I’m going to start off with a couple of linky links for those of us going to The Price Is Right Live at the Orpheum on April 1:
- List of active pricing games
- Price Is Right strategy by a game theorist
The strategy guide is not comprehensive for every pricing game, but it does contain some interesting nuggets. For one thing, if you are last to act on Contestants’ Row, you should bid $1 higher than the previous high bid. Research shows this strategy works about 54% of the time. The reason why is that people tend to bid low, not wanting to overbid which is an automatic loss.
Then there’s Showcase Showdown where you spin the wheel and try to get as close to a dollar as you can without going over, with the winner advancing to the Showcase. I’ve seen the first person (of 3) to spin stay (refuse a second spin to add to their total) on as little as .55. Game theory says that strategy is not optimal. You actually want to spin again on as much as .65 if you have two people to spin after you.
I’ll make one other observation, this one having nothing to do with game theory. When there’s a Showcase with a boat as one of the prizes, it’s always the second Showcase. Why? Because that way, it can’t be passed. Nobody wants a friggin’ boat.
The Blind Bear’s new Saturday/Sunday Hung Over Like a Bear brunch menu rolled out yesterday. A few highlights:
- Paul’s Meatloaf Sandwich: Yes, it’s named after me! The meatloaf comes between two slices of Texas toast with sides of fried okra and mashed potatoes. $14
- Mac’s Big Vol Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, hashbrown casserole, and an orange slice. $16. I bet this will become my friend Davis’ favorite brunch item, based solely on the name.
- Avocado Toast: Sunny side up egg with a balsamic drizzle atop steamed spinach, onions, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, Texas toast with breakfast potatoes. $16. At first, this new menu item scared me a bit, because the most batshit crazy woman ever to brunch at the Bear LOVES avocado toast. But she’s been gone from Memphis for more than a year now. I think this is a fine menu addition.
- Chicken & French Toast: Two jumbo whole wings over apple pie moonshine French toast. $16. Chicken & waffles is the most overplayed brunch dish ever, so I’m excited to see the Bear doing a unique take on it rather than bringing it back directly. Plus, with French toast, the kitchen’s capacity to turn out that dish isn’t limited by the number of waffle irons they have.
- Blackberry moonshine pancakes: Ole Smoky blackberry moonshine pancakes with blackberries, scrambled eggs, and bacon. $16. The Bear is known as the best place in the city to get flavored moonshine. It’s fun to see them incorporating that into their menu.
- Ole Smoky moonshine shots, by the way, are only $4 during brunch.
The Grizzlies BEAT SOME ASS on Western Conference first-place Denver last night, winning 112-94. That pulls Memphis within 5 games of Denver and opens up a 2-game lead over third-place Sacramento. Our guy Xavier Tillman Sr. totally kept up with Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic on the court. Next up: LeBron, AD, and the L.A. Lakers come to town Tuesday.
Reminder: The Tigers host Cincinnati at 1:00 on ESPN2.
Today is For Pete’s Sake Day. Cheers to my buddy Pete who used to be my neighbor down the hall and my other buddy Pete who I used to beat at pool at the Saucer all the time.
There’s an Elvis on Mud Island meme generator but Elvis is turned sideways.
All right. It’s a bit of a slow news day, so I’m out after only a handful of news items. Heading to Bardog at 11. My friends Randy and Theresa can’t make it today because they have stuff to do around the house. I think Butt Slut #1 will be there, though.
Oh, hey, you want some butt slut news? There are 5 of them now and they’ve started taking on military ranks. For example, Butt Slut #1 is now “Captain Butt Slut.” Although, continuing to call her “Butt Slut #1” is still perfectly acceptable too.
“I have a title within the butt slut organization,” I told a friend a couple of days ago. “But it doesn’t fit into the classic military structure. I’m the Big Bad Butt Slut Booty Daddy.” (So, to all my freaks out there, Big Poppa Paul is your hookup. Holla if you hear me.)
“You’re kinda like the President of the United States is to the U.S. military,” my friend said. “You’re not a butt slut yourself. But you’re the Commander-in-Chief of the butt sluts.”
Let’s finish this up with a video of the man who inspired my title within the organization. (this is one of the great pro wrestling promos of all time, but WARNING: NSFW):
Back tomorrow with more news.