Pricing Game Fleshing Out: Hit-Me

[LiteBulb88]

I taught technical classes to adults for over a decade. One of the quickest things you learn when doing that most of us adults won't unlock the necessary part of our brains to learn something unless we know why we're doing it. Further, pressure, such as that of being on stage in front of hundreds of people on a TV show watched by millions, tends to shut down a person's brain even more.

Why do I mention this? It's easy for us armchair QBs to say "Make sure you pick a price that ends in 0, you dolt!" to a contestant. But if a contestant that doesn't know much about the show knows nothing about blackjack and they hear Bob say "Pick a price that is the actual price multiplied by 10," their brain isn't going to unlock the usually dormant mathematical side of themselves because they don't know why they're doing it. It's not because they don't know that concept; most people know that when you multiply a number by 10, it ends in 0. But between not understanding why they need to worry about multiplying by 10, having only seconds to process everything happening, and the pressure of being on stage shutting down the parts of their brain they weren't ready to access in advance, I'm not surprised by the fact that many contestants couldn't make that connection on the spot.

So yes, Hit Me could be very entertaining if the contestant knew the show, how to play blackjack, and they thought about the math in advance. But very few contestants fit all those categories and thus the game didn't belong in the rotation.

[gamesurf]

I fail to see where there was anything complicated about it.

Bob: You're going to play Hit Me. Would you cut the cards, please? Hit Me is played just like blackjack. Have you ever played blackjack before?

Contestant: No.

Bob: Well, you're trying to make 21 without going over.

Contestant: What do you mean, "make 21?" Twenty-one what?

B: You want to get the sum of your cards to total 21, without going over. Now, Dian will take these cards you just cut, and will draw the top card. That will be the hole card for the house. The next card she draws will be the up card for the house... and it's a five. As the sign says, the house hits at 16 and stays at 17.

C: ...wait wait wait. I have no idea what you just said. You used a bunch of words that have no meaning to me. What's a "hole card"?

B: It doesn't matter. It's a mystery card. We'll reveal it at the end of the game.

C: So I'm supposed to use that card to make 21?

B: No, that card belongs to the house.

C: "The house?" You said my goal was to make 21.

B: Well, making 21 is an automatic win. But if you can't make 21, but you can beat the house, or if the house goes over 21, you still win.

C: I see. So really I just need to beat the five and the mystery card?

B: No, because the house will keep drawing until it gets at least 17. You don't know how many cards the house will have, so you need to set a high score you think the house can't beat. Or get 21.

C: That's making more sense. How many points is the King worth? It outranks the Jack and Queen, so I'm guessing thirteen?

B: All face cards are worth ten. So if the hole card is a King, the house will have 15, and must keep drawing. That would be good for you, because it would bust on seven or higher.

C: Oh, ok. I think I get it now. So now I pull my cards from the deck, right?

B: No. That's how they do it in Vegas, but that's not how we do it on The Price is Right. Your cards will come from these products here. Won't you describe them for us, Rod?

...

B: Each product has a card attached. Now, you'll notice that each of the products has a price on it. One of these products has the correct price, that has an Ace. One has the actual price multiplied by ten, that has a ten. The others could be the price multiplied by any number one through ten. Get it? So the optimal strategy would be to start by trying to find either the Ace or the ten. Where would you like to start?

C: Uhhhh.... that $14.00 bag of pasta looks like it's gotta be a ten.

B: Actual price, $1.75. You have an eight.

C: So now I'm 13 away from 21. I should try to pick the ten and get 18, right?

B: Well, not necessarily. It might be better to try to find a two or three. That will give you ten or eleven.

C: Why would I want to do that?

B: Then you can pick the ten or Ace and get 21.

C: You mean the ten AND the Ace would give me 21, right?

B: No, if you have ten you can use the Ace as eleven.

C: I'm confused. Why is that?

B: The Ace has special rules. You can decide whether it should be worth 1 or 11.

C: I'm not complaining, but it seems like you're making this up as you're going along. You said the Ace would be hidden behind the product multiplied by one, not eleven!

B: Well, I'm telling you now!

[rather than unearth any more hidden rules, the contestant draws the Ace and stops with 19]

B: Okay, let's see what the house has.

Dian flips the house hole card to reveal... an Ace

C: Um... so what happens now?

B: On a whim, I just decided I'll treat the Ace as 11. So the house has 16 and must draw again. See, I'm helping you, because now the house is far more likely to bust. The only way this can hurt you is if Dian turns over...

Dian hits and draws... another five, obviously. The losing horns sound.

B: I'm sorry.

C: Since you arbitrarily decided the Ace would be 11, can't we just arbitrarily decide it will be a 1 instead?

B: No. The losing horns already played. Stay tuned for more pricing games on the second half--

C: Why couldn't I have played Double Prices?

[SamJ93]

I'm almost certain it's Penny Ante that John is referring to. It blows my mind that Hit Me could time the same as Pick a Pair and Penny Ante.

I can definitely see it. Both games required two correct decisions to be played perfectly, both were over after three (or roughly three, in Hit Me's case) bad decisions.

[ClockGameJohn]

I'm almost certain it's Penny Ante that John is referring to. It blows my mind that Hit Me could time the same as Pick a Pair and Penny Ante.

Mind blown, you are correct.

[Nick]

I seem to recall this had nothing to do with the budget; rather, it was direct innuendo following a discussion which occurred here on G-R.net.

Those were the days.

Anybody have noted which episode that was?  Even if somebody does, I guess we probably don't have the recap thread around anymore...

Hit Me timed-out as one of the two fastest GP games on the show (tied with Pick a Pair). Ironically — and unfortunately — we also lost the third game tied at 4.5 minutes just a few years prior.

John, do you happen to have a compiled list of the official timings?  Somebody published it somewhere once, but that was so long ago, I don't even know where to look.

[DYC]

(The entirety of the Hit Me reenactment)

I really laughed a lot harder than I expected that was truly a SPOT ON parody

That was the thing about Hit Me IMHO. Over the 27 years of it's life, Bob never really nailed a "smooth" explanation for it (in my opinion). Whereas, for example, he eventually developed one-sentence synopses for most games ( like "Pick a Pair of Products with the same Price and you'll win that Prize -Rod tell us about the Products in the Pick-a-Pair game today!" which was a common one-liner he'd use a lot in later years) it was nigh impossible to give clear directions in that game, especially for contestants not familiar with blackjack. It'd get convoluted sometimes, and Bob had to almost walk them step-by-step which, in my view, became awkward at times. 
But hey, I became a blackjack dealer for a few years and believe me I understand Mr. Barker's struggle to explain a game like blackjack in a concise manner that your average Joe Blow (or Joe Plinko) could easily grasp, and quickly. 

[Alfonzo]

@Gamesurf: When I used to watch Price at lunch with co-workers, Hit Me was the only pricing game I could not get them to understand how the game was played. To be fair it took me YEARS to fully grasp it. You pretty much described how it was like for me explaining the rules to my co-workers. Thanks for the flashback!

[rowlande]

someone correct me if im wrong. But didn't Hit Me, Now or Then, Grand Game, Check out and Pick a pair all debut around the same time

[Alfonzo]

someone correct me if im wrong. But didn't Hit Me, Now or Then, Grand Game, Check out and Pick a pair all debut around the same time

They all debuted with a two-year period. For exact dates, check the FAQ section of the board.

[rowlande]

With Pay the rent likely gone? Hit Me or Maybe Hurdles should come back

[tpirfansince1972]

OMG that "re-enactment" post with a playing of Hit Me is downright brilliant!  Truly classic!

Thank you!

[BillyGr]

With Pay the rent likely gone? Hit Me or Maybe Hurdles should come back

Nothing said it was going anywhere, just needs to be edited a bit to fit in the new location.