Draw Your Numbers (Series Premiere)

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"Draw Your Numbers" is a lottery-themed, word puzzle-solving game where two contestants are competing for a jackpot that could payoff more than $100,000 in cash.  The game is played out over 5 rounds -- a setup round and 3 main rounds with the winner advancing to the Jackpot Round, which starts at $100,000 for this episode, increasing by $50,000 for subsequent episodes each time it is not won.  The game has both skill and luck aspects to it, with similar elements to various game shows and a main premise based on a lottery system such as the Powerball lottery in the United States.

Behind the scenes, I am using an Access database and a randomizing option to simulate the drawing of numbered balls from a lottery machine.  As in real life, each draw will be completely random and different from the previous draw.

I have the game ready to play, but I need two players to proceed, please.  Who would like to be a part of the inaugural episode of "Draw Your Numbers"?

[Deleted]

I will.

[Deleted]

Me too

[Deleted]

"Rich Fields:  Today, this machine may hold riches for one of our contestants

as the solving of puzzles and the luck of the draw could pay off big!

(audience begins applauding)

Get ready, because it's time to...

And now, the host of our show, Glen Brown!"

(audience continues applauding as the lottery machine slides to the left and I walk through the opening before it closes behind me)

I thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen and I welcome you to a brand new game here on NGC -- Draw Your Numbers -- a game that I hope you'll enjoy watching and playing along there at home.  The fate of our two players today lies in the hands of that machine right there...

...which by the luck of the draw could be kind to the point of more than $100,000 total for one of our players today, or could be cruel to the point of both players winding up winning absolutely nothing.  Let's hope it's the former and not the latter for our first show here.

Speaking of contestants, Rich Fields, please introduce our two challengers today!

"Glen, first up, he's originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina -- please welcome Anthony Long!

(audience applauds)

Our second challenger today hails from Elba, Alabama -- please welcome James Greek!"

(audience continues applauding)

I welcome you both to Draw Your Numbers, gentlemen.  I described you as challengers since, as this is our first episode, we have no champion as yet, but one of you two will become our first champion, returning on our next show with winnings hopefully totaling into six digits!

(audience cheers and applauds)

Anthony, Rich says you're originally from South Carolina.  Are you still in that state or have you moved away?  What else would you care to share with us about yourself?

[Deleted]

Yes I am still old South Carolina for 30 years 4 months and 1 week. I love to collect trading cards, do stats, and make predictions. I even am a brony. I just lost my dad almost 11 months ago due to a blood clot. I can name all the NFL and NBA teams in alphabetical order. I have a favorite character on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I love my favorite college and that is Clemson.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry to hear about your father -- it's hard for me to believe but I lost mine almost 30 years ago now and I remember the sadness I went through at the time, so you have my condolences for your loss, Anthony.  I do welcome you to the program however and interestingly enough, looking at the latest football preseason polls for both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches' Poll, your Clemson Tigers are ranked second only to -- oddly enough -- Alabama, which is where I believe Rich said you are from, James.  What else can we know about you and while we're on the subject, how do you think your Crimson Tide and Anthony's Tigers are gonna fare this year?

[Deleted]

I love doing math and statistics on sport video games. I think both are going to do very well this season. Rarity is my favorite My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic character. I made a mistake. I will be living in South Carolina 30 years 4 months and 1 week.this Friday. Maybe I can show my favorite character and my dad if we have time. I can't stand the sport Tennis.

[Deleted]

Actually, I am an Auburn fan and I detest The Crimson Tide. I enjoy game shows, music, classic TV, girls, Netflix, and Hulu

[Deleted]

An Auburn fan -- well, they're in the Top 10 in the polls as well, so hopefully they will be in the mix for a bowl game at the end of the season.  What's interesting as well is that we have a battle here of the Tigers vs. the Tigers since that is the nickname for the teams of both Auburn and Clemson.

Gentlemen, good luck to both of you.  James, you mentioned liking girls -- well, I don't have a girl here, but I do have a beautiful woman to help us run our game.  She is a star of film and television, she made her debut in the film "United 93" back in 2006 playing the role of Nicole Miller.  Some of her other films include "Juno", "The Darkest Hour" and most recently "Chappaquiddick".  Her television appearances include roles on "Kidnapped", "Bored to Death" and "Good Vibes".

Please welcome our guest hostess on Draw Your Numbers, the lovely Olivia Thirlby!
(audience applauds as our theme plays while the lottery machine slides left again and Olivia makes her entrance before the machine slides back into place)

Olivia, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to help us launch Draw Your Numbers!

Olivia: "It is my pleasure Glen and I want to wish Anthony and James good luck as well!"

Thank you, Olivia!  Now gentlemen, Olivia is holding 5 trays of numbered lottery balls -- one tray for each round that we play and our first round is called "Spending Money".  Olivia, as I explain this to Anthony and James, I will ask you to load the first tray of balls into the machine, please.

(Olivia begins setting up the machine for the first round)

Our game has similarities to a lottery game, but here, you buy numbers rather than buying a ticket.  Each match of a number you buy to a number you draw wins you money -- anywhere from a low of $2,500 in our first main game round to as much as $50,000 in our third main game round.  As previously mentioned, our winner today will proceed to the Jackpot Round at the end of the show for a crack at $100,000 more!

(audience applauds)

In each round, we have a different configuration of lottery balls loaded into the machine.  For this round, Olivia has loaded 10 balls broken down as follows: one 3, two 4s, three 5s and four 6s.  In this round, we will determine how much spending money each of you has by drawing two numbers each and multiplying them together.  This will act as your base amount of spending money for the show, but our word puzzles, which will come into play later on, will give you a chance to earn more spending money.  There are also ways for you to lose some of your spending money.  I will explain these things as we go along.

I see that Olivia has the machine loaded, so I will ask her now to push that red button next to the machine to start it turning, please.

(Olivia pushes the button and the drum begins to rotate)

Anthony, we are going to start with you.  You also have a red button on the podium in front of you (as does James)...

When you are ready Anthony, please push that button and we'll draw your first number and we'll hope it is a six!

[Deleted]

*pushes the button*

[Deleted]

The trap door opens inside the machine...we're waiting on a ball to drop through...

...and Olivia holds up a five!  Well, not the best number in there Anthony, but not a bad start for a base, either.  You now have $5 in spending money, but we're going to multiply that by your next draw, so fingers crossed for a six this time and hit that button again, please!

[Deleted]

*does so and crosses his fingers*

[Deleted]

The light is flashing, the ball could drop anytime now...

...and it's a three.  Well, that's unfortunate Anthony, but again, this is only your base amount of spending money which you will have a chance to add to by hopefully solving some of our puzzles in the main rounds.  For now though, let's put your total up on the board...

(ding)

(Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the database)

(The table uses highest to lowest BALL_RAND value, which is randomly recalculated prior to each draw, to determine which ball to select --

once chosen, the USED_FLAG is set to Y so that it won't be chosen again, simulating that the ball is no longer in the machine.

In this case, had we drawn another number, it would have been the 5 in the 4th row since 0.7630579 was the next highest number in the BALL_RAND list.

A similar process will be used for all of the rounds in the show.)

So, $15 in spending money for Anthony.  Olivia is now going to load the 5 and the 3 back into the machine and then she'll push that button to get it rolling again.

(Olivia sets up the machine and then pushes the button)

We're set, the machine is rolling and we're ready for you now, James.  Let's see if you can find one of the four 6s in that drum.  When your ready, please hit that red button.

[Deleted]

*hits the red button*

[Deleted]

The trap door opens...we await the number...

Olivia holds up a six!

(audience applauds)

You can't start off any better than that, James!  Hit that button please and let's see if you can do that again!

[Deleted]

Come on! Let’s get a good number! *hits button again

[Deleted]

Trap door is open and that light's a-flashing...

...and...

Olivia holds up a 5, multiplied by your previous 6 equals 30!

(ding)

So, we're at different ends of the spectrum in terms of spending money.  James wound up with the second-most you can start with whereas Anthony is beginning with the second-least amount.  I wouldn't worry too much about it though Anthony, because not by any stretch of the imagination does it mean you're out of it.  It does mean you may have to be a bit more frugal in your number purchases and solving the puzzles is now more important to you than James, but if you solve enough of them, you could actually wind up with more spending money than James before we're through -- more about all of this shortly.

For now though, our contestants have their initial spending money, but will have a chance to earn some more in the first of our 3 main rounds called the "Small Pot Round", but don't let the name fool you -- we'll be trying to give away as much as $15,000 in this round when Draw Your Numbers continues after these messages!

(audience begins continuous applause)

[Deleted]

*nervous*

[Deleted]

(fade in with theme and applause)

Welcome back to the premiere episode of Draw Your Numbers where I am here with our two contestants, Anthony and James, who are about to tackle our first puzzle in the Small Pot round where one of them could win as much as $10,000 and the other, as much as $5,000.  Let's take a look at our stats board for this round which will help to describe how we play.

(ding)

Let me explain this by going top-down on this graphic.

At the top, it says "$2.50 PUZZLE" which is the award in spending money given to whomever solves the puzzle I'll be revealing here in a few minutes.  The result determines the cost of buying numbers for the Small Pot draw -- $1 per number for the puzzle winner and $3 per number for the puzzle loser.  Each draw in our 3 main rounds will have 3 numbers, so a full ticket of numbers for this draw would cost $3 for the puzzle winner and $9 for the puzzle loser.  These cost amounts will increase, along with all the other values on that graphic, as we progress through the rounds.  You are not obliged to buy 3 numbers however -- your obligation is to buy at least one number if you have the spending money to do so.  Anthony, for example, may opt to purchase less than 3 numbers in this round and save his spending money for the subsequent rounds where the payouts will be larger.

If you make one of three types of mistakes during the puzzle, in this round, you lose fifty cents worth of spending money.  The three mistakes are:  choosing a letter that is not in the puzzle, choosing a letter that was already chosen or trying to solve the puzzle and guessing it incorrectly.  Each time one of those things occurs, you are docked $0.50 from your total spending money.

For this Small Pot round, Olivia will load 10 lottery balls into the machine -- the numbers 1 through 9 and 1 red ball.  As you can imagine, the red ball is bad news if drawn and it may take away your winnings in the round -- more on that later.

Finally, this graphic lists the payouts for this round -- $2,500 for matching one of your numbers to a number drawn, $5,000 for two matches and $10,000 for three matches.  The puzzle winner gets the choice of purchasing his numbers first or passing and letting his opponent buy first.  The significance of this is that whomever purchases their numbers second may only choose up to 2 of the same 3 numbers purchased by whomever went first.  Depending on the situation as we progress in the game, there may be some strategy in allowing your opponent to choose his numbers first -- I will explain more on this as we go along.

For now, let's have a look at our puzzle for this round...

(blang)

Our puzzle is about celebrities and how we play is pretty simple.  James, since you won the most spending money, you will start us off in a moment by choosing any letter from A to Z that you believe is in the puzzle.  If it's there, all instances of it will light up and you will then have the option at solving the puzzle or passing to Anthony.  Again, if the letter you choose is not there or if you take a guess at the puzzle and that is incorrect, you lose fifty cents worth of spending money.  Please note though that you can only take a guess at the answer if you light up a letter -- if your letter choice is not up there, you are docked the fifty cents and your turns ends there.  When it is Anthony's turn, the same rules apply to him and then back and forth we go until one of you solves the puzzle. 

The person who solves it earns the $2.50 in spending money, then you both purchase 1, 2 or 3 numbers and then we have our draw to see how much money you will win in this round.

I know this was a lot to take in, but we'll go over it again as we go along, so let's proceed.

James, the category is Celebrities.  Please choose a letter that you think we'll find up there somewhere.

[Deleted]

A T

[Deleted]

(ding...ding...ding...ding...ding...ding)

Six of them for you there, James.  Solve or pass, please?

[Deleted]

Pass

[Deleted]

Passing to you, Anthony.  Choose a letter, please.

Also players, one other thing to note, when you attempt to solve the puzzle, double-check that you've spelled it correctly -- a correct guess spelled incorrectly will be deemed incorrect.

[Deleted]

E please.

[Deleted]

(bzzzzzzzzz)

(audience ahhhhs)

Believe it or not, with all those letters, there is not a single E in the puzzle -- sorry Anthony, that will cost you two quarters worth of spending money.

(ding)

James, back to you, sir.

[Deleted]

H

[Deleted]

(ding...ding...ding)

Yes indeed, 3 of them on the board.  What do you say James, solve it or pass?

[Deleted]

Pass

[Deleted]

Back to you, Anthony -- a letter, please.

[Deleted]

A please.