![]() ![]() He spun the board 40 consecutive times, and never hit a Whammy. He followed that up with $5,000 and a Free Spin. On his first spin, he hit one of the best spots on the board: $4,000 plus a Free Spin. He wouldn’t be so modest with this set of spins. ![]() That ended the first round, and after a commercial break, it would be Larson’s turn on the board once again. His two opponents on the show, Ed Long and Janie Litras, earned $4,080 and $4,608 respectively. On his next spins, he collected a modest $2500. This was likely part of his plan to avoid suspicion since he had no money to lose to a Whammy. On his first spin, he stopped on a Whammy. At one point, Tomarken asked Larson what he’d do with the money if he won, and Larson responded, “hopefully I’ll make enough so I won’t have to drive the ice-cream truck next summer.”Īfter the first round of generic questions that were always asked in order for the contestants to earn spins, Larson was the first to get his turn on the board. He continued his act from his audition onto the show….being overly excited, bouncing in his seat, cheering on his fellow competitors, and even taking shots at himself when asked personal questions by the host, Peter Tomarken. The act worked because he made it onto the show the same day he auditioned. He knew that he couldn’t look cocky or confident, so during the screening process, he acted perky, excited, and self-deprecating. He had watched more than enough episodes to know what kind of contestant the producers were looking for. With that part of the plan all set, all he had to worry about was actually getting picked to be on the show. Larson didn’t really have any money though, so to even get on the show, he had to borrow airfare from his home in central Ohio to California, and he bought the shirt he wore on the show at a thrift store for just $0.65. He knew that if he could only get onto the game show, he would be able to control the board in any way he wanted….stopping on big money and free spins without landing on the dreaded Whammies….and he could make a fortune. With the use of VCR technology and a whole lot of pausing and rewinding, he discovered that the board followed five distinct patterns, which he was able to memorize. The players would amass as much money and prizes as they could, try to keep their turns going by winning as many free spins as possible and trying to avoid Whammies at all costs.īut after watching the show for hours on end, Larson realized that the blinking board wasn’t exactly as unpredictable as it appeared to be. The squares to stay away from though were the “Whammy” squares that featured a little cartoon drawing of a devil that would wipe out their entire winnings. In addition to cash prizes, there were also other prizes like vacations, pool tables, or sailboats for example. Lights would illuminate the square they stopped on, and they won whatever amount was in that square. The squares would light up in what seemed to be a random order, and the player would press a button to stop the “spin”. The contestants would take turns “spinning” the game board. There was a rectangular game board that was filled with squares that indicated different cash amounts. The premise of the Press Your Luck game show was simple. He would “press his luck” to earn his fortune. After searching for countless hours, he finally found his angle. He would watch for hours on end, trying to find ways to get rich, spending most of his time focusing on infomercial schemes and game shows. He had filled his home with televisions that he never turned off. Larson had went well beyond what a normal contestant would though. Most people who get to be contestants on game shows spend a fair amount of time preparing for them. He was a man who had spent quite a lot of time studying the show and was more than prepared when he got his break to appear on the show. Michael was no ordinary contestant though. Back in May of 1984, a 35-year-old former ice-cream truck driver from Lebanon Ohio named Michael Larson flew to California to audition for the CBS game show, Press Your Luck. ![]()
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