3 Strikes (pricing game)

3 Strikes is a pricing game on the American television game show "The Price Is Right". Debuting February 12, 1976, the game is played for a car.

Game play

The contestant is given the first digit in the price of the car, and then shown five discs, four of which have a unique digit representing one of the last four numbers in the price of the car, and one red disc that has an X, called a strike. The discs are placed into a bag and shuffled.

The contestant blindly draws a disc from the bag. If they pick a number, they must decide in which position (spot) that digit belongs (e.g.: "the third digit"). If they are correct, the disc is discarded into a slot in the game board and the digit is lit up in the price display. If they are incorrect, the disc is returned to the bag and the contestant needs to draw again. If the contestant draws the strike, a strike marker is lit on the board and the chip is returned to the bag.

The contestant may continue to draw as many times as possible until they either correctly position each digit in the price and win the car, or draw the strike three times and lose the game.

History

Over time the props used in this game have had additional references to baseball added to them. The three baseballs on the game prop were added in the early '80s and the current bag from which chips are drawn was made to look like a baseball in the early '90s. The baseball "NO" graphic (used when the contestant guesses a position incorrectly) was only used from 1998 through 2002, replacing a prior graphic consisting of "NO" inside a black circle that was used from the late 1980s until 1998. From the game's debut until the late 1980s, only a sound effect was used. The Davidson version used a different graphic for this situation, which showed a red outline of the selected number window melting off the board and falling to the floor. The current graphic is simply the word "NO" in large red letters.

In addition to the changes mentioned above, the 3 Strikes sign went from green to gold in the late '70s. Sometime in the 1990's, the dollar sign tacked onto the side of the board was replaced by a window with a dollar sign.

Through the early 1990s, the game was played using both four- and five-digit cars. Except for the first few times it was done, when five-digit cars were offered, the game was known as "3 Strikes +". Even though four-digit cars were no longer used in the game after June 17, 1993, it retained the "3 Strikes +" name until February 10, 1994 (although the + sign was absent on January 27, 1994).

uspected cheaters

On February 28, 1992, a contestant had two discs remaining in the bag, a strike and the last number. She partially drew a disc out of the bag, then quickly put it back in before anyone else could see what it was. A few seconds later, she drew the number and won. Although the show's staff has never publicly accused the contestant of cheating, 3 Strikes + was not played again for the remainder of the season. At the start of Season 21, the three strike discs were repainted "white" with a red X to more closely resemble the numeric discs, and a new baseball-shaped bag that was harder to peek into was made for the game to further prevent such cheating. The strikes reverted to their familiar red color after a few playings into Season 21.

A contestant also attempted to cheat in 1988. As she began to pull the third strike out of the bag, she put it back, thinking no one noticed. Bob Barker "did" notice and chided her for her actions. She pulled the third strike all the way out of the bag on a later draw and lost the game.

Nighttime Appearances

Three Strikes was one of five pricing games introduced in the fifth and final nighttime season hosted by Dennis Jamesndashthe other four being Cliff Hangers, Danger Price, Dice Game, and Hurdles.

On The New Price is Right, the first digit in the price was given for free and there were only four number chips in the bag.

Rule Changes

Prior to 1997 (Season 26), three strike chips were placed into the bag at the start of the game. If a contestant drew a strike, a marker was lit on the board and that strike chip was discarded from the bag. The change of having one strike chip in the bag was made to increase the win rate for the game, which had decreased because of the extra fifth digit from using cars priced above $10,000.

When the game premiered in 1976, cars only had four digits in the price, and therefore a contestant was given four numbered discs and three strike discs. As the prices of cars increased past $10,000, no changes were made to the game to accommodate the extra fifth numeric disc until Season 26.

From the mid 1990's through 2008, the game was almost exclusively played for cars in the $30,000 - $60,000 price range. The game now offers cars with prices in line with other games played for cars.

The game generally takes longer to play than other pricing games, which lead to a rule change implemented at the beginning of Season 37 in 2008. The second time the game was played that season, three strike chips were used and the first number was provided for free. The number of strike chips placed into the bag then reverted back to one after this single playing, however the contestant is still given the first digit in the car's price at the start of the game.

Notes