A PhD scholar just explained the science that could help 'Price is Right' contestants win Plinko

“The Price is Right” host Drew Carey has often tried to help players land their chips in the right place while playing the challenging game of Plinko. But the truth is that, beyond luck, science and technique do play a part in the results of the game. This was recently confirmed by a professor of nuclear engineering, who also mentioned how a contestant can increase the chances of making the most of each attempt in the game. It turns out that the structure of the Plinko board is not different from that of a normal distribution generator.

Robert B. Hayes, PhD, CHP, PE, is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University, a Fellow of the Health Physics Society, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, according to a TV Insider report. He used small beads in a miniature Plino board to explain where a contestant can place a chip to maximize their chances of winning big. The PhD scholar has made a name for himself on social media with his fun and interactive videos explaining certain scientific matters for those who are not aware.

Professor Hayes explained how each bead, when dropped from the top of the board, will make contact with the many pins on it. The bead can then either fall to the left of an individual pin or to the right side. By the time it reaches the bottom of the board, however, those beads that were dropped from the center tend to end up falling to the center of the board rather than the sides. That’s where the big money is to be won.

“It’s very unlikely that they are going to go to the right every time, so you have very few all the way to the right, and the same with the left,” he said, before adding, “It’s more than likely that they will come all the way down, and you’ll get the bulk of the beads right in the middle. What’s happening is that we’re measuring the probability of the beads falling into any one of the distributions.”

This is something fans have seen in the game on multiple occasions. Chips dropped from the sides do not have as much of a chance of ending up in the center of the board as the ones dropped in the middle. The showrunners, however, are not oblivious to this and have made the board accordingly. On either side of the big prize money, which can be $10,000, $50,000, or even $100,000, are the numbers zero. This can sometimes dissuade contestants from going down the middle.

The video of Professor Hayes explaining the physics behind Plinko was uploaded to r/ThePriceIsRight, and fans of the show did not shy away from sharing their opinions. “Your best bet is to always drop the chip right in the middle of the board. I always get a good chuckle out of contestants who spend time asking the audience where to drop them,” one user commented.

“Right, but doesn't the outcome rely heavily on the layout of the pegs? Every plinko board I've seen has no distinct shape like the one shown here,” quipped another user. “Plinko is dropping a single chip, which has all the room to bounce around. The thing that's being shown has many beads poured out of a small opening at the same time. Doesn't seem the same to me,” commented another fan.