Ten Chances

10 Chances
Premiere Date	July 15, 1975
Pricing Game Location	Center Stage
Previous Premiered Pricing Game	Race Game
Next Premiered Pricing Game	Golden Road

So called because the contestant has ten chances to win three prizes.

Gameplay

The contestant is given ten chances in which to guess the prices of three prizes, including a car, beginning with the least expensive. They are shown three digits, two of which are in the price of the first prize. The contestant writes their guess on the first of ten cards. If they are correct, the price is revealed, and they move on to the next prize. If they are not, they must write another price on the second card, and so on until they are correct.

For the second prize, the contestant is shown four digits, three of which are in the correct price. Play continues as with the first prize until they correctly guess the price. Finally, the contestant is shown five digits, all of which are in the price of the car. Again, they must write down the correct price with whatever chances they have left.

If the contestant has used all of their ten chances and has not correctly written the price of the car, they win any prizes that they have correctly priced to that point.

History

• Ten Chances was originally played for four-digit cars, and five digits were given, with one unused digit.

• Originally, the correct price for each prize was revealed on a red card, just like the card for the available digits; this was quickly changed to blue on November 26, 1975 to differentiate.

• On March 13, 1991, Ten Chances began offering a 5-digit car for the first time and the game never offered any cars less than $10,000 again. Contestants must now use all five numbers provided for the car to make its price.

• On January 27, 2004, new buttons are introduced in Ten Chances after the original ones cease to function. The numbers are displayed below the buttons, which are identical to the one on the Split Decision board. the big red numbered buttons that are pushed to indicate a right or wrong guess were changed to smaller buttons with the numbers below.

• When the new color scheme was introduced on September 23, 2010, the jumbled digits are on a blue card and the correct price is on a green card. During that time, they are lit in yellow, and turn off when pressed for wrong answers, but stay on when correct. In addition, the word "Ten" in the game's name was changed to a number 10.

• An unwritten rule since the early 1980s is that the prices of all prizes end in 0, except in the rare case that 0 is not one of the provided choices, in which case the last number is always 5. Many contestants do not take this rule into account, even after seeing the first two correct prices. Though Bob and Drew never disclose this rule, they will try to steer contestants away from guesses that don't end in zero. In addition, contestants often attempt to use the same digit more than once in the same price. A contestant attempting to do so is usually corrected and allowed to rewrite an acceptable price. (However, foreign versions most likely do not use the 0/5 rule.)

• Ten Chances originally had a 10-second time limit for each guess. While the rule has not actually been enforced since the early 1980s, the game is one in which contestants often take a long time to consult with the audience and host Bob Barker often chided contestants that they would lose a turn if they did not start writing.

• When the zero digit rule is played correctly, this is the easiest car game to win on the show.

• In his final years hosting, Bob used the game as a barometer of a contestant's knowledge of the show and of pricing items. He would be visibly distraught or frustrated if they seemed clueless of either.

• On June 24, 2014, November 25, 2014, and January 13, 2015, the first two prizes were shown by Door #3 (almost identical to Any Number) and the car revealed behind Door #3 afterward.

Pictures

Here's Ten Chances but without the red support.

Here's Ten Chances with the red support.

The short lived reveal in red.

Close Up of the more familiar correct reveal in blue. Take note that some of the prizes in the game didn't always end in "0".

Here's a win from the 1990s.

The numbers are now seen below the buttons instead of on the buttons.

Did you catch that? This is what happens when 10 Chances is won.

Same setup but now Drew Carey is the host of the show.

Here's the current look of Ten Chances. Note the minor change from the word "TEN" to the number "10".

Here's a win under the newly remodeled title.

International versions

On the UK versions hosted by both Leslie Crowther and Bob Warman, Ten Chances offered two two-digit prizes and a three-digit prize. In the latter version, as well as the Mexican version titled Atinale Al Precio, wipe-off markerboards were used instead of cards.

YouTube Videos

Lucky 10 Chance Winner
Another Technical 10 Chances win
Ten Chances Win (December 13, 2002)
Great 10 Chances Win with a small malfunction in the end (January 2, 2004)