Anyone who steps foot as a contestant on a game show is there for one reason and one reason only: to win tons of cash. That's the dream of everyone who puts that big plastic name tag on and smiles for the camera while they try not to let their nerves get the best of them in front of the live audience. More often than not, they leave with less than they hoped for in their pockets. Or worse, nothing at all. Others, however, have been able to stun the hosts with their incredible skill.
That's what Michael Larson did when he was chosen to play Press Your Luck in 1984. The humble ice cream truck driver went down in history as one of the craziest contenders in a game show ever. By the time he was finished with his record-breaking two episode stint, Larson racked up over $100,000 in winnings. It was an absolutely unheard of amount at that time. For reference, in today's economy his winnings would be equivalent to roughly $251,000.
But Larson wasn't blessed by a case of good fortune. Before his audition at the CBS studio, he spent hours recording, watching, and re-watching episodes of the show. He would meticulously slow down the scenes where they shift to the "Big Board." That's when he noticed a pattern. Five patterns, actually, which the show relied on to randomize the lights of the board.
It wasn't random enough for Larson, though, who memorized each pattern and used them to his great advantage on that fateful day. The network was obviously unnerved by the unprecedented sweep and eventually changed the system to a series of 32 patterns.
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