Author Topic: toughest/easiest million (Read 79308 times)

Casey Buck · « **Reply #45 on:** February 24, 2008, 03:33:31 PM »

Mr Pibb has actually been discontinued since 2001. Its replacement is called Pibb Xtra, with a different formula than the original.

PYLdude · « **Reply #46 on:** February 24, 2008, 03:36:27 PM »

[quote name=\'Casey Buck\' post=\'178741\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:33 PM\']
Mr Pibb has actually been discontinued since 2001. Its replacement is called Pibb Xtra, with a different formula than the original.
[/quote]

I heard that they just renamed the original and redid the formula, kinda like with New Coke.

dzinkin · « **Reply #47 on:** February 24, 2008, 03:36:54 PM »

I see Pibb Xtra in exactly one place: Moe's Southwest Grill. Never found it anywhere else, in cans, bottles or fountain.

clemon79 · « **Reply #48 on:** February 24, 2008, 03:43:22 PM »

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'178742\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 12:36 PM\']
[quote name=\'Casey Buck\' post=\'178741\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:33 PM\']
Mr Pibb has actually been discontinued since 2001. Its replacement is called Pibb Xtra, with a different formula than the original.[/quote]
I heard that they just renamed the original and redid the formula, kinda like with New Coke.[/quote]
Um, isn't that basically what he said?

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #49 on:** February 24, 2008, 03:59:11 PM »

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' post=\'178743\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:36 PM\']
I see Pibb Xtra in exactly one place: Moe's Southwest Grill. Never found it anywhere else, in cans, bottles or fountain.
[/quote]
Wow...that's weird. There's Pibb in every grocery store in my area. Stocked some today, even.

(Yes, I realize *I* should have stated the Pibb Xtra thing. But to me (and seemingly everyone who shops when I stock), it's just called "Pibb" for short.

/never had Pibb or Pibb Xtra, FWIW.

dale_grass · « **Reply #50 on:** February 24, 2008, 05:46:03 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'178719\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:00 PM\']
Interesting that you would call DoND "by far the easiest" when it's just about the only significant show with a million dollar prize that HASN'T been given away. It's certainly the easiest show to play, and whoever eventually wins the million will arguably have done the least to earn it, but as I said earlier in this very thread, the fact that they're loading the board with million dollar cases and STILL can't give the grand prize away ought to show you just how HARD it is to win a million on the show.

[/quote]

There's a slight flaw in your logic. For example, PowerBall. Sometimes the jackpot gets up to $300 million, sometimes someone wins it at $20 million. The game's the exact same. It's just a matter of luck. Joe Schmoe from Left Bear Nut, Arkansas, has a 1/26 chance of picking the million dollar case. It's that simple. I don't have the stats in front of me, but hasn't someone already picked the million dollar case, only to have switched? People are persuaded from the million with bank offers, but at the end of the day the game boils down to simple chance. The producers have zany contestants, a comedic host, twenty-six pieces of eye candy, and never-ending gimicks in the hopes that the viewers won't realize they'd have as much fun buying a $5 scratch-off card. This game is so close to Hit the Buzzer, Win a Cookie it almost depresses me. Then I remember there are other TV channels and a shelf full of books in the office, so I turn it off.

\I need a Dr Pepper.
\\Or Mr. Pibb. They're both exquisite.

Casey · « **Reply #51 on:** February 24, 2008, 05:50:14 PM »

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'178755\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:59 PM\']
Wow...that's weird. There's Pibb in every grocery store in my area. Stocked some today, even.
[/quote]
Seems like it can vary widely from market to market... Here in Denver, some of the stores still carry Tab but you never see it anywhere else hardly.

TLEberle · « **Reply #52 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:02:39 PM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178765\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 02:46 PM\']There's a slight flaw in your logic. For example, PowerBall. Sometimes the jackpot gets up to $300 million, sometimes someone wins it at $20 million. The game's the exact same. It's just a matter of luck.[/quote]But that's not a logistical flaw, that's a rhetorical flaw in the question. There's a difference in "amount of work I have to do to win the Prize" and "difficulty of that work" DonD has a very low X quantity (pick the right number) but a very high Y quantity (be right in that first choice, or avoid it to the end, and subsequently turn down huge amounts of money to get there). Survivor has high X and Y (you have to stick around to be in the final three, convince enough people to vote for you, and deal with the tribulations of living on your own for a month-and-change, and dealing with other people who want that money for themselves, and are willing to do what they need to in order to get that cash.) On the other hand, "name four films that were made into movies" is the lowest X-Y I can think of.

/what can I say, I'm a metrics geek.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #53 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:03:29 PM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178765\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 05:46 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'178719\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:00 PM\']Interesting that you would call DoND "by far the easiest" when it's just about the only significant show with a million dollar prize that HASN'T been given away. It's certainly the easiest show to play, and whoever eventually wins the million will arguably have done the least to earn it, but as I said earlier in this very thread, the fact that they're loading the board with million dollar cases and STILL can't give the grand prize away ought to show you just how HARD it is to win a million on the show. [/quote]
There's a slight flaw in your logic. [/quote]
Really, now?

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178765\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 05:46 PM\']For example, PowerBall. Sometimes the jackpot gets up to $300 million, sometimes someone wins it at $20 million. The game's the exact same. It's just a matter of luck. Joe Schmoe from Left Bear Nut, Arkansas, has a 1/26 chance of picking the million dollar case. It's that simple. I don't have the stats in front of me, but hasn't someone already picked the million dollar case, only to have switched? People are persuaded from the million with bank offers, but at the end of the day the game boils down to simple chance. [/quote]
For the record, several people have had the million dollar case in their possession without switching. And none of those players won a million dollars.

I'll try again. Everybody understands that the game is luck. Therefore the game is "easy" to play. Eventually someone will win a million, and that person will not have had to work very hard to win it. That person will have been lucky.

Yes, there is a 1 in 26 chance of picking the million dollar case. However, that is not the same as having a 1 in 26 chance of winning a million dollars. Not even remotely close. That's one of several flaws in your logic. The question was not which game is the easiest to play. The question was which game is the easiest to win a million dollars playing. Most of us agreed a while ago that under the original structure, Deal or No Deal would be one of the most difficult games to win a million on, because so many things would have to go your way and you'd still be left with a pricey gamble. Now that they're adding cases in order to virtually guarantee a million dollar win, they're still having a hard time doing it.

I'll grant that a DoND game with 13 million dollar cases represents just about the easiest possible way to win a million. But you're indicating that the basic game is "by far the easiest", and that just ain't so.

dale_grass · « **Reply #54 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:38:49 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'178769\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 07:03 PM\']
For the record, several people have had the million dollar case in their possession without switching. And none of those players won a million dollars.
[/quote]

How can you pick the million dollar case and not win the million dollars? Seriously, I don't watch the show any more. Granted, there are inducements throughout the show (as I mentioned), but if I pick a case and close my ears for the rest of the show, I have a 1 in 26 chance of winning the million, correct? You're right, though. I was taking into account the ease of play, as per the OP. That's the thing that bugs me about the show. On Jeopardy or WWTBAM, if you're smart, you're far more likely to get the million. On DoND, a pulse is all that's required. I get your point entirely. I'm just still stymied that the show is even on the air.

Let's switch gears for a moment. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this:

Quote

Most of us agreed a while ago that under the original structure, Deal or No Deal would be one of the most difficult games to win a million on, because so many things would have to go your way and you'd still be left with a pricey gamble.

As far as I can tell, only one thing would have to go your way: you pick the right case at the beginning. I don't see what the middle stuff has to do with getting the million dollars. If it does, please illuminate the situation.

\I can't believe I wasted so much time and energy on Deal or No Deal.

dale_grass · « **Reply #55 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:44:00 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'178769\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 07:03 PM\']
But you're indicating that the basic game is "by far the easiest", and that just ain't so.
[/quote]

Just so we're perfectly clear, I was basing opinion on "after-the-fact" winnings. Ann, Bryan, and Chad each won a million dollars: Ann on Jeopardy, Bryan on DoND, and Chad on WWTBAM. Which was the easiest million? Bryan.

Now the reverse: Ann, Bryan, and Chad will be appearing on Jeopardy, DoND, and WWTBAM, respectively. Who's the most likely to get the million?

Now that I got my lines uncrossed, I'm officially done ever talking about DoND. (I do, however, reserve the right to bash the snot out of it if the opportunity arrises.)

TLEberle · « **Reply #56 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:51:19 PM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178778\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:38 PM\']How can you pick the million dollar case and not win the million dollars? Seriously, I don't watch the show any more. [/quote]So you're arguing about something that you admit you don't even know how it works?

You gotta be kidding me.

/A player can accept a "deal," and thereby sell the chosen case, for a smaller (or larger) amount than what is in the case.
//or they can play on, saying "no deal," and open more cases; thereby changing the climate of the game depending upon the amounts in those opened cases.
///The password is..."condescending."

dale_grass · « **Reply #57 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:56:46 PM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'178782\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 07:51 PM\']
[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178778\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:38 PM\']How can you pick the million dollar case and not win the million dollars? Seriously, I don't watch the show any more. [/quote]So you're arguing about something that you admit you don't even know how it works?

You gotta be kidding me.

/A player can accept a "deal," and thereby sell the chosen case, for a smaller (or larger) amount than what is in the case.
//or they can play on, saying "no deal," and open more cases; thereby changing the climate of the game depending upon the amounts in those opened cases.
///The password is..."condescending."
[/quote]

I wasn't arguing. I was asking a question. See that squiggly mark with a dot under it at the end, like this one? That indicates a question. (Now you have permission to call me condescending.)

I know the general gist of the game. I was wondering if it was possible to pick the right case, keep it for the duration, and not walk away with a million dollars. A "yes" or "no" will suffice in the future.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #58 on:** February 24, 2008, 06:59:05 PM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'178778\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 06:38 PM\']As far as I can tell, only one thing would have to go your way: you pick the right case at the beginning. I don't see what the middle stuff has to do with getting the million dollars. If it does, please illuminate the situation.

\I can't believe I wasted so much time and energy on Deal or No Deal.[/quote]
Clearly, you don't understand the way the game is played. Which is fine if you don't care for it. A lot of people don't. But to turn around and tell ME that my logic is flawed even though YOU clearly don't know what you're talking about is the height of misplaced arrogance.

Without getting into a lot of detail that you probably aren't that interested in anyway, the 'inducements', as you call them, eventually become so attractive that a player will nearly always accept one before reaching the end of the game, because they risk ending up with a much smaller amount.

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #59 on:** February 24, 2008, 07:02:15 PM »

[quote name=\'isucgv\' post=\'178766\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 05:50 PM\']
[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'178755\' date=\'Feb 24 2008, 03:59 PM\']
Wow...that's weird. There's Pibb in every grocery store in my area. Stocked some today, even.
[/quote]
Seems like it can vary widely from market to market... Here in Denver, some of the stores still carry Tab but you never see it anywhere else hardly.
[/quote]
Wow again...my market carries both Tab and Pibb. Northern Indiana must be weird.

/OBGS: Easiest to win a million? Pepsi's Play for a Billion. Blind-assed luck, but topical!