Jae Walse navigates the Race Game with the help of models Meg Wilson, left and Anne Boyens in Bally's onstage version of "The Price Is Right." Photos by Clint Karlsen. Todd Newton has hosted TV game shows including "Whammy" and launched the live "Price" game in other casino cities. A wireless keypad lets every audience member compete for the chance to "Come on down" in the afternoon show.

Don't bother dressing up like a big banana. Khaki is the uniform of choice at the Las Vegas version of "The Price Is Right."

People are paying $44 for this new afternoon show, a convincing re-creation of the grandfather of all game shows. As host Todd Newton points out, "If they just want to sit and observe, they can do that in their living rooms. The fact that everyone can play is the selling point."

He says this even though a group of college students in another casino town once copied the Fig Newton logo for T-shirts reading "Todd Newtons." But flattery gets you nowhere when the broadcast carries no farther than the giant screens inside the Jubilee Theater at Bally's.

To choose contestants based on personality and pre-interviews, as most TV games do, "might disenfranchise some of your guests," says producer Andy Felsher, who developed the live game.

The key to getting people to buy a ticket comes from the chance to win a new Ford Mustang. Or at least a microwave. And the opportunity comes from a wireless keypad that's more familiar from another game show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

If you want to "Come on down" at Bally's, you punch in "A," "B," or "C" on the keypad issued to every audience member. You have to be one of the first four to correctly guess which items shown on the video screen are the least and most expensive. (Mind you, the items can be things like a Super 8 movie camera from 1976.)

"This way they're kind of in control of their own destiny," Felsher says.

At this particular show, 25 people were able to compete in seven games, and just as many names were announced to come down and get a souvenir after the show.

To play for the big money still requires skill and luck. Or khaki. The four people fastest on the keypad now have to guess a price for the microwave or bookshelf stereo.

The person who gets closest gets to come onstage and play Cliffhanger, Hole In One or "the one game everybody just goes crazy for," Newton dramatically announces -- Plinko!

On this particular day, the first two men to play the big games coincidentally wore khaki shorts with a belt and their shirts tucked in.

Jae, the first guy -- who, like everyone in the room, is identified by a giant yellow name tag shaped like a price tag -- outsmarts the other three by strategically pricing a cutlery set at one dollar. Since the other three guesses were too high, Jae goes onstage to play the Race Game, which was deliberately chosen to give the show an early burst of energy.

"We wanted this to pop," Newton explains. "We wanted, each time the curtain opens, to have a game that was recognizable as well as being one of the high-prize games."

Jay could win all four prizes onstage if he correctly matches them to their four price tags. But as it turns out, he leaves with just the $200 "pop a shot" basketball game. The spoiler was a kitschy wet bar inside a globe. Who could have guessed this prop from "Our Man Flint" would be the $500 item?

Rick, the next khaki shorts guy, makes it to the stage to play It's in the Bag. He is a food broker from Kentucky, Newton tells the crowd, so it sounds like he should be right at home. Rick correctly matches the box of Jell-O to its 69-cent price tag. He can now keep $150 or go for $300. He goes for the big bucks. But the oil rub isn't $12, and Rick goes back to Kentucky empty-handed.

The Plinko privilege goes to Alan, a retirement-aged guy whose khakis come in the long pants version. Alan gets to climb stairs to the top of a giant pegged board and slide two chips down, with the goal of having them land in a bin marked with a dollar amount.

The audience gets to see something usually edited out on TV: Twice a chip gets stuck on its way down the board, and Newton scrambles for a stick that will knock it free. ("On TV it's easy. We stop, we grease down the board and no one's the wiser," Newton says.) Alas, that's more fun than watching Alan drop two zeros, and go home empty-handed.

In fact, no one leaves with more than $100, unless you count the basketball game. However, Newton got word just before the show that the Atlantic City edition gave away a car that day.

Regardless, the first week of "Price" seemed to have no trouble selling tickets. The detailed set, the two navel-baring models and the in-house broadcast provide the illusion of real live television. And the keypads give the show an adrenaline factor missing in more conventional showroom fare.

Only one thing is missing: Barker.

But fear not, the spirit of Bob pervades, from the moment real-live game show announcer Randy West warms up the crowd by saying "I've had the pleasure of working with the great one, Bob Barker!"

Later, Newton tells the crowd the TV host is "one of the kindest, most generous, most elegant men you will ever meet."

And Barker's screen image shines down in numerous film clips, which can be carbon-dated by the color and style of his hair.

Offstage, Newton -- a former fixture on the E! cable channel, whose own game-show cred includes "Whammy," "Performing As" and "Hollywood Showdown" -- says he was "lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of hours with Bob, going over each game."

Newton helped launch the live "Price" in Reno three years ago and usually spends a month helping start the show in a new casino. Though he moves the show along with improvised quips, he has learned "people would rather know more about the contestant than the host."

He also realizes, "there are very few names you can put on that marquee that will be any bigger than 'The Price Is Right' brand.

"Unless it's Bob himself, I don't think it matters."