Learning the Basics of Plinko
Guess the prices of different items to earn chips. On The Price is Right, contestants start the game of Plinko by earning their chips. The more Plinko chips you have, the more prizes and money you can potentially win. You’ll be shown items, and asked to decide if you think the price of the item starts with 1 specific digit or ends with another specific digit. Use your best judgment, as you’ll earn 1 chip for every digit you guess correctly. For example, you may be shown a cooler that retails at $25 USD and asked if the price for it starts with a “2” or a “1.” If you guess “2,” then you’ll earn a Plinko chip.
Choose where to drop a chip. Once you have all of your chips, climb to the top of the stairs so that you’re standing over the top of the Plinko board. Hold 1 of your chips over the top of the board and line it up with any 1 of the entry slots.
Drop your chip into the top of the board and repeat the process. Once you’re lined up properly with an entry slot, drop the chip in. Watch the chip fall and bounce between pegs until it lands in a slot at the bottom of the board. Repeat this process of choosing an entry slot, lining the chip up, and dropping it in for the rest of your chips.
Collect prizes for each slot your chips land in without hitting $0 USD. The slots at the bottom are labeled with certain amounts of money. Every time 1 of your chips falls into a specific slot, the amount of money indicated on the slot will be added to your total prize money. However, if 1 of your chips lands in the $0 slot, you do not win any extra money. From 1 end to the other, the slots are usually worth $100, $500, $1,000, $0, $10,000, $0, $1,000, $500, and $100. If you drop a chip in, it lands in the $0 slot, and you have more chips to drop in, you can still use those to collect some prize money.
Strategizing to Win Plinko
Drop your chips into the center slots to keep probability on your side. If you want the best possible chances of your chips landing in the $10,000 slot, drop each chip through an entry slot located at the middle of the board. While the game is mostly based on luck, chips dropped through the middle of the top are statistically the most likely to win you the big bucks.
Try inserting the chip 3 or 4 spaces away from the center. As an alternative, consider dropping your chips 3-4 spaces to either the left or right of the center entry slot. Some think that this is a better strategy because the chips bounce around a lot, and therefore aren’t likely to travel downward in a straight line.
Drop your chips into the slots, instead of pushing or spinning them. Avoid pushing your chips into the entry slots, and/or giving them a spin when dropping them in. While there’s not proof one way or another, many believe that it’s best to hold each chip above the entry slot and simply let it go.
Making Your Own Plinko Game
Purchase a pegboard and golf tees. Purchase a plastic pegboard that measures 18 in (46 cm) by 22 in (56 cm) from a hardware store or online. Then, purchase a pack of 100 or so 2 in (5.1 cm) golf tees from a sporting goods store or online.
Create your first row of pegs with golf tees. Start at the hole in the top left corner of the pegboard and push a tee through the back of it. Then, move from left to right horizontally as you continue pushing tees through every other hole on this first row.
Continue making peg rows all the way down the board. After you’ve made the first row of pegs, move onto the next. Skip the entire second row of holes in the pegboard, and also skip the first hole on the left end of the third row. Push a tee through the second hole and continue pushing them through every other hole horizontally from left to right. This will offset the new row of pegs from the previous one. Continue this pattern all the way down the board.
Cut pieces of foam core board to make a frame. Purchase a 20 in (51 cm) by 30 in (76 cm) foam core board from a craft store or online. Use an X-Acto knife to cut 2 22.5 in (57 cm) by 3 in (7.6 cm) strips that will make up the sides of the frame. Cut 2 18 in (46 cm) by 3 in (7.6 cm) strips for the top and bottom. Finally, cut 2 3 in (7.6 cm) by 3 in (7.6 cm) squares to use as corner supports and 5 2.75 in (7.0 cm) by 2.125 in (5.40 cm) pieces to use as slot dividers at the bottom. Use measuring tape to measure your foam pieces.
Make final cuts to the top edge of your frame and your foam squares. Cut each of your foam squares into 2 identical triangles. Cut 3 2 in (5.1 cm) holes into the top frame piece so that ping pong balls can fit through them.
Glue the frame together and then glue it to the pegboard. Use a hot glue gun to glue the side pieces of the frame to the top and bottom pieces at each corner. Glue 1 triangle onto each corner on the back side of the frame. When the glue is dry, put glue on the front of each triangle piece and carefully slide the board into the frame.
Create the bottom slots. Evenly space your bottom slot dividers and glue them down vertically to the bottom of the board. Then, line the bottom of each slot with a different color of construction paper to represent different prizes. You can make these prizes whatever you want, whether you prefer that they’re traditional cash prizes, school-related prizes for playing Plinko in a classroom, or small toys for a kid’s birthday party. If you decide to go with cash prizes and want your game to closely resemble traditional Plinko, label the center slot as the highest value and the slots on either side of it as $0. If you’re playing Plinko with students in a classroom, consider labeling one slot as a free pencil and another slot as a homework pass. If you’re playing Plinko at a kid’s birthday party, consider having prizes like stickers, markers, and small stuffed animals.
Use ping pong balls as chips. At this point, your Plinko board will be finished. To play, simply drop a ping pong ball into one of the holes at the top edge of the frame. Watch it bounce from peg to peg until it lands in a slot. Then, collect the prize that that slot displays.
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