'Price Is Right' contestant loses $30,000 but ultimately gets what she really wanted
A contestant on "The Price Is Right" missed out on the chance of winning big money on the show's special "All Cash Day," but she got her wish fulfilled anyway. The player, Nikki, who got the chance to play "Half Off," was in to win $30,000, provided she aced the pricing game. However, she just couldn't get the ball rolling and was left with eight boxes to choose from, which gave her only a 12.5% chance of winning. Realizing that the odds were against her, she told host Drew Carey that the real prize for her would just be a hug from the show's model, James O'Halloran. 
In the episode, Nikki won the "Bidder's Row" to make it to the main stage and join Carey for a game. The host welcomed her and revealed that she would be playing the "Half Off" game, and while it usually offers $10,000 as the top prize, the cash had been tripled to $30,000 on the occasion of the special "All Cash Day." In the game, the contestant is shown 16 numbered boxes, and only one of them has all the cash stuffed in.
Before picking the box, the contestant plays a pricing game where three pairs of smaller prizes are presented. Each of the items carries a price tag, but only one out of each pair carries the "half-off" price, and the other carries the actual price. The goal for the player is to pick the item with the half-off price, and with each correct guess, the show takes out half of the boxes, leaving the box with the money on the table. Thus, if the player gets all three guesses right, in the end, only two boxes remain, giving the player a 50/50 chance at winning. However, if they get the guesses wrong, the odds stack up against them. 
In Nikki's game, the first pair of items included a 27-note wooden xylophone and a Stanley cup with the price tags of $34 and $30, respectively. While Nikki wanted to pick the xylophone, the audience advised her to pick the cup, and she went with it. Unfortunately, it was the wrong pick, and Nikki lost her first guess. "I got to trust myself," the player said. The second pair included an ice cream maker and a granite mortar pestle, with the price tags $50 and $19, respectively. 
This time, Nikki went with her gut and chose the ice cream maker, but she was wrong again and was left with all the boxes on the board. "Let's get it down to one out of eight. 1 out of 8 is way easier than 1 out of 16," the host said to encourage the player for her last pick. The final pair of items included a lunch bag and stainless steel ice cube trays with price tags of $40 and $33. After much thinking, Nikki went with the ice cube tray, and it turned out to be right. With this, the contestant had a 1 in 8 chance of winning the $30,000. Realizing the odds, she said, "If I miss it, can I hug James anyway?" When Carey said yes, Nikki replied with, "OK, then it doesn't matter.' She then went on to pick the number 3 box, passing over the number 10, and when the time came for the reveal, her box turned out to be empty.
The show's other model, Rachel Reynolds, then revealed that the cash was stuffed in the number 8 box, after which Nikki got her wish granted and hugged O'Halloran. Feeling left out, Carey joined in on the action as well and hugged both of them.
You can watch the wholesome group hug here.
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