Press Your Luck Scandal (2003)

Documentary on contestant Michael Larson's record-breaking win on the game show 'Press Your Luck'. He was a contestant on the American television game show Press Your Luck in 1984. Larson is notable for winning $110,237 (equivalent to $275,000 in 2020) in cash and prizes, at the time the largest one-day total ever won on a game show. He was able to win by memorizing the patterns used on the Press Your Luck game board.

[@Paritan164]

I love how they treated this like a scandal instead of someone figuring out how to beat the system. How very American.

[@joeybaseball7352]

He was the rain man of press your luck. It's basically the equivalent of card counting. Card counting is completely legal, and you can't be prospected for it. However casinos don't like it when they lose money. So they take law into their own hands. And if you're lucky, they'll just ban you for life. Which they essentially did on Press Your Luck by saying Michael was "retired." However, a lot of casinos, especially in Vegas, are run by mobsters. And they have their own way to take care of problems. I don't count cards. But I would be scared to go to Vegas and try it, if I did.

[@doomedamerica6871]

Micheal played by the rules and beat CBS at their own game. CBS didn't want anyone to win more than CBS thought they should. Micheal won fair and square.

[@michaelbrent4430]

He didn’t. In todays world, it’s fraud. In todays world, you can’t tell me somebody, on some level, would sound the alarm… i bet they did then, but it was always about money, as it is today. Views equal money.

[@weareopen24hours]

The host and producers tipped their hats to Larson in this doc. The producers flagged the possibility of solving the patterns before the game show even began. The contestant didn't break any rules for beating their system. I'm glad CBS had to pay up.

[@karlsparx9077]

I appreciate keeping the ads in. Nice time capsule . Very nostalgic

[@williamhaynes7089]

I Agree, love old commercials.. Like the SEARS one

[@lesterine77]

I don't understand that. I hated commercials back then. I hate them now.

[@dinomyte633]

Love the commercials. As entertaining as the show! A friend of mine gave me a commercial nostalgia tip. Search up 19xx PBA Bowling. Enter whatever year you want and bask in the retro commercials.

[@To-mos]

You don't see any "AOL: keyword" search commercials anymore, that was the standard before Google became a thing.

[@thecryptoqueen215]

The show's producers underestimated the intelligences of their contestants and got played. LOL! I'm glad they didn't try to hold his money! This was good. I feel like I somewhat remember this doc as a kid. The vintage commercials left in were a nice touch too.

[@wschmrdr]

Oh they definitely tried. S&P insisted nothing was illegal, and demanded he be paid.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

To be honest I think just by the fact that he memorized 5 different patterns involving 18 squares in each pattern is enough to justify all that money he -won- earned. I mean he actually put in work. And since he wasn't lying it's not like he didn't have it coming to him.

[@joeybaseball7352]

The hardest part for him was getting past the audition round. Bobby Edwards didn't want to pick him. And if he had gotten his way, it would've ended there. But once he got on the show, that part was easy.

[@JMarie-ki9vb]

The man who said he didn't trust Michael and didn't want him on the show and the woman contestant saying he was creepy is full of it. They're mad bc they got owned. I didn't see any sign he was creepy or a bad guy. He was somebody just trying to make money. And why was his family so surprised he sent his daughter presents after winning a lot of money? They came out with this after he died. He's not even there to defend himself.

[@williamhaynes7089]

Impossible to find this documentary, thanks .. i Remember watching this live when i was a kid. Never seen a game show span 2 days before.

[@quentinparhiala9415]

This is a great documentary about Michael Larson and Press your Luck was a fantastic game show and thank you for uploading it on here

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

I'm so glad you have this from my favorite era of Game Show Network (and not GSN) AND this copy has all the commercials left in! Thanks for this posting. Really appreciated!

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

CBS knew the board could be solved and just didn't think anyone would bother doing it.

[@philduritza7717]

Rewatching this is bittersweet. Peter Tomarken had 3 years to live, and he died a hero. I always thought the first mistake GSN made with the remake was not letting him host it. (He hosted 1 of the 2 pilots, Todd Newton hosted the other, and they picked Newton.) The second mistake GSN made was to try to bring back PYL on a shoestring budget. Their remake didn’t last long.

[@fornitegood122jr6]

Pilot game shows

[@Mommyoftt2010]

At least it showed they didn’t have someone manually choosing what it stopped on

[@nickfuller20]

Imagine cashing your 100,000 dollar plus check at a bank and asking the teller for all 1 dollar bills.

[@adamf34]

"The ultimate whammy came for Michael Larson on February 16, 1999." Damn, that's cold blooded.

[@nateboy1489]

Larson figured out the pattern and won fair and square. Simple as that. CBS just was mad they had to pay out and were dumb enough to not realize that the pattern was specific and was only one pattern that was not randomized. Anyone could’ve done what Larson did. He was just smart enough to do it before they changed it. He won fair and square.

[@joseymore5588]

SMART MAN CONCENTRATED. GIFTED

[@clarkejoseph49]

Someone needs to make a movie about this.

[@BrandonGiesing]

Not sure if you were being ironic or not but that's EXACTLY what they are doing, there's a thriller film coming out soon staring Paul Walter Hauser as Michael Larson.

[@rosealexander9007]

That truly is ironic. I didn't know that. I just happened to be thinking about this for whatever reason and I came to KZbin to look for a documentary on it.

[@williamhaynes7089]

Odds of becoming a contestant on a show, and having The pattern knowledge ... wow

[@joeybaseball7352]

And the odds of having it all stolen in a robbery.

[@a.grimes4202]

​@@joeybaseball7352That’s a half-truth, at best. In November ’84, he learned of a local radio station promoting a $30,000 prize for matching a random serial number on a $1 bill, as read on air. He took out the winnings he had in the bank in all $1s and discovered that he didn’t have the winning serial number, and as such, re-deposited about half. He left around $50,000 at home, which got stolen while he was away at a Christmas party. The other half of the story is he foolishly took part in an internet fraud scheme (knowingly or not doesn’t matter) involving a non-existent “American-Indian lottery”. The SEC (Securities and Exchange commission) filed charges against it, causing Larson to flee to Apopka, Florida, where he unfortunately died in 1999 before he could be brought to justice. He also tried to get show producers to run a tournament of champions. Big surprise they said NO. And so it would seems that the sins of Larson were visited upon him by the whammy - whammy #1, not getting his wish for a ToC, whammy #2 - not winning $30k in a radio contest and being robbed because he left money laying around his house instead of re-depositing it with tye rest in the bank, whammy #3 - investing in a shady get-rich-quick scheme which blew up in his face and caused him to run and hide from the U.S. S.E.C., whammy # 4 - throat cancer eliminates him from the game of life before he turns 50. He pressed his luck and got eliminated. Moral of the story, don’t be like Michael Larson post-PYL. Greed usually just gets you more trouble than anything else.

[@reallyfurious]

They're subversively making it seem like Michael is sneaky or doing something wrong when all he's doing is playing the game and winning. It's not his fault they made their game fallible. He played their game fair and square and won.

[@Robuu]

That's always been the annoying thing about this documentary. They went put of their way to make it seem like he cheated and was creepy guy. It really seems like they waited for him to die so they could paint him in the worst light possible.

[@alramone1]

@@Robuu He was on the run from the IRS and other feds at the end of this life for doing early Internet scamming. Not to mention his volatile interactions with his common-law wife. The documentary is fair in showing his intelligence but also his sleaziness. Even his brother calls him self-destructive.

[@TheNotoriousJP]

What he did on PYL was no different than counting cards in Vegas. The house just HATES to lose. PYL was no different. Larson had some sleaziness to him as some of this documented. However, nothing he did here was illegal. It's like the guy who had the perfect bid on TPIR. He beat the system.

[@55Porter]

Talk about a clutch performance on the national stage. Tom Brady has nothing on this guy.

[@rossturcotte419]

Best doc

[@quentinparhiala9415]

I agree with you

[@ldbbaker9636]

Same here

[@therealjd4life]

His wife absolutely orchestrated the robbery, she had so much hate in her soul... she wanted out before the robbery

[@brianpeters9601]

Michael Larson did change game show history winning over 100 grand in that time

[@TheEvilChocolateCookie]

You do have to respect this kind of dedication on some level, but seriously, leaving $50,000 lying around in your house, there’s no excuse for that. It’s just stupid. You do have to admit the guy doomed himself by all of his stupid actions after the show. All the book smarts in the world won’t help you if you’re lacking in the common sense department

[@JHollowayNetwork]

Fremantle (formerly known as FremantleMedia) currently owns the Press Your Luck franchise including "Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck" and the 2019 revival (hosted by Elizabeth Banks) which keeps it true to the original 1983-86 format.

[@fornitegood122jr6]

I am really excited about Elizabeth banks new host and I hope Peter will be proud of you

[@tylervielie5767]

And now they're gonna make a movie out of this with Paul Walter Hauser portraying Larson.

[@samuelscott6957]

The last line of the whole documentary is "he may not be up above" 💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@thecommonsenseconservative5576]

Roughly 320k in 2022

[@SunnyGameKitti]

The guy was just trying to be legendary and win a lot of money he did make a name for himself that’s for sure also amazing how he somehow memorized the patterns on the board it does take skill

[@brentrogers4774]

Peter's reaction @58:41-58:43. Lol

[@bandofhounds-peacelovemusi440]

There's no "scandal". Unless he had the pattern from one of the show directors 🙃????

[@joeybaseball7352]

Yes, everybody was pointing out that there was something "off" about Michael. Besides his disheveled beard, he was clearly on the spectrum. But back in those days they did test for those type of things, like they do now. And certainly not for adults. He was higher functioning than Rain Man's autism.

[@katgill7310]

I wondered if he was a savant. I feel for people on the spectrum! I find it sad that people are so quick to judge and label others without knowing their whole story.

[@JMarie-ki9vb]

What if a really smart person goes on the show, one who hasn't memorized the board, they're just very intelligent and they notice there is a pattern and figure it out during the show. They start winning. Is that cheating too? It's irritating that they're trying to make him out to be an evil person.

[@brianclayton5202]

Michael's ambitious yet greedy side reminds me of Eddy from Ed, Edd and Eddy. His cleverness reminds of John Chang, the inspiration for the movie '21'. While his physical appearance reminds me of a rather chubby Beetlejuice...

[@thecommonsenseconservative5576]

I'm not one of those people that complains about having to pay taxes but could you imagine win that money knowing that you have to pay taxes and then forty thousand of it gets robbed

[@bmasters1981]

Which is why he should have banked that money, instead of blowing it to fly-by-night real estate schemes that ultimately ended up being his road to ruin.

[@TheNotoriousJP]

A where are they now for the others.. Ed Long got his doctorate in psychology and has become a tenured and well respected professor at Central Michigan University. Also has published more than a few books. Janie Litras (now Dakan) and her husband run a successful boat sales, service and supply company in Lake Elsinore, California. Both went on to have very successful lives beyond what they already had going for them pre- PYL. Larson was truly a tragic figure. This was the highlight of his life and ultimately he lost it all, some by his own doing and some by crappy circumstances not the fault of his own.

[@anthonyguarino4242]

I’m hoping that Ed and Jamie would return to PYL hosted by Elizabeth Banks so either Ed or Jamie could try to win big bucks and a shot of $1 million on the bonus round.

[@Astro-Rabby]

It'd be their 3rd time. 4th for Ed since he was a returning champion in the Larson game. They met up once in the 2002 version.

[@user-mw6sv5si7q]

Janie was on Price is Right in the late 80s

[@kathyroknich1429]

I see nothing he did wrong. He figured it out that’s like someone reading cards in poker. They are smart enough to figure it out. I think the sore loser is the shows.

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Memorization is not cheating. When we were in school, we had to memorize what the teacher taught us and what we read in textbooks to prepare for tests. Is that cheating too?

[@hotdog7988]

Catch me if you can!

[@giovanni_7191]

1. There was no scandal 2. There were more patterns than the one described starting the sequence with the square 2. But it would be extremely complicated to present them. So what he did eas REALLY hard work. 3. The lady player sucks. Saying (AFTER what happened, of course) that the quy seemed "creepy" - really? Well you certainly don't look like a model yourself... And during the game, passes the spins to him hoping that he loses 100K, in order for her to win her lousy 9K. That's called sportmanship. I'm also curious if she kept her job after what she said about her boss... 3. The host of the game sucked the most. His emotions are: 1st two spins, MC wins 10K: good, we'll have competition. -Michael reaching 20K but still going: ok, dumbo you must stop or soon will be busted. -Michael reaching 35-40K: now it's ok, but he must stop. -Michael reaching 60K. Now he literaly BEGS him to stop because a. He has realised the guy has figured a way to beat the thing and b. He's afraid of losing HIS JOB! HE WASN'T AFRAID OF THE PLAYER LOSING THE MONEY! And he begs him again and again, he almost crawls... Just pathetic. Say what you want, the guy wanted to become rich and he made it. P.S. the part in the end where ed surpasses the record is fabrication at its worst...

[@gregwerner6231]

Why was there a set pattern and not some "randomness" introduced?

[@LiEnby]

random numbers is a very hard problem in computer science.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

True randomness is impossible. For every possible occurrence in the universe there is a set of equations that describes it's behavior.

[@wbmeprograms4505]

What was the wheel behind them at the end from?

[@TimFrith24]

I want to be a contestant on Press Your Luck (hosted by by none other that the lovely Miss Elizabeth Banks), take on the Big Board, avoid the Whammy and win Big Bucks.

[@fornitegood122jr6]

Yes indeed she is really good and Peter is going to be proud of you

[@foxmccloud7055]

The difference between Michael Larson and Charles Ingram is that Michael got his $110,237 and Charles got publicly humiliated and shamed. Press Your Luck is actually a reboot of the the 1977 short lived game show "Second Chance".

[@joeybaseball7352]

The difference between Michael Larson and Charles Ingram is that Charles cheated. Michael didn't cheat. It's not even comparable.

[@tommyl.dayandtherunaways820]

Also, Larson played the game fairly, while Charles had people effectively giving him the answers.

[@IamY00t]

What a biased documentary this was. All that shit talking about the man

[@jeremywilliams5141]

Just like when Michael Larsen memorized the board patterns, we had to memorize what we learned in school for tests. Is that cheating also?

[@tavonfenwick-yb5xv]

Where does the "cheating" come in?

[@kylebulger4240]

Didnt this episode originally air on June 8-11? Since Peter said May 19th was the episode taping date