DVCers and WWTBAMPI

[LisaS]

I knew the answer to the 250,000 point question and proceeded to guess my way through the 500,000 and 1,000,000 point questions to win the cruise. This was October of 2003 and we enjoyed the cruise in October 2004.

Wow! Congratulations Ralph!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Wow, Ralph! CONGRATUALATIONS! You need to give us some specific pointers. I've never talked to anyone before who actually won the cruise.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Wow, Ralph! CONGRATUALATIONS! You need to give us some specific pointers. I've never talked to anyone before who actually won the cruise.

I'm not too good at the opening fastest finger questions, since I find it takes me 3 or more seconds to punch in the answers even when I actually have a clue as to the order for the answers. It seems that every time I actually know the answer and enter it pretty quickly, someone has just randomly hit the four buttons in something less than 2 seconds and my efforts were for naught. Thus my strategy is to try to be the second contestant of the game when the first person finally misses a question. Of course, this means that you have to know the answers to all of the questions including the one that this contestant misses, and you have to be quick about it when you enter your selections.

Thus the main pointer I can offer relates to accumulating fastest finger points once the game is underway. I've found that I do best when I poise my thumb over the "A" button as the answers start to be revealed, sliding it along the various buttons until the correct answer is given. As soon as the correct answer appears, start pressing the appropriate button as fast as you can. Although some report good results by watching for the lights to all come on and then hitting the answer button as soon as possible, I've found that just repeatedly pushing as soon as you know the answer works better for me. The biggest problem occurs when the correct answer is "D". If you don't see the correct answer in "A", "B", or "C", just start pushing the "D" button before the fourth choice is even revealed. If you wait until you actually see and hear the "D" answer to start pushing the button, it will usually be too late to get a good score on that question. You just have to have confidence that since you haven't seen the correct answer so far, it will be "D" and go with it. I figure if I'm wrong at this point, I would have been guessing at an answer anyway and been too slow to do any good in the fastest finger point contest.

If you do get to the HS, try to practice lifeline management. Polling the audience is really only good up to about the tenth (32,000 point) question. Beyond that, there are too many guessed answers (probably from children just pushing buttons), so you may not actually get much real help. However, during these earlier questions, the audience is a good source of assistance. For me, the TV/movies/pop culture questions are the hardest (I watch almost no commercial television these days except for live sports and news and I have not been to a theatrical release of a movie since 1985, although I watch a lot of DVDs of movies) and the audience is usually pretty good on pop culture stuff. If you're in the HS and you get stuck, be sure to use a lifeline rather than miss a question while you still have lifelines left. The fifty-fifty has saved me a couple of times where I could eliminate some answers and was lucky enough to have one of the two I was considering disappear when I did the fifty-fifty. It does appear to me that they do randomly remove two of the three wrong answers, so you really improve your chances if you do end up guessing (one out of two is much better odds than one out of four). Asking a complete stranger can be hit or miss. When I won the cruise, my complete stranger knew the answer and stated it so unequivocally that I would have been a fool to make a different choice. Of course, when you get someone who indicates he or she has no clue you're no better off but at least you gave it a try.

I always figure that you need the first contestant to get through at least six or seven questions in order to have a real chance at the hot seat. If the contestant misses one of the first five questions, there are lots of people in the audience who will have answered everything correctly to that point. This is pretty much every game, since the questions are designed to be easy enough for people to at least win the hat and set of the first five pins. I frequently find myself somewhere in the top 10 (but not at the top of the list) when they reveal the standings after the fifth (1000 point) question. As each additional question is asked, more people fall away, since missing a question is certain to move you out of contention in this part of the game. The questions from six (2000 points) through ten (32,000 points) get harder and provide the best opportunity to get to the HS when the contestant misses (assuming you don't miss as well ). All three times that I made it to the HS, the contestant missed question seven or later. In fact, on the day I won the cruise, it was question 10 (the 32,000 point question). I marvel at the fact that I had to answer 10 questions in a row correctly to get to the HS, followed by another 15 consecutive questions to win the cruise. I think getting through the first 10 was actually harder, since I didn't get to use any lifelines and I had to be quick about selecting the answers. If the first contestant happens to get past the 32,000 point plateau, the last group of questions get really hard and the game slows down quite a bit. As the popularity of the game has declined from the peak, it appears to me that the game time has been shortened. I think most games are timed to be completed in a total of 30 minutes from starting time to buzzer. Thus if the first contestant happens to get up to or past the 125,000 point level, it's highly likely that there will be insufficient time for a second contestant during that game. If you've answered all of the questions correctly up to the point when such a contestant finally misses, you can assume the horn will blow before another contestant takes a (hot) seat. I think I've been in two or three games where this happened and the host appears to really stretch out the game for the last block of questions. At one game in January this year, I was at the top of the list when the game ended like this, with no time left. It can be frustrating when this happens, but I enjoy being at a game where a contestant gets to the last group of questions.

Finally, if you make it to the HS, try to relax. I say this in full recognition of the fact that I've been equally nervous each time it's happened to me. When you first start out, you want to avoid making a fool of yourself by missing an easy question right at the start. Once past the 1000 pointer, it actually becomes quite a bit of fun.

Good luck, everyone.

Ralph

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks, Ralph! I actually use similar tactics to yours, and I have often been the numer 1,2, or 3 person on the board on the audience checkpoints. The time I got into the hot seat, I thought I had the FF order wrong on the intial FF, but my mistake was that I had the wrong answer (in my mind), but it turned out to be right!!! I was guilty of not managing lifelines. I used my first one on that 32,000 point question, and I forgot that I could use the others on the same question!!! I should have known the audience answer was iffy, when they didn't have a difinitive answer.

 

[Fonzy13]

It seems weird to say. No, not that I've been in the hotseat, that I'm a DVC owner.

Last January got into the hotseat by punching in BACD in about .02 seconds. It was my fourth show of the day, and I was a little annoyed that people kept getting into the hotseat by just randomly hitting letters. So I did. yes, I am very ashmed.

Anywho, a couple of questions later I lost on the $500,000 question dealing with the right of a defendent to receive appointed counsel. The trick was the word appointed.

I'll always remember it because it was the hosts last show, as he was preparing to move over to Lights, Motors, Action. Wanted to give away one more, and I failed.