Let's not worry too much about how I ended up watching WHEEL OF FORTUNE in a Japanese bar with a couple co-workers on a Friday evening. That's not the point. Instead, let us consider this scenario:Woman #1 spins the wheel and lands on the improbable $1 million wedge. Then she solves the puzzle. But she still has to win the whole game before she can claim the million dollar prize. How would you signal to your competitors that you'll split the million if they let you win?
As a casual and infrequent viewer of this show, I don't have total confidence in this guess, but I think on a good night a contestant might walk away with $20-30,000. It probably shouldn't cost much more than that to buy off your competitors. A million dollars is a big pie to split three ways. A generous person might pay out as much as $100,000 to her competitors. And only a ridiculous greedhead would demand more.
But no, our hapless hero botched her plays later in the game and ended up losing to Woman #2 in a close contest. Woman #2, oblivious to her devastated neighbor, celebrated her $20,000 prize by clapping and jumping. It was a sad spectacle that left me in an abstract state of despair. I haven't quite worked it out yet, but I'm convinced this episode illustrates some deep flaw of human behavior. And Woman #2 deserves to be ostracized from humanity.
And we're all doomed.
Shouldn't it be obvious that the million dollar prize is a game-changer? With a little collusion, the contestants can guarantee themselves a big prize. Otherwise they're competing for the chance at a much smaller one. This should have been worked out in the green room before they even started.
It's kind of like chopping the pot in poker, but not exactly.
