Cover Up (pricing game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Host Bob Barker standing in front of Cover Up

Cover Up is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on the Season 22 premiere on September 13, 1993, it is played for a car.

1 Gameplay
2 Strategy
3 Trivia
4 See also

[edit] Gameplay

A false price for a car, reminiscent of One Away, is given on a gameboard. Above that price are five columns of numbers, as thus:

Column 1 - Two numbers.
Column 2 - Three numbers.
Column 3 - Four numbers.
Column 4 - Five numbers.
Column 5 - Six numbers.

Host Bob Barker asks the contestant to "cover up" the false numbers, by choosing one number from each column. After the contestant makes their choices (placing these number tiles in front of the false digits), the new price is revealed to be correct or not.

If the new price is correct, the player wins the car. If not, the contestant must have at least one digit in the new price correct to earn another chance (and thus "cover up" any remaining incorrect digits).

The process is repeated until there are no new digits correct in a new price (resulting in a loss), or all five digits are correct (meaning a win).

[edit] Strategy

Logically, the safest way to play Cover Up is to begin by getting as many numbers wrong as possible without losing, then gradually work toward getting the entire price right, ideally one digit at a time. This method takes advantage of the fact that players get an extra turn as long as they get at least one new number right. This strategy systematically eliminates many of the "bad" numbers and significantly increases the chance of winning the car, as long as it is executed with appropriate caution.

The vast majority of players simply try to outright guess the car's price on the first attempt. Although several contestants have succeeded in doing so, many contestants are left with having to guess one incorrect digit in one try, usually one that is difficult to discern such as the tens or ones. This is possibly the worst scenario in the game, and unfortunately, many players have to face it.

[edit] Trivia

The first playing of Cover Up was never seen in most of the United States. The episode was pre-empted by a CBS News Special Report. The show was broadcast in a small number of East Coast markets that were airing The Price Is Right an hour early at the time, and since it was a season premiere, CBS considered it officially aired and never reran it.

On Cover Up's earliest playings, the neon lights around the contestant's guesses were red instead of blue.

On January 11, 1995, a contestant named Clara became the first player to lose Cover Up by getting all five numbers wrong on her first attempt.

At least one contestant has won the car by getting each number right in the price of the car, one digit at a time (thus getting five turns).

On December 15, 2006, a contestant had four digits right on her 3rd try. Forgetting that the game was not over yet, Bob thought she had lost and pressed the reveal button and suddenly realized that she had another chance. Since the price had been revealed before the game was over, Bob awarded her the car.