The show takes place in a large hourglass-shaped structure in Midtown Manhattan near the Lincoln Tunnel. Contestants play for 24 hours a day for 1,000,000 seconds, or around eleven and a half days. At any given time, a contestant is sitting in the "Money Chair" and earning money, while defending his/her position in the chair in bouts against another contestant. Contestants earn $10 a second they are in the chair, even when bouts are not being played and during commercial breaks. Only the four contestants with the highest amount of money keep their winnings when the million seconds are up.