "record", since it's impossible to do better without winning the full prize.
  • In 2007: 3 $10K slot hits, a $100, and a $0. Drew celebrated the new Plinko record on-air and made a big deal of it.
  • In 2017: 3 $10K slot hits, a $1,000, and a $500. Drew made a mention on air of the new record, and a bunch of clickbait websites picked up on the story after it happened. (It was kind of fun to compare and contrast how difficult these were to hunt down--this one was by far the easiest. The 2007 one took some digging even though I remember it happening clearly, and only found the 1990 one because of the FAQ.)

Part of the reason it's so rare to hit the center slot three times IMO is that contestants tend to change up the starting position of the chips. The ideal strategy is to drop it from the center of the board every time (that's pretty much what the fellow in 2017 did), but there's a psychological tendency to try to "course correct" the next one when one doesn't go the way you want it.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 03:25:27 PM by gamesurf »
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Offline JayC

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So there's no known instances of a contestant getting 3 chips in the $5,000 slot? Just the one known contestant who hit four chips in the $5,000 slot? I guess it's not that shocking since 2 center slot hits is pretty rare itself.

Offline JT

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In NYC, the famous 11/30/90 $21K episode must have been partially pre-empted because I never saw that big win and I taped every single show back then.   At the time, I only knew about it because Bob mentioned it on a future episode; probably the following time Plinko had been played.  The episode also never made it to Summer reruns that year and I think there is a particular reason as to why.   Not sure I should share my hypothesis but it is almost 30 years ago.....Any superfans out there from that era have an idea?

Offline wink87

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Bob also mentioned it during a plinko playing circa 1999. A contestant had just broken the record that day winning $22,100. I believe his name was Judge.

Offline Off_trak

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There was something different about the Plinko chips in the early days. They sounded heavier than they currently do. Of course, this was before the plexiglass cover was placed over the board, so maybe that has something to do with sound? (Although there does exist a set of chips that are prohibited from being used, recalling from a picture that's posted in here somewhere, I think. Maybe those are the heavier chips?)
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Offline JayC

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In NYC, the famous 11/30/90 $21K episode must have been partially pre-empted because I never saw that big win and I taped every single show back then.   At the time, I only knew about it because Bob mentioned it on a future episode; probably the following time Plinko had been played.  The episode also never made it to Summer reruns that year and I think there is a particular reason as to why.   Not sure I should share my hypothesis but it is almost 30 years ago.....Any superfans out there from that era have an idea?
I would guess the pre-emption was just local, although from a search I see President Bush had a news conference on that date so that would be something that would warrant a national pre-emption to report on if occurred in the morning. Strange they wouldn't rerun the episode though given the big Plinko win, unless it was otherwise a very unspectacular episode.

Offline Alfonzo

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I definitely recall in the mid-80s (Possibly 1984) a gentleman who wore a cowboy hat and kissed every chip before he dropped it dropped it and got the first four chips in the $5,000 slot and his last chip landed in $100. I know it happened because Bob encouraged him to give each chip a "kissy-kissy" after the first one he kissed hit the middle slot.
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Offline dmaingame

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I never knew the 1990 occurrence didn't rerun.  I definitely saw it, but must've been off from school that day.  For some reason I thought it happened in '91 toward the end of Season 19, because it was one of the last Plinko playings with the original color scheme.   
« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 12:16:33 AM by dmaingame »