Big Bucks : The Press Your Luck Scandal

Press your luck was a popular daytime game show on CBS is the early eighty's running from 1983 to 1986.The show had two stage types, trivia to earn spins on a prize board then the prize board round itself. So a simple enough format and some generous prizes with contestants on occasion walking away with over $20,000. To get a good win you needed luck, no matter how good at trivia you may be.Money was won on lost on the prize board and that was random, or so they thought.

Michael Larson appeared on the show in 1984 and won an amazing $110,237 (Equivalent to a quarter million dollars today). That was three times more than ever won before on Press Your Luck, in fact it was the most money ever won on any TV game show. In the documentary presented by Peter Tomarken who was the actual presenter of Press Your Luck when Michael won looks back at the episode. Was Michael so lucky he avoided the dreaded "Whammy" which takes all your winnings on the prize board for over 30 spins in a row or did he know something nobody else did ?