TPiR Recap - 11/10/2014 (TPiR Season 43 Big Money Week - Day 1)

[moneygamelover]

When I watched the show I didn't even think there would be a debate. I just enjoyed the win. When I read the recap didn't even think about the win because I never had any doubt or even thought that Rat Race wasn't won. Even after seeing the debate I can't think of a first place finish in Rat Race as anything other than a win.

[vadernader]

Nope, because a car game is won if the car is won.

So when Plinko was played for a Car if the contestant had hit the center slot once to win the Car it would have been the only time Plinko was ever officially won?

[JustBecause]

When I watched the show I didn't even think there would be a debate. I just enjoyed the win. When I read the recap didn't even think about the win because I never had any doubt or even thought that Rat Race wasn't won. Even after seeing the debate I can't think of a first place finish in Rat Race as anything other than a win.

moneygamelover IS EXACTLY RIGHT!!

And FWIW, everyone in chat, IIRC, called this a win.

[thepriceis_J]

I really didn't want to respond in order to see what others thought, but JJ directed some questions to me.

Nope, because a car game is won if the car is won.

To borrow from horse racing, that particular horse is a winner.  But if I have a ticket for a box trifecta, then I'm a loser if my horses don't come in 1-2-3.

It seems odd. Has a car game ever been played for cash? This situation seems exceptionally rare.

To me, I feel that car game rules should apply.

Purist (cash game rules) vs. Purist (Rat Race rules). This is gonna be ugly.

Not that ugly. This really is a rare moment. Certainly deserves an introspective discussion.

[Prizes]

I've been saying, by my beliefs, that Rat is a win today, if only because of the original construction of the game, as a car game, which follows the order of what Key does; you win the car, the game is won. If Rat was a cash game this whole time, then yep, it's not a win today for me, because of the game's intent.

This I find rather different than Plinko, in which I only see 25K, 50K, 100K, etc. to be a win, where the maximized offer prize, excluding the SPs, has always been cash, because that has never veered from the game's main objective: Win all 5 chips, get them all in the center slot, and then, and only then, you win. With Rat, I've seen it as while the other two prizes can be contributory to a partial win, if the car is not won. However, should the car be won, without respect to the other two prizes, won or lost, let alone if there was even a 2nd and/or 3rd rat, is always deemed a win. This is very similar to Key's concept of picking the key that only opens the car, in combination with either of the following conditions applying: No second key, or the first key is the dud key.

What is interesting though, is that if Key and Rat began this practice at the start, or with consistent basis, of saying the total MSRP of all 3 prizes, then yes, today is a loss, but as far as I know, this isn't being changed. As it's been said, this basis/new announcing would would mean a heck of a lot more losses in either game, hereon.

I do see the other side of this, and it's quite logical, but doesn't likely follow precedent, nor Rat's game's Bible, so I really can't side for it. I will say though, George's announcing the total of the cash, as its maximum advertised prize sure does put some clouds of uncertainty about what to deem this for the records.

Just a semi-relevant aside: Has a maximum amount of cash played for on Price been unknown, regardless of game, in any particular playing? I ask, because it seems like a constant practice for them to do so, as well as to get the crowd, player, etc. riled up and excited, which is a reasonable assumption as to why they revealed the total cash possible today.

[PriceBusterXL]

Despite a DOB, Big Money Week was off to a good start.

THE BAD NEWS:

Do The Math: The only solid loss today. When it came to those trips, distance was the advantage, so it wasn't that bad of a setup. Although, it was unfortunate for Deborah to lose on it on her 30-year wait.

THE GOOD NEWS:

Lucky $even: Fantastic job by Bruce!

Freeze Frame: I would assumed that the desk stuff would cost more...........But Pamela made the right choice.

Dice Game: That price reveal for the Mini Cooper was something else.........You gotta love those double digits.  Nevertheless, good job by James!

Now Or Then: A clean sweep by Katherine!

Rat Race: Well, this was new..........A car game for cash instead. Personally, I really thought that Rent was gonna be used for that.  Steven got all three rats........And even though he didn't get all of the $175K, he still got a 100 grand, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon and declare that a win. I did like that the pink rat matches Steven's shirt.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Despite no perfect show, this was still a good show with a solid lineup. Time to see how well the rest of the week plays out.

[Shaymin]

I think the deal with Rat Race today is that it's hard to say somebody "lost" a game when they won $100,000.

[JohnHolder]

I say we ask Steven whether he thinks he won the game.

[dad90]

Despite the third DOB this season, we're kicking things off right with a 5 out of 6 show, and on Big Money Week!

Great wins all around, especially on Rat Race, with a big $100,000 win.

Now, that today's Veterans Day, I believe something extra special will happen.

[BRB_TheFireball]

I have no idea how Lucky $even was won with a price like that.  Not a single low number, except for the first number.

And I have no idea how Do the Math was lost.  Distance alone should have hinted that Utah < South Carolina.  Can't believe that a 50:50 game prevented us from a 6-for-6 show and double FPG bucks.  This is the perfect week to have a perfecta.

Rat Race now joins the elite class of car games that are not played for vehicles.  This is an example of a Big Money Week pricing game executed correctly.  Steven picked the right day to wear a pink shirt.

Now I'm trying to convince myself that Mike Richards used Rat Race as an all-cash game just to deliberately aggravate everybody on G-R.net who has been complaining about the lack of episodes with three car games.

My showcase bids:
Mercedes--$40,707
WWP--$28,707

[Angel450]

Rat Race now joins the elite class of car games that are not played for vehicles.

What do you mean by that?  Just because Rat Race was played for cash and not a car does not mean it should be put in a graveyard.

[Prizes]

What do you mean by that?  Just because Rat Race was played for cash and not a car does not mean it should be put in a graveyard.

[SteveGavazzi]

Does Make Your Move count as a "car game"?

No.

Anyway, outside of Golden Road, which has been known to offer a huge-ass boat once in a while, the last time a car game was played for something other than a car was probably Money Game somewhere back in the '90s, when it was still being played for boats (and occasionally other things) on a fairly regular basis.  This raises the question, though, of exactly how nerdy you want to be about this, because when Money Game was played for something other than a car, it wasn't scheduled as a car game, so a reasonable case could probably be made that it was something back in the half-hour days.

Everybody is free to think what they want, but in the recap there is no way we should be calling Rat Race a win.  It was a cash game today.  Cash games are won when the highest announced prize is won - which was $175,000 as shown clearly on the screens.

I beg to differ.  It's been established for a long time that when games are played for unorthodox prizes, the regular rules still apply.  In this case, the $100,000 essentially functioned as Rat Race's car, and as goofy as it sounds, since the 100K was won, that means the game counts as a full win.

So when Plinko was played for a Car if the contestant had hit the center slot once to win the Car it would have been the only time Plinko was ever officially won?

Again, no, because Plinko is a cash game, and on those playings, its top prize was announced as a car and $40,000.

[whinbaby]

The 8,102nd episode (40th for Season 43)

Showcase #1

• Trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica:  $11,205
• Mercedes Benz:  $31,375

My bid:  $77,777 (WILLY! )

Showcase #2

• Treadmill:  $1,399
• TV:  $1,600
• Trip to New Orleans:  $6,206
• West Wight Potter:  $15,495

My bid:  $26,794 (OVER)

Modeling Totals:  November 10, 2014 (OSAD 11/17)
Rachel Reynolds
Total:  14/$83,573.29 (15/$62,573.29 with regular Rat Race fare* and staging) (8/$31,891.29, 6/$51,682.00)
Cars:  1/$16,976.00 (1/$16,976.00, 0/$0.00)
Trips:  2/$17,411.00 (0/$0.00, 2/$17,411.00)
Cash Prizes:  1/$25,000.00 (0/$0.00 with regular Rat Race fare and staging) (0/$0.00, 1/$25,000.00)

Melissa Ordway
Total:  14/** (13/$108,542.29 with regular Rat Race fare and staging) (10/$138,529.00, 4/$102,013.00)
Cars:  2/$53,519.00 (3/$71,519.00 with regular Rat Race fare and staging) (1/$22,144.00, 1/$31,375.00)
Trips:  0/$0.00 (0/$0.00, 0/$0.00)
Cash Prizes:  2/$150,000.00 (0/$0.00 with regular Rat Race fare and staging) (1/$100,000.00, 1/$50,000.00)

**Melissa's highest one-show total ever!
**Highest one-show total of all Novembers!

All Prizes
Total:  30/$329,179.29 (30/$176,179.29 with regular Rat Race fare) (19/$174,355.29, 11/$154,824.00)
Cars:  3/$70,495.00 (4/$88,495.00 with regular Rat Race fare) (2/$39,120.00, 1/$31,375.00)
Trips:  2/$17,411.00 (0/$0.00, 2/$17,411.00)
Cash Prizes:  4/$176,129.00 (1/$1,129 with regular Rat Race fare) (1/$100,000.00, 3/$76,129.00)

*Regular Rat Race fare:  $1,000 prize for third prize, $3,000 prize for second prize, $18,000 for a car.

Season to date
Rachel Reynolds (35 shows)
Total:  437/$2,491,934.28 (271/$1,062,039.29, 166/$1,429,894.99)
Cars:  49/$1,219,668.00 (15/$342,730.00, 34/$876,938.00)
Trips:  62/$547,743.00 (35/$310,312.00, 27/$237,431.00)
Cash Prizes:  9/$88,752.00 (5/$33,328.00, 4/$55,424.00)

All Prizes (35 shows)
Total:  902/$6,032,474.60 (560/$2,545,872.72, 342/$3,486,601.88)
Cars:  108/$2,634,245.00 (36/$818,262.00, 72/$1,815,983.00)
Trips:  114/$984,892.00 (63/$553,382.00, 51/$431,510.00)
Cash Prizes:  39/$938,485.00 (9/$270,089.00, 30/$668,396.00)

Career to date
Rachel Reynolds (1,429 shows)
Total:  14,241/$75,510,303.64 (8,874/$33,702,172.23, 5,367/$41,808,131.41)
Cars:  1,558/$35,261,846.00 (590/$12,693,232.00, 968/$22,568,614.00)
Trips:  1,373/$10,645,305.00 (739/$5,638,333.00, 634/$5,006,972.00)
Cash Prizes:  247/$2,786,603.00 (57/$511,912.00, 190/$2,274,691.00)

Melissa Ordway (17 shows)
Total:  171/$1,279,462.00 (106/$663,335.00, 65/$616,127.00)
Cars:  24/$549,667.00 (9/$263,093.00, 15/$286,574.00)
Trips:  23/$183,994.00 (9/$73,987.00, 14/$110,007.00)
Cash Prizes:  6/$195,942.00 (3/$111,942.00, 3/$84,000.00)

My viewing to date (2,580 shows)
Total:  67,282/$371,616,436.94 (41,822/$160,781,150.37, 25,460/$210,835,286.57)
Cars:  7,362/$158,862,058.00 (2,822/$59,411,124.00, 4,540/$99,450,934.00)
Trips:  5,696/$40,796,666.00 (2,963/$21,165,343.00, 2,733/$19,631,323.00)
Cash Prizes:  1,990/$43,611,838.00 (409/$7,307,374.00, 1,581/$36,304,464.00)