A Salute to Game Shows - Win Ben Stein's Money - How to Win Ben Stein's Money

How to Win Ben Stein's Money

12.jpg (11806 bytes) Winning Ben Stein's $5,000 is considerably harder than taking candy from a baby. To do it, you have to last through two rounds of questions, and beat Ben Stein in the best of ten test of knowledge.

In round one, three players at their podiums play a round of toss-up questions. Ben Stein hosts this round, and Jimmy Kimmel announces the categories as they are revealed. Question values in this round range from $50 to $150 of Ben Stein's money. Each question is two parts. The first part is the main question, the one that the category is named for. 17.jpg (15683 bytes) This is the one worth $50-$150. If a contestant buzzes in and gets the question right, then they answer a follow-up question, worth $50. If the contestant gets this follow-up question wrong, or if no one gets the main question right, then this question is also a toss-up, still worth $50.

After time is up for round one, the player with the least amount of Ben Stein's money is eliminated from the game, and Ben takes the amount of his money that they've won and puts it back up in his total. In the second round, Ben throws caution in the wind as he becomes a common contestant to defend his money. On most days, this is followed with "Stay tuned, you might learn something!" In round two, Jimmy 10.jpg (14412 bytes) Kimmel hosts, and announces the names of the categories. Also, beginning in round two and through to the end of the show, Ben Stein has no advance knowledge of any of the questions that are asked. In round two, the questions are worth $250 to $500 of Ben's money, if the contestants get them right. Ben will tell you, "If I get them right, my total stays the same, and thankfully, none of my money is taken away." There are no follow-up questions in this round, and an entirely new set of categories is revealed.

In this round, like in the first round, the questions are toss-up style. But be warned... these questions are to be answered declaratively. If they are answered interrogatively (i.e. in the form of a question), Ben gets to pull out the dunce cap for you to wear, because we do not answer 11.jpg (12457 bytes) questions for Win Ben Stein's Money the same way as another show, which shall remain nameless.

After the time for the second round expires, the contestant with the lesser amount of Ben's money is eliminated. With that, Ben gets to take that contestant's money, and put it back up in his total. And then it's time for the "Best of Ten Test of Knowledge", where Ben Stein, in his deluxe isolation booth, and the contestant, in their not-so-deluxe isolation booth, battle it out to see whether Ben Stein will walk out with any of his money or whether the 21.jpg (13574 bytes) contestant will walk out with all $5,000 of Ben's money. In the Best of Ten, Jimmy asks both the contestant and Ben the same ten questions. If the contestant answers more of them correctly than Ben can in one minute or less, then they win all $5,000 of Ben Stein's money. In the event of a tie, the contestant wins $1,000 on top of the total amount that they won in the first two rounds. If Ben beats the contestant, then they get the total that they had won at the end of round two, which is theirs to keep no matter what happens. If Ben Stein loses all $5,000, he hands the contestant the $5,000, with the parting words, "I hate you, get out of here."