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Uncle Dick
03-07-2002, 12:13 AM
So for those of you who've made it into the hot seat at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Play It, what question did you goof on? I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that no one here has won the trip to New York. ;)

The first time I got in the hot seat, I lost on the $32,000 question which was something to the extent of "What health care center was named after a First Lady?" The answer, of course, was the Betty Ford Center, but with my lifelines gone and the clock ticking, I erroneously chose the Betsy Ford Center. D'oh! No polo shirt for me. :(

The second time I got into the hot seat, I lost on the $2000 question, which was a real killer. It went something like "What British pop group did pop singer Robbie Williams sing for?" The choices were: a) Take That, b) Oasis, c) Duran Duran, d) Boyzone. Having little to no knowledge of British Pop, I went fifty-fifty. Both Oasis and Duran Duran vanished, followed by a huge groan from the audience (who had all guessed incorrectly). Reluctant to poll the unreliable audience, I phoned a complete (and utterly clueless) stranger who guessed "Boyzone". It wasn't until I used my final lifeline that I knew for sure I was through. 52% of the audience had guessed Duran Duran, 28% had guessed Oasis and only 8% and 16% had guessed Take That and Boyzone, respectively. So I guessed Boyzone and guessed wrong. :(

Alas, now that I'm a CM, I can't continue in my quest for the polo shirt. :Sigh:

Nigel2
03-07-2002, 12:18 AM
Well I haven't gone back to that show in months (I think I haven't tried for like 7 months) but mine was about politcal machines and a specific house. I thought Boston, the Phone a gitt thought Chicago (he wasn't sure) so I decided to walk it was the 32k as well.

KarenW2
03-07-2002, 10:05 AM
My husband and I have both made it into the Hot Seat, and both lost at the "shirt" level question, unfortunately.

His question was something about who was voted Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine in some year. Choices were: Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Denzel Washington & Richard Gere. Neither of us knew & he went with the audience. Unfortunately, they picked George Clooney and they were WRONG! :( It was Denzel! We never read People, so we didn't know.

My question, when I made it into the Hot Seat on DCA's birthday, 2-8, was about who won some golf championship in 2001 and choices were: Tiger Woods, some guy I didn't know, Jack Nicklaus and another guy, something like David Toms. I was sailing along so well at that point, until they asked the "Dreaded Sports Question"! (insert dramatic musical "sting" at this point! :D)

I asked to "Ask the Audience", cos I took a look at them, they looked like a lot of them were golfers & went with their choice at a whopping 79%, Tiger Woods. Once again, the audience was WRONG!! :( At something like only 7%, it was that Toms guy.

So my DH and I have a matching set of Play It! paraphenalia at this point, but we're willing to try again!! We have tickets to see the new version of Into the Woods at the Ahmanson tomorrow night, so weather permitting, we'll stop in at the "resort" on our way up to LA.

bluepearl
03-07-2002, 10:22 AM
I still haven't gotten to the hot seat! It's a conspiracy, I tell you! :p

Anyhoo, I can never get sick of re-telling the story about the first question this guy goofed on. This is the $100 question, everybody: If you had two dimes, how many nickels would you need to make a quarter? He used his "Poll the Audience" lifeline. My friends and I were wondering if he was a ringer that was up there for kicks and giggles!

Uncle Dick
03-07-2002, 11:11 AM
If there's one thing I've learned from WWTBAMPI, it's that the audience is extremely unreliable above the 1000 point level. For that matter, I've rarely seen "Phone a Complete Stranger" yield helpful advice. I wonder if there's an inversely proportional relationship between intelligence and frequency of visits to theme parks. ;)

BTT
03-07-2002, 04:09 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
So for those of you who've made it into the hot seat at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Play It, what question did you goof on? I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that no one here has won the trip to New York. ;)


That limb ain't strong enough here...heh heh heh.

I won in September just after it opened, and took the trip to New York in mid-December. As for the audience, I used them on my 32,000 pt question about the main ingredient in Hopping John, and went along with the 50 percent that turned out to be right.

BTT

Nigel2
03-07-2002, 09:06 PM
I think the audience is probably only good for pop culture since I have seen them be incorrect on many historical questions. But whatever.

JoeCanadian
03-07-2002, 09:57 PM
MY downfall was not being able to punch in the answers fast enough....meaning I never made it to the hot seat on my one visit. Darn. That's okay though. The dude hosting our show loaded up on the hairspray and turtle wax (for his shiny complexion :) ) so it's best I didn't inhale his fumes...

Say, what happens if you jam on a near-by pad that's vaccant during the fastest finger question and win? Not exactly strategic, but will they disqualify you for it?

Uncle Dick
03-07-2002, 10:00 PM
Originally posted by BTT


That limb ain't strong enough here...heh heh heh.

I won in September just after it opened, and took the trip to New York in mid-December. As for the audience, I used them on my 32,000 pt question about the main ingredient in Hopping John, and went along with the 50 percent that turned out to be right.

BTT
Wow! Congrats. I'd heard that only a couple of people had won the trip at DCA. What are the odds? :) Okay, so what was the million point question??

Nigel2
03-07-2002, 10:25 PM
If you use a vacant pad you are disqualified (from what I hear) since it is considered cheating.

Oh and I think the odds of you getting all 15 right (if you guessed all the way) are like 3.72 * 10^-9. But then again you will probably know some of them.

Alex S.
03-08-2002, 06:19 AM
Since you have a 25% chance of guessing each question correctly and your chances on each question are independent of each other, I believe your chances of guessing all the way to 1,000,000 would be 0.25^15 or 9.3x10^-10.

FEJ
03-08-2002, 09:13 PM
Originally posted by Alex Stroup
Since you have a 25% chance of guessing each question correctly and your chances on each question are independent of each other, I believe your chances of guessing all the way to 1,000,000 would be 0.25^15 or 9.3x10^-10.

or 50-50

Either you'll win, or you wont!!!:D

Nigel2
03-08-2002, 09:15 PM
Hey I don't know so that may be it. I have to ask someone who is good with odds making.:)

Ace
03-09-2002, 04:32 PM
aren't they closing millionaire down? I heard something.... anyway, I'll get the trip to new york when TOT opens and I finally have a reason to go across the promenade.

Nigel2
03-09-2002, 09:25 PM
Millionare's closing is only rumored right now but they aren't sure.

Nigel2
03-09-2002, 09:31 PM
Originally posted by Alex Stroup
Since you have a 25% chance of guessing each question correctly and your chances on each question are independent of each other, I believe your chances of guessing all the way to 1,000,000 would be 0.25^15 or 9.3x10^-10.

I got the figure (well my friend told me which way was right:))

The number is the same (I think) but this is how it would be in a sportsbook style. The odds are 1: 1,073,741,824 but again this would be if you guessed every question and not counting things like 50/50, phone a fool, and ask the audience.

HeeHeeHeeHoHoHo
03-09-2002, 10:28 PM
I got to the 64,000 point question with 2 lifelines, and I used the phone a stranger - who asked everyone outside (4 or 5 people) and they came back with 'absolutely sure' that their answer was correct. Wanting to save the 50 50 lifeline til later in the game, I went with them.

Needless to say they were wrong. :-(

The polo is of 'ok' quality, nothing special- what surprised me the most was the polo, baseball hat and pins were vauled at a retail price of over $170.00!!!!!

I would much rather have the cash hahaha

Interesting side note - they keep track of your winnings by your social security number ... if you come back and win more prizes, the *** of all your winnings is added together for IRS tax reporting purposes...

HeeHeeHeeHoHoHo
03-09-2002, 10:30 PM
whoops I used an abbreviated form of cumulative in the last post.... I guess the automatic censor machine kicked in! :-)

Nigel2
03-09-2002, 10:35 PM
Wait you are telling me that 1 pin and a shirt are worth over 64 dollars. I am going off of what it said when I walked after getting 16k which was quoted at $104.

Karin
03-10-2002, 01:50 PM
I goofed the 64,000 point question. It was:

Which state has the nickname "The Natural State"?

The choices were:

A. Arkansas
B. West Virginia
C. Rhode Island
D. New Jersey

I said Rhode Island. Wrong! It's Arkansas.

I was also surprised to find out that my 10 pins, hat & polo shirt are valued at over $170! Oh well, whatever. I actually haven't been back since and I could win again now (it's been long enough) without having it added to last year's total winnings.

Matterhorn Fan
03-10-2002, 02:01 PM
I wish I could get into the hot seat. I could really use a trip to New York! :rolleyes:

MonorailMan
03-10-2002, 04:57 PM
I can't wait until I get in the hot seat.

I love pressure.
I also love to "Ham It Up" with CMs. :)

mousecat
03-11-2002, 01:53 PM
Been in the Hot Seat 4 times now. What is even more fun is to get to the top of the list during your banishment period. You get all the glory without the stress of actually performing for the people. That happened to me twice during one show and the host had a wonderful time making fun of me. Made me look like a hero to my nieces.

Downfall. It is hard and who really knows when Hello Kitty was introduced?

I understand that 7 people have won the trip. They showed me the pin (wrong term) the plaque that you win at the million-point level. It would be like wearing a hubcap.

Sam

Iceman
03-11-2002, 02:01 PM
It really is fascinating to me that some people can get to the hot seat over and over while others can't seem to break into the top scores (fascinating, I suppose, because I'm in that second category :( ). There is clearly some "trick" that some people get and others don't, because my wife and I are both champs at NTN trivia which requires quick thinking and fast reflexes (and has, in general, tougher questions) but we can't get anywhere near the top 10. :crying:

Uncle Dick
03-11-2002, 02:04 PM
Originally posted by Iceman
It really is fascinating to me that some people can get to the hot seat over and over while others can't seem to break into the top scores (fascinating, I suppose, because I'm in that second category :( ). There is clearly some "trick" that some people get and others don't, because my wife and I are both champs at NTN trivia which requires quick thinking and fast reflexes (and has, in general, tougher questions) but we can't get anywhere near the top 10. :crying:
Two words: Seat 518. ;);)