"What Might Have Been" moments...?

[Bryce L.]

Seeing a moment of that sort is almost as painful, in my personal opinion, as a case of someone being overly confident on a question, with the end result being them locking in a wrong answer and losing a ton of money

I really don't understand this. Watching someone not win another $250,000 isn't painful, because they're already going home with a bundle of cash. Watching someone go for it and be wrong sucks, but they're still going home with some cash as well.

Know what's really painful? Watching as a stock I'm invested in is pulled from an exchange because it can't stay over a dollar a share. Or having my sister call me up from the Gorge telling me how much fun she's having at the concert she's at, which she was able to buy tickets for because I lent her the money. While I'm out in the dog kennel cleaning up What Dogs Do(o). That's actual money, not numbers on a screen. I dislike losing actual money. I don't care about a chyroned number.

OK maybe them not winning when they could have may not be painful to the viewer, but think from the player's POV. Sure they may have left with $500,000 in their wallet, which is nothing to scoff at, by any means... but somewhere in the back of that player's mind, the thought must occur to them "I wish I could have been more sure of myself on that last question..." Like Nancy Christy told Ken Basin prior to his $1 million question, "You know more than you think you do."

[parliboy]

$500,000, properly sheltered, is enough to fully fund a standard IRA for an entire working career.  In the back of my mind, at $500,000, I'm thinking, "I don't have to worry when I get old", and "not having to contribute to my retirement from my work income will boost my current standard of living tremendously because all that freed-up money takes care of the mortgage almost by itself".  I don't think much past that.  And if I do think much past that, it probably goes something like, "Holy Farking Shite!"

Statements like your last one just reiterate that you have no grasp on the meaningfulness of a $500,000 windfall in the average American's life, and this is all so incredibly theoretical as to be more than a tad insulting.

[tomobrien]

but somewhere in the back of that player's mind, the thought must occur to them "I wish I could have been more sure of myself on that last question..."

That sort of thinking is a really quick and easy way to make the rest of your life miserable.  Be happy and grateful with whatever you got, because it's more than you came in with.  And remember you had an experience which most people don't ever get to have...and stop worrying about what might have been.

[DrBear]

Excuse me for being logical, but wouldn't the odds for just guessing be one in four? And wouldn't that mean that, on average, when contestants are asked "what would you have said" the percentage would be around 25 percent, with perhaps a little extra because some of the answers are clearly wrong?

[clemon79]

And wouldn't that mean that, on average, when contestants are asked "what would you have said" the percentage would be around 25 percent, with perhaps a little extra because some of the answers are clearly wrong?

This is my point, though I think you are giving the contestants less credit than I. The MINIMUM percentage is 25 percent assuming no logic, reason, use of lifelines, or any kind of incidental knowledge whatsoever in making their selection. If you mark off a grass field into fourths and turn a cow loose up in there for some Millionaire Bossy Bingo, then it's 25%. The contestants, being sentient beings, have a bit more of an advantage than that.

[Kevin Prather]

That sort of thinking is a really quick and easy way to make the rest of your life miserable.  Be happy and grateful with whatever you got, because it's more than you came in with.  And remember you had an experience which most people don't ever get to have...and stop worrying about what might have been.

This, this, this. Thank you, Tom, for giving a true "player's POV" as opposed to Bryce's theoretical one.

[quote name='Bryce L.']OK maybe them not winning when they could have may not be painful to the viewer, but think from the player's POV. Sure they may have left with $500,000 in their wallet, which is nothing to scoff at, by any means... but somewhere in the back of that player's mind, the thought must occur to them "I wish I could have been more sure of myself on that last question..."[/quote]
As I have stated before, if I ever get on the show, I'm going to have those big numbers in mind and would like to think I'll be willing to take some gambles to get them. That said, $500,000 is very real money, and any contestant who is upset over winning "only" $500,000 is invited to take the check and perform an anatomical impossibility with it.

[parliboy]

That said, $500,000 is very real money, and any contestant who is upset over winning "only" $500,000 is invited to take the check and perform an anatomical impossibility with it.

Impossible is a mighty strong word.  Those checks roll up into a tube quite easily, and you can always laminate it if you're concerned about the paper strength.

[Kevin Prather]

Impossible is a mighty strong word.  Those checks roll up into a tube quite easily, and you can always laminate it if you're concerned about the paper strength.

Laminate will make it smoother too.

/What?

[clemon79]

I think Kevin forgot that Millionaire gives out regular-sized checks instead of those massive cardboard ones.

/the worst thing about those is that they hurt coming out

[toetyper]

HypothetiCal.  A contestant is looking at the $500k question and says

'meredith; i have a   very strong hunch.  but the risk is too much.  i am going to leave.  However.  I request that you not reveal the correct answer until ive left the studio.'

theyd do that  right?  '

[Kevin Prather]

HypothetiCal.  A contestant is looking at the $500k question and says

'meredith; i have a   very strong hunch.  but the risk is too much.  i am going to leave.  However.  I request that you not reveal the correct answer until ive left the studio.'

theyd do that  right?  '

"Good for him, winning $250,000. As for the correct answer, look it up yourself. Up next, we have Cletus Franks from Kentucky."

/wow

[clemon79]

'meredith; i have a   very strong hunch.  but the risk is too much.  i am going to leave.  However.  I request that you not reveal the correct answer until ive left the studio.'

theyd do that  right?

I doubt it. Nor should they. Dude just got handed $250K; he is not in a position to dictate terms.

[Matt Ottinger]

HypothetiCal.  A contestant is looking at the $500k question and says

'meredith; i have a   very strong hunch.  but the risk is too much.  i am going to leave.  However.  I request that you not reveal the correct answer until ive left the studio.'

theyd do that  right?

Nope.  He has every right not to say what his choice would have been (and some have done specifically that), but the show isn't made for him, it's made for the viewers, and the viewers have to have that moment.

[Dbacksfan12]

You gotta be freakin' kidding me.

"Officer, I acknowledge I was going 15mph over the limit so I'll take my ticket.  But I request you ship it to me FedEx instead of handing it to me here".

[PYLdude]

You gotta be freakin' kidding me.

"Officer, I acknowledge I was going 15mph over the limit so I'll take my ticket.  But I request you ship it to me FedEx instead of handing it to me here".

Okay, now, that's exaggerating, don't you think?