'Price Is Right' contestant who was clueless about the rules ends up losing $20,000
Fans of the show were not happy and they made their opinions known.
Feb. 12 2026, Published 11:28 a.m. ET
Not everyone is a winner on "The Price Is Right," and not every performance is impressive. In a recent episode of the show, one contestant missed out on a chance to win $20,000 after struggling to follow the rules of the game. His lackluster performance does not mean that it is a complex game. The contestant was excited when he got onto the stage, but his game run ended in disappointment.
The contestant was a man named Yoni, who had made his way to the stage from Contestants Row. He was playing a game called ‘Time Is Money.’ The rules of the game are simple. A contestant will be shown five items which they have to arrange into three prices ranging from $0 to $2.99, $3 to $5.99, and $6 and up. If they get the order correct in 10 seconds, they will win $20,000.
In this case, the items shown were apple pie, green tea bags, frozen mixed vegetables, asthma medication (over-the-counter), and a box of 30-gallon trash bags. His 10 seconds had already started as he scrambled to arrange the items. Host Drew Carey then explained the second chance that the contestant receives in the event they aren't able to make sense of it at first. Yoni could rearrange the items. However, the prize money amount would keep dropping $500 per second until he got it right, for which he would have to hit the buzzer when he thinks he has it right.
After rearranging the items, a contestant must run over and hit a buzzer. If they’re wrong, the prize money keeps going down. Carey advised the contestant not to waste time looking at the audience for help, but that is exactly what Yoni did. He then rearranged the items and forgot to hit the buzzer for a few seconds, costing him precious time and money. He ultimately never got the correct arrangement, as the prize money dwindled to zero.
Anyone who watched the episode could tell that Yoni did not know as much as he thought he would know about everyday grocery item prices. Despite 'The Price is Right Hallelujah' slogan on his t-shirt, Drew Carey then revealed the correct categories of the items. Unfortunately for Yoni, not even a single category item had been placed properly. He did, however, eventually find his spirit back. “Let’s go, everybody! Let’s go!” he said. However, viewers were disappointed with the performance. “You can tell Yoni doesn’t grocery shop,” one fan commented on YouTube. “That time was amazingly bad…. but GOOD! Lol,” quipped another.
“Probably one of the worst contestants I’ve seen recently. Ignored Drew explaining, and then, shocker, he didn’t know he had to press the button at 1st. Constantly looking at the crowd wasted so much time. He had it 1st try, too. All he needed was to move the vegetables 2nd try. And then when he moved the veggies to the $6+, I knew he had no clue about pricing,” one more fan wrote.
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