“The piano ain't got no wrong notes.” -Theolonius MonkThis is a jazzy riff on the format we all know and love!
What's familiar? The episode will have four IUFBs and four pricing games. The winner of each IUFB plays a pricing game. The top two winners at the end of the show will play in the showcases. It’s just like a regular half-hour show with one extra IUFB and pricing game.
The difference is the way contestants bid on IUFBs. The One-Bids will be done in a Cullen-esque style that allows for anybody to jump in.
IUFBs will not be using the “One-Bid” format. Instead… we’re going to throw back, way back to the Bill Cullen days, before even “Come On Down” was associated with the show.
•Just like an auction, you can raise your bid, but you can't lower it.
•Each time a player raises, they must bid at least $20 more than the highest bid.
•At any time, players may choose to “freeze” their bids.
•A player may make their first bid something under the highest bid, but they must freeze immediately.
A “frozen” bid guarantees a $20 cushion. (For example, if somebody “freezes” at $400, all future bids from $400 to $419 are off limits for that round, even if it’s another player’s first bid.) This rule is intended to encourage players to “freeze” when they are confident, and discourage players from simply waiting until the last minute and one-upping somebody.
Bidding periods last 48 hours. Once the bidding period is over, all bids automatically freeze. The ARP is revealed. The bidder who is closest to the ARP of the prize without going over wins it, and wins the right to play a pricing game. (If everybody is over, a buzzer sounds, all bids are cleared and bidding is reopened for 24 hours.)
Bidders will not be limited to four players. Instead,
bidding is open to anybody in the audience who wishes to participate and is eligible as per the HYO Forum Rules.
Anybody may jump in on any IUFB, so long as they meet the HYO forum requirements. Even players who have won previous IUFBs and played pricing games can still bid on future IUFBs and potentially win again. (The only exception is if somebody wins the first 3 IUFBs in a row.)
ExampleIt's fairly simple (it's almost verbatim what the rules of the Bill Cullen version were, except opened up to more than four players), but to illustrate here's an example.
The item up for bids is a year’s supply of donuts.
Arthur bids $250.
Brittany, after seeing Arthur's bid, bids $275.
After seeing Brittany's bid, Arthur decides his bid ought to be higher, so he raises his bid to $300.
In a show of confidence, Brittany raises her bid to $350 and freezes. Brittany cannot place any more bids. Since frozen bids have a $20 cushion, no future bidders can place any bids from $351-$369.
Charlie enters with $320. He automatically freezes, since his bid is below the current top bid of $350. (If this was not Charlie's opening bid, he would not be allowed to do this.)
Arthur has to decide if he is happy with his bid of $300, or if he wants to raise his bid up to $370 or above (since he would have to bid at least $20 more than the highest bidder). He chooses to freeze at $300.
After 48 hours of bidding are up, the ARP of the donuts is read: $335. Charlie is the winner! Charlie gets to come up onstage and play a pricing game. The process then repeats three more times, and the two biggest winners go to the showcases.
As for the other rules...
- As before, audience participation is STRONGLY ENCOURAGED! Jokes, banter, memes, are ALWAYS welcome!
I would say shouting out prices and advice is welcome, too, at all times except during the IUFBs--but shouting out prices during the IUFBs is the whole POINT of this format, so I'll just say SHOUT OUT PRICES AND ADVICE! - I have a handy graphic that I will post every so often to help organize the bids, but it is your responsibility to check and make sure your bid is valid before you place it. Once a valid bid is made, it is binding.
- If you win an IUFB, I will PM you.
- All players are on a 24 hour time limit for responses in PGs and SCs. Miss your deadline in a pricing game and it’s an auto-loss. So please please please, don’t forget to check the thread!
- Don’t try to google prices, of course.
- Do not chew gum on television!
- And most importantly… have fun!!
I would have an audition question, but... since anyone in the audience is eligible to bid, we don't need audition questions! But if you'd like to play, feel free to RSVP by posting what's the weirdest thing you've ever won in an auction.
I'll keep this open for about 72 hours if anybody has any questions about the format (or anything else) they want to ask before the show starts. The show will begin at approximately
3 EST/Noon PST on Wednesday, July 15th.
