He Hacked a Game Show And Won Big! - The Michael Larson story
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Who is Michael Larson and what did he do?
So this guy tries to get rich by scamming a popular game show. And he kind of succeeds. Now the guy's name is Michael and he's an ice cream man. But Michael doesn't want to be an ice cream man. He wants to get rich quick. So he comes up with this wild plan to do just that.
What strategy did Michael use to win on Press Your Luck?
And he gets a bunch of TVs and he stacks them all on top of each other and he watches game shows constantly trying to find one that he could potentially win money from. And one day, he does find one. There's a new game show called Press Your Luck and the contestants are winning pretty good money and Michael looks at these mediocre people playing and he thinks, Hey, I could do that.
How did Michael prepare for the game show?
So he gets a VCR and he records a bunch of episodes of the show and he starts watching the tapes over and over again and studying them. And after several months, he finally figures it out. In the game, you win money by spinning the board and having it stop on a cash prize or a vacation. And the board, it seems to light up in random places. But Michael's been watching these episodes and
What patterns did Michael discover in the game?
pausing and replaying the tapes, looking for patterns. And after six months, he discovers that the board lights up in five distinct looping patterns. And Michael thinks if he can just memorize these patterns, he can get on the show and he can win a bunch of money. So Michael memorizes these patterns and he practices the timing at home, pausing and playing his VCR until he's a master at this game.
What happened when Michael auditioned for Press Your Luck?
Then he scrapes together all the money he can and he buys a bus ticket to Los Angeles and he shows up to the casting office of Press Your Luck. And he auditions and he meets with the producers and sure enough, bam, they cast him. So fast forward to the day of the taping and Michael is there on the show and he's nervous but he's ready to win this. Let's meet our second player, Michael Larson.
How did Michael perform in the initial rounds of the game?
How are you, Michael? And so eventually it's Michael's turn to play. And when he finally gets his first spin on the board, it doesn't go so well. Come on, big bucks, big bucks. I'm going. He got away. And by the time the first round ends, poor Michael, he's in last place. But it's not over yet. This is what he's been training for. He is determined to win this money.
What was the outcome of Michael's strategy during the game?
So when his turn comes up again, he is ready this time. He gets a spin on the board and bam, he stops the light and he wins a nice little cash prize and an extra spin. And so he goes again and bam, he wins again. And he continues and he spins again and again and he wins more and more. And soon his winnings are over $30,000. Now at this point, the producers of the show, they start to get suspicious that Michael might be doing something shady. But the woman in the tech booth who's supposed to be watching to make sure people aren't cheating, she can't find anything wrong with how he's playing. It seems to be pure skill. So Michael just keeps going. And as his winnings grow to $60,000, the producers are like, yo, shut it down. He's winning too much. But they can't because he's not technically cheating. And like even the host is freaking out because not only is Michael winning, he's like breaking all kinds of records. 133 spins, $4,000. I don't believe it. $4,000. You're up to $83,000.
And eventually, Michael cracks $100,000, which was his goal the whole time. And ultimately, he wins the whole game, winning $110,000 and a trip to the Bahamas. Not bad. Which, at the time, in 1984, he had won more money than anyone had in a single episode of any American game show ever. And the suits at CBS are not happy about this. Because they still suspect he cheated. But they can't prove anything, so they write him a big fat check and they send him on his way. Which means his plan has officially succeeded. However, Michael isn't done. He's still determined to get rich. Like he's made getting rich his whole personality. And one day, he's listening to the radio and he hears about this contest. And in this contest, they're reading out serial numbers on $1 bills.
And if you have a dollar bill that matches the number they read, you win $30,000. So Michael goes to the bank and he withdraws $50,000 of his game show winnings in $1 bills. And then he and his wife, they sit at their house and they look through each $1 bill for any one that matches the winning serial number. And they do this for weeks. But unfortunately, no luck.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who is Michael Larson and what did he do?
0:00–0:19
2
What strategy did Michael use to win on Press Your Luck?
0:19–0:42
3
How did Michael prepare for the game show?
0:42–1:06
4
What patterns did Michael discover in the game?
1:06–1:32
5
What happened when Michael auditioned for Press Your Luck?
1:32–1:57
6
How did Michael perform in the initial rounds of the game?
1:57–2:25
7
What was the outcome of Michael's strategy during the game?
2:25–6:03
Speakers
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