If you were a contestant....

[priac]

...which game or games do you have the most confidence you would win?

For me:
Cliff Hangers (of course)
Clock Game
Race Game
Range Game
Magic Number - so easy it’s stupid

And for sure the following 3 car games, as they only require you to zero in on the price, as opposed to being able to nail the fourth and fifth digits like L7:

Triple Play  - not difficult if you have a somewhat decent knowledge of the predictable rotation of cars they present.
Five Price Tags- for the same reason
Gas Money - for the same reason
————-
Which games do you have the LEAST confidence in your ability to win?

For me:
Stack the Deck (dep on car shown)
Grand Game - don’t know why but I always mess this up
Half Off - too much luck involved
Squeeze Play - prices too arbitrarily set up . Easy for producers to throw this one.
Time is Money - crazy difficult if not hit on the first try
Three Strikes - again, too much luck component
Switcheroo- quite a difficult game to nail without some luck on your side

There are more I’m missing but those are the ones that come to mind.

[htmlcc92]

Most confidence:

- Cliff Hangers
- Coming or Going (if the pattern still seems to be "Going" for trips and "Coming" for everything else)
- Magic #
- 5 Price Tags (at the very least I'll know how to maximize my number of choices)
- Lucky $even (I know they'll go for extremes, the only thing that might trip me up is if I go with the wrong extreme, at the very least I know not to pick 5s)
- Check Game
- Bonkers
- Hole in One (may not be able to necessarily do well on the grocery portion, but I feel like I'm a decent putter)
- Ten Chances
- Now....or Then

Games I would probably lose in a heart beat:

- Pay the Rent
- Golden Road*
- Triple Play
- Stack the Deck*
- Money Game*
- Cover Up (I could at least maximize the number of rounds probably)*
- Any Number*

*Basically I am not detail-oriented enough to know the last number or last two based on things like paint and fabric protection, or all-weather floor mats, those kinds of things.

[blozier2006]

Games I would probably lose in a heart beat:

- Pay the Rent
- Golden Road*
- Triple Play
- Stack the Deck*
- Money Game*
- Cover Up (I could at least maximize the number of rounds probably)*
- Any Number*

*Basically I am not detail-oriented enough to know the last number or last two based on things like paint and fabric protection, or all-weather floor mats, those kinds of things.

Not sure why you've got Golden Road in here, since there you only ever have to guess the hundreds digit.

[mechamind]

I'd feel good about That's Too Much!, since you only need to decide if the car falls between the two prices. The loudness doesn't add to the pricing skill; it's really just for fun. Card Game also has a range, except you determine that by picking cards.

Perhaps Hi-Lo and Shopping Spree, two games where you gotta pick the most expensive grocery item/prize three times, and that's all there really is to them. Somehow, I'd be more confident picking high prices than picking low prices.

I might be able to do good at Bonkers as well.

---------------

If you're good at pricing small items, you might be good with Switcheroo as long as you save the car for last. I'm kinda in the middle for this one, though.

---------------

I've got no confidence in Pass the Buck, another luck-based game.

Hole in One (or Two). There's too much pressure to sink the putt on national TV.

Cover Up. The first two digits might be obvious, but the last three are not, and I'm not confident enough in deliberately missing the first two.

[htmlcc92]

Not sure why you've got Golden Road in here, since there you only ever have to guess the hundreds digit.

I guess I didn't mean to put the asterisk with that one. It would still be difficult for me even at the second prize. More often than not when playing along at home I get the second prize wrong, so wouldn't even be able to make it to the car.

[whowouldeverhurtawhammy]

With a little skill and nerve, I would say Rat Race if it's during Big Money Week.

[Ton80]

Clock Game and Hole in One are probably the only two games that I feel are immune to "evil setups", and are therefore my favorite. 

In Hole in One, no matter how hard the the small prizes are, you are not going to putt from any further back than the last line.  As long as you keep your nerves, and are reasonably good at putting, you're probably going to win.

As for Clock Game, no matter how difficult the two prizes are, if you remain calm and use your head, and divide and conquer your guesses in a logical way, you should not have a problem winning.

Race Game and Bonkers get honorable mentions provided you can move fast enough and can maximize your number of guesses.

Magic # is hard to lose as it's been played recently, but the producers always have the option of making the game hard to win by changing up the prizes.

[blozier2006]

As for Clock Game, no matter how difficult the two prizes are, if you remain calm and use your head, and divide and conquer your guesses in a logical way, you should not have a problem winning.

Two words: binary search. If you can remember that, you'll win every single time.

[Hag]

A game I would have confidence in winning would be something like Bullseye or Grocery Game, where I have some idea of the prices of the items.

I would not have confidence in Now Or Then, because I'm never sure if the prices are today's or in the past.

[LiteBulb88]

Two words: binary search. If you can remember that, you'll win every single time.

Let's say a prize is $850, and as the contestant, you know all Clock Game prizes are between $500 and $1000. So a theoretically perfect binary search would look something like this:

CONTESTANT: $750 [average of $500 and $1000]
DREW: Higher
CONTESTANT: $875 [average of $750 and $1000]
DREW: Lower
CONTESTANT: $812 [average of $750 and $875]
DREW: Higher
CONTESTANT: $844 [average of $812 and $875]
DREW: Higher
CONTESTANT: $859 [average of $844 and $875]
DREW: Lower
CONTESTANT: $851 [average of $844 and $859]
DREW: Lower
CONTESTANT: $847 [average of $844 and $851]
DREW: Higher
CONTESTANT: $849 [average of $847 and $851]
DREW: Higher
CONTESTANT: $850 [average of $849 and $851]

One problem: good luck doing the math for a binary search on stage when you only have 30 seconds to win 2 prizes. In this example, just try to average $875 and $844 in your head. Now try to do averages like that 9 times. If a computer is playing clock game, then I absolutely agree that binary search is the way to go. But not for a human.

[gamesurf]

One problem: good luck doing the math for a binary search on stage when you only have 30 seconds to win 2 prizes. In this example, just try to average $875 and $844 in your head. Now try to do averages like that 9 times. If a computer is playing clock game, then I absolutely agree that binary search is the way to go. But not for a human.

Yeah, perfect is the enemy of good. Going by 100s, 50s, 10s is almost always going to win the game handily.

Plus some prices are far more likely to be correct than others, so perfect binary search is not the most efficient way of hitting them. Bonus points if your bids end in -99 and -49 instead of -00 or -50, but it’s by no means necessary, unless you’re going for a speed record or playing it on an MDS.

[tpir04]

Also, I do believe the contestant does not have to say the complete number each time. Example: You've narrowed down the price to somewhere between $750 and $770. You can say, "760." Then you can say, "759, 8, 7, etc." or "761, 2, 3, etc." depending on whether Drew says higher or lower. This method can shave a second or two off your total elapsed time, which can be crucial in the endgame.

[pricefan18]

Also, I do believe the contestant does not have to say the complete number each time. Example: You've narrowed down the price to somewhere between $750 and $770. You can say, "760." Then you can say, "759, 8, 7, etc." or "761, 2, 3, etc." depending on whether Drew says higher or lower. This method can shave a second or two off your total elapsed time, which can be crucial in the endgame.

Yeah that would be true pretty much from the beginning, although someone could correct me if that's wrong I'm sure. Many many contestants even in the Barker days would do that, or at least do "761, 62, 63, 64, etc." So best I can tell that's always been a unwritten rule as it were, which makes sense. I never even thought of the binary way honestly till now seeing it here, always assumed the old way was the perfect way to do it. Still think that really, binary is too complicated I think, for speed and thinking reasons both.

[TPIRfan#9821]

Games that I would dominate at:
-Cliff Hangers
-Clock Game
-Now... or Then (There is a way to win it 100% of the time)
-Magic Number ($3,000)
-Coming or Going (Trip is always going, else coming)
-5 Price Tags (Bug off, falsitis)
-Bullseye (I just pick two of the the three most expensive-looking things)
-Bonkers
-Master Key (I'll pull off another Brian, and just go 1/5)
-Pass the Buck (Same reasoning, 1/6)

Games that I feel confident-ish:
-Cover Up (Intentionally throwing the first digit, knowing 0/5/9 is probably wrong for the last digit)
-10 Chances (Zero rule)
-Plinko (Just drop in the center, and I believe there's a soft zero rule)
-Money Game (El Cheapo? Front and Back? Avoid the season digit?)
-Lucky $even (I'm just going straight 5 if it's a special, else I feel like I can get a sense on the hundreds and ones digits)
-Any game that involves going fast
-Dice Game
-Check Game (Really, the game nowadays is "$1,000 or $2,000".)
-Check-Out ($19.32)

Games that I want to play, but will probably fail at:
-Switcheroo (I'd just focus on the SPs)
-The Big 3 + Pay the Rent
-Any casher that has a bailout or partial win
-Temptation (Just to bail)
-Any #
-Grocery Game
-Gas Money
-Any "gimmick" game setup

Games I just will hide from:
-StD
-Rat Race (It's a perfectly fine game, but I don't feel confident that I will go reasonably high on the second item)
-Pocket Change (This game always seemed a bit too hard for me. It isn't the hardest, but I just don't like it)

[b_masters8]

In Hole in One, no matter how hard the the small prizes are, you are not going to putt from any further back than the last line.  As long as you keep your nerves, and are reasonably good at putting, you're probably going to win.

That's why, if I ever went to TPIR, and was being interviewed in the line, and was asked what my favorite game was, I would answer Hole In One: because even if you totally blow the setup phase, you're still very likely to win a car if you just keep your wits about you, keep calm, and sink the putt.