If you are going to have something go wrong on The Price Is Right Plinko board, you want it to go wrong the way it went wrong for Joanne on November 26.
Because here is what happened. Joanne showed up to the show in a birthday headband and a shirt that said “All I Want For My Birthday Is To Come On Down.” She guessed every single price correctly on her way to earning four chips. She climbed the steps to the Plinko board with the maximum number of chips a contestant can have. And then, on her third drop, the chip stopped mid-board and just sat there. Did not move. Just hung there on the second row while the crowd watched.
Drew Carey walked over, grabbed the Plinko stick, and nudged it free. The chip finished its drop and landed in $500. But it did not count. Joanne had to redo it.
She dropped again. This time it landed in $1,000.
And then, on her very last chip, she hit the $10,000 slot.
Final total: $12,500. On her birthday. After a perfect pricing game and a chip that briefly had the whole studio holding its breath.
Joanne did not stumble into the Plinko board with one chip and get lucky. She earned her way there. The pricing game that precedes Plinko gives contestants the chance to win extra chips, and Joanne did not waste a single guess.
The first item was a long-range pool thermometer. She guessed it ended with a zero. Correct: it was $70. Second chip earned. The second item was a fitness jump rope with anti-slip silicone grips. She said it started with a four. Correct: it was $40. Third chip. The third item was a compact food chopper. She was confident it ended with a five. It was $55. Fourth chip. The last item was a combination lock with a steel shackle. She said it ended with a one. It was $21. Perfect game.
Four chips plus the free chip every contestant receives. Joanne went to the board with five shots at the prize slots. That is the maximum. She hit it clean on the pricing game and gave herself every possible chance.
The Price Is Right Plinko board is one of the most recognizable games in game show history. Contestants drop chips from the top of a tall board, watching them bounce unpredictably through a series of pegs before landing in prize slots at the bottom. The slots range from $0 to $10,000, and the maximum single-game prize is $50,000 if every chip lands in the top slot.
Every contestant starts with one free chip. Additional chips are earned through the pricing portion of the game, where items either begin with one number or end with another. Guess correctly, and you get a chip. Guess wrong, and you don’t. The difference between a one-chip drop and a five-chip drop is entirely in those pricing guesses, which is exactly why Joanne’s perfect game mattered so much.
Her first chip landed in $1,000. Her second went to $0. Then came the stuck chip, the Drew Carey intervention, the redo, and another $1,000. Her fourth landed in $500. And then the last one found the $10,000 slot.
The crowd erupted. Joanne jumped up and down at the top of the steps. Drew Carey met her at the bottom with a “Happy birthday” and a hug.
“This is the best!” she had said before the pricing game even started. By the end, she had no reason to change her assessment.
The Price Is Right posted the video to Instagram on November 26, captioned simply: “The proof is in the pudding.” For a birthday girl who walked in wanting nothing more than to come on down, $12,500 and a Drew Carey hug is about as good as a birthday gets.
