4/14/08 show
Tonight's episode is running on a two hour block. What do you think it means? Three people competing and the one with the highest winnings taking it all? A regular episode times two, allowing two full games? Who knows? I think it might be a three-way.
Whatever tonight's episode is promosing us, I want to tell you about the last three games I just played on the DVD game. Lately, I've been constantly picking case 8 by my side, and going by 4-12-16-20-24-2 in Round 1 and 6-10-14-18-22. That normally breaks down the board and I then take it by year from there. It wasn't one of my greatest games. Here's the offers I would recieve:
$18,000
$27,000
$35,000
$35,000
$175,000
$120,000
$154,000
$37,000
$56,000
It was down to 10K and 100K. My case and case 9. Right next to each other. Anything could have happened and it wouldn't have been a big deal. But it would have been nice to win the $100,000. Going by what the board was telling me, I switched to case 9. And it would up being...DUN-DUN-DUNNN...$10,000. Oh, well. Not the end of the world.
I played a second game and did the same thing as usual. 8 by my side, cases 4-12-16-20-24-2 and 6-10-14-18-22 in the first two rounds. This was a really nerve-racking game. To show how successful I was, here were the offers:
$18,000
$35,000
$61,000
$99,000
$177,000
$315,000
$435,000
$590,000
$495,000
In the end, it was down to $300.00 and 1M. My case and case 19. I was weary of 19 the the whole game. And the board told was tell me that the million was most likely in 19. I had played several games with case 8 lately (knowing the million had to be in there sooner or later). I just didn't feel it was in there. So, I switched to case 19. What do you think it happened? You will find out after the break...just kidding. Howie opened the case and...DUN-DUN-DUNNN...$300. What a bummer. If you were just thinking my strategy of picking the same number by my side is kind of a cheat, it's games like this that disprove it. This has happened before and it happened within an hour ago. I had picked 8 for several games and I did not trust it when I should have.
After games like this, I feel no longer in the mood to play. But I decided to go at it one more time. This time, I would change my strategy. First, I decided to pick case 16 to keep by my side. I have picked case 16 in the first rounds of the last several games and for the longest time, the million was not hiding in there. It had to be camped out in there soon. I also went with the alternate route in the first two rounds. Round 1: cases 1-5-9-13-17-21. Round 2: cases 3-7-11-15-19. Here is how the nerve-racking and exciting this game would play out:
$22,000
$58,000
$105,000
$198,000
$203,000
$285,000
$350,000
$435,000
$650,000
In the end, it was down to 300K and 1M. My case and case 14. One case apart from each other. And going by the board, the million could have been in either of them. There was nothing too tight or hard to tell. It was either/or. But, considering my initial reasoning for picking case 16 in the first place, I had to stick with my guns. It could have been case 14, but it felt too good not to be true this time. So, I stuck with my case and allowed Howie go through the motions. He proceeded to open the case and...-DUN-DUN-DUNNN...$1,000,000. One of the most wonderful feelings ever. The ninth time I won the million and the seventh time it wound up in my case. When the million is in your case or the remaining one, it is never an easy decision.
This is how much fun I really have with the game. And this is what makes watching the show so frustrating. Watching people pick random case after random case and forgetting where the large numbers were as they play. Considering how "fixed" the show may very well be, maybe it really is tough to remember. Let's just hope tonight's episode is a good one and isn't one of those special shows that drags itself even more slowly than the regular ones. I hope it's a three-way one with three people competing for it all. Those usually cut right to the chase.