One to Win
Presented by Robin Houston (pictured), One to Win is a four player quiz broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK.
The show is essentially the latter rounds of Going for Gold.
Beginning with four contestants, the aim of the first round is to amass nine points - represented by nine lights on the front of the desk of each contestant.
The format of the questioning begins with a "general knowledge question for one point" Players can buzz in at any stage, and if they get the question right, they can choose the points value and thus the difficultity of the next question (one, two or three points) after hearing the category. Contestants typically choose three point questions for categories they consider to be their strengths.
If they buzz in and get the answer wrong they are out of that question. The question continues and the other players are able to buzz in at any stage. If a question is completed with no correct response, play begins again with a one point general knowledge question.
The first player to light up nine of their lights is the first player through to the next round. It's worth doing this, as it can sometimes give a big advantage. The second and third players also go through to round two whereas the contestant finishing fourth goes out of the show.
Round two involves the contestants (begining with the first through) picking a category from a list of four options to answer questions on in 40 seconds. The aim here is to get as many correct answers in a row as possible, up to a maximum of four. If the achieve this within the time, they have completed the round. If they don't, their score is the most in a row that they managed to get.
Play continues until the three contestants have all had their go. The two with the highest scores go through to the final. In the event of a tie, a play-off involving buzzer questions ensues with the first player to get two correct answers going through.
The final round, and clearly strangest of the competition involves big questions divided up into five parts. It starts with the announcement of the category for the first question, with the player entering the round first given the choice of "Play or Pass". In terms of time, the question is divided into five zones denoting the points value at various stages, the first (and largest) being worth five points, the second (slightly smaller) worth four, and so on down to one.
If a contestant chooses to "Play", they take control of the odd numbered zones (parts of the question). If this occurs, they are able to buzz in early on in the question i.e. when it is worth five points and in the other odd numbered parts. Importantly, they are not able to buzz in on the other parts of the question (in this case the even numbered parts). When a contestant is able to buzz in on a question, they are said to have "Control".
Correctly buzzing in results in the player concerned being awarded the appropriate number of points. If a player buzzes in and answers incorrectly, "Control" (the appropriate block of points) passes to their oponent, and if they are able buzz in correctly, they pick the corresponding number of points.
Although this sounds complicated, understanding of the concepts involved is made easier by the use of a graphic showing the blocks of points on offer, shade flowing down it (to represent time), and "Control" being symbolised by a gold border around the contestant who has it.
As well as choosing to "Play", a contestant can also choose to "Pass" a question. This is usually done if they are not confident they will be able to answer the question correctly when it is worth five points, hence, they will have control of the even numbered blocks. Once again, players can only buzz in when they have "Control", and the same rule regarding incorrect answers applies.
Once the game has started, the player behind in terms of points is sometimes described as playing "Catch-up". At the begining each new question, the player in this situation is given the choice of "Play or Pass". If scores are level, this is once again the choice of the player who entered the round first.
The first player to reach 21 points or more is declared the winner (or "Today's 'One to Win!'"), and they get £200, and the option to return the next day. Winning four shows in a row earns them a £200 bonus.