'Price is Right' contestant loses $500,000 and fans are blaming host Drew Carey's advice for it

TV game shows have gained a fan following as contestants are seen walking home with prizes ranging from cash to cars in a matter of minutes. "The Price Is Right" is one of the longest-running game shows on American screens and has consistently kept things interesting with new games while classics are retained. One such classic game is "Plinko" where contestants drop chips on a board with the goal of landing on the big money in the middle. While contestants choose how and where to drop the chip, the host, Drew Carey often shares his advice to help people win. However, the host recently came under fire for sharing the wrong advice that allegedly cost a player half a million dollars.

In a clip shared on The Price Is Right's official social media handles, contestant Lauren (@hi.poppylaur) can be seen trying to win big at Pinko. Before the game, she identified the prices of several small prizes to earn five Plinko chips. Since the top prize of the game offers $100,000, Lauren had a chance of taking away $500,000 from the Plinko game alone.

She quickly sprung up to the top of the board and got in position to start dropping the chips, one by one. However, before she began, Carey advised her to drop the chips right in the middle saying "$100,000" right in the middle."

Lauren did just that but her first chip trickled down to the corner landing in the $500 slot. She continued to drop the remaining chips from the very same spot, right in the middle. However, three more chips failed to land the big prize, which only reached $1,000. At this point, Lauren realized that the strategy wasn't working but Carey asked her to keep going. “Just do that, that should do it," he said. Unfortunately, her last chip also landed in the $500 spot earning her only $4,000.

“What’s going on?” Carey exclaimed. “You know you dropped each chip perfectly,” Carey added as Lauren climbed back down and joined him. 

While the host believed his advice was solid, it became clear to the viewers that it wasn't the way to go. People took to the comments to complain and urged Carey to stop sharing such advice. 

"Drew Carey really needs to stop saying RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE when Plinko is playing because he's annoying AF. WARNING: if someone replies a mean comment about what I've said, I'm going to BLOCKED that person," @mr.tran_khuong wrote. 

Some even claimed that some of the show's segments including the Plinko game are rigged against the players. "That Plinko board was NOT behaving!" @wheelycrazyeugene added.

Meanwhile, some suggested that the player's strategy was wrong and that she didn't play the game right. Viewers had plenty of advice to share for anyone taking on the game again. "No one starts from the middle to get it dead on ..I remember they go from the side.. I agree his advice was wrong," added @kadamcarroll75.  Nevertheless, Lauren was happy to walk away with the amount that she won. She celebrated the win in her unique style shaking hands and giving out hugs to everyone.