To the Penny is a cash game played for $25,000 featuring grocery items and utilizing large pennies. It is a spiritual successor to Penny Ante.
Gameplay[]
The contestant is shown five grocery items, with the contestant earning money if can correctly identify the item's price. The first item is worth $1,500; the next three items double the money up to $12,000, and identifying the price of the final item wins the contestant $25,000.
The contestant is given a number of possible prices for each item, with the first having two prices, and each successive item having an one more prices, culminating in six prices for the final item.
The contestant is given five oversized pennies. If the contestant guesses the correct price of an item, they win the corresponding amount of money. They have the option to pay one penny to randomly eliminate one wrong price for the current item and can do so as many times per item as they wish. If they make a wrong guess, they must pay two pennies to remain in the game.
At the bottom of the game board is a display featuring a slot and five white circles keeping track of the penny count. Whenever a contestant pays pennies (again, one to eliminate a wrong price, or two to stay in the game after a wrong guess), Drew deposits them in the slot and the white circles turn red.
At any time, the contestant can stop guessing and take the money they've won to that point. However, if the contestant makes a wrong guess and does not have two pennies to pay, the game ends and they lose everything.
If the contestant still has all five of their pennies upon reaching the final item, they are encouraged to simply hand Drew all of the pennies (eliminating all five incorrect prices), and the contestant automatically wins $25,000.
History[]
- The game was won on its first playing and played perfectly, with contestant Nat Nehdar using up all five of his pennies on the last grocery item for an easy win.
- On the night of December 22, 2021 (#048SP), To The Penny was played first.
- On March 2, 2022, (#9743K), To The Penny was played second.
- On April 7, 2022 (#9794K), To The Penny was played first and the game had its first outright loss when contestant David Joyner decided to risk his $3,000 without any pennies remaining.
- On June 22, 2022 (#9893K, aired out of order on September 5), as part of Price's 50th Anniversary on CBS, To The Penny was played second and for $1 million. The prize ladder for this playing was: $5k, $10k, $50k, $250k, $1m. The contestant, Ashlee Mesa, used four pennies on the $50,000 detergent to guarantee that amount of money, spent her last penny to remove one price for the $250,000 olive oil, and decided to quit with her $50,000.
Trivia[]
- Adam Sandler (director) invented this game.
- The game succeeds Penny Ante in its use of giant pennies; like the Penny Ante pennies, the pennies here are modeled after regular Lincoln Memorial pennies (The Lincoln Memorial had been on the reverse side from 1959 to 2008). Unlike the Penny Ante pennies that bear Lincoln's profile on the head side, these pennies have "ONE CENT" on the head side while retaining the Lincoln Memorial on the tails side.
- Penny Ante's sound effect also makes its return, sounding three times when a penny is used to eliminate a wrong answer.
- It's sometimes also known as "To The Cent".
- The game board is obviously modeled after a giant penny, as at the bottom reads "E PLURIBUS UNUM PRATIUM", Latin for "Out of Many, One Price". This is obviously modeled after the U.S. coin motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM", Latin for "Out of Many, One".
- This is one of only three pricing games where none of the show's models are involved, with the others being Grand Game and Hot Seat.
- When the game is won, the board will spin back to reveal the money graphic displayed in the game's intro.
- The most number of times this game was played in any season was 15 (season 50).
- This is the last pricing game to:
- Debut on an episode with a production code ending in K.
- Debut at Studio 33.
- Debut while Bob Barker was alive.
- Since Season 51, To The Penny has never been the first or second pricing game to be played in the lineup because like games such as 3 Strikes, Hole in One (or Two), Pathfinder, Pass the Buck, Pocket ¢hange, Balance Game, Stack the Deck, Rat Race, Double Cross, Time is Money, Hot Seat, Gridlock!, or Back to '75, it needs time to start up and the game can be played no earlier than third on the show.
- In Season 50, the game was played as the first or second pricing game (December 22, 2021 (#048SP), March 2, 2022, (#9743K), April 7, 2022 (#9794K), and June 22, 2022 (#9893K, aired out of order on September 5).
- Some nighttime episodes double the top prize to $50,000.
Odds[]
The odds of getting the first four items correct without making any mistakes or needing to spend any pennies is 1:120 (0.83%)—at that point, all five pennies can be spent to award the last item for free.
Gallery[]
To view the gallery, click here.
Videos[]
Debut of "To The Penny" (September 24, 2021, #9515K, aired out of order on September 17)
First "To The Penny" Bailout (October 5, 2021, #9532K, aired out of order on September 28)
| 2020s Pricing Games |
|---|
| Back to '75 | To The Penny |