Press Your Luck: Top 10 Biggest Cash Winners in a Single Game

#gameshow #whamny #pressyourluck #gameshows #gsn
This is a compilation of the top 10 one day winners on Press Your Luck. The game show lasted from 1983-1986. Peter Tomarken hosts.
Criteria:
Enough money must be earned in one game of press your luck & only those winnings count towards the ranking. Previous days winnings do not count. Ex: Michael Larson is number 1 because he won $110,237 dollars in one day. Had he won it over two days, it would not count. It would count however if he had been on press your luck two days in a row winning $110,237 on the second day because we are counting top 10 biggest winners of one-day games.
Happy 40 years to Press Your Luck which first aired on September 19, 1983.
(c) 1983-1986 Carruthers Company Presentations. This is uploaded for non-profit, entertainment purposes only, and to help keep the memories of Peter Tomarken, and others alive. No challenge of copyright ownership is implied or intended.
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[@guyfierimtwi]

Happy 40 years, press your luck!

[@aliepaparazzi340]

Micheal Larson story is unforgettable for what he had to go thru in life and he was just a man with a hot hand !!!!

[@giovannia5685]

All of these wins are what made Press Your Luck such an amazing and exciting show; these contestants had the guts to keep going, something I would not even THINK about doing. Happy 40th to this show! ❤️💵 Also, what made Michael’s (from 1986, not Larson) win special is not only the fact that he had EIGHT spins passed to him while on three Whammies (textbook strategy by Jeff), he just narrowly avoided the Whammy on the last spin. Would’ve been a catastrophic ending…

[@KevinJL]

This show was only on for only 3 years and still lives on 40 years later.

[@richerdchikosky7558]

It's a shame Press Your Luck never had a nighttime syndicated spot in the 80s.

[@bmhedgehog2]

@@richerdchikosky7558if Michael Larson had not happened then there should have been

[@VahanNisanian]

Press Your Luck was like an incredibly intense roller coaster ride. Every episode was unpredictable. There could be a huge win, a small win, a huge Whammy loss, all three players returning with $0, someone playing against the house because the other players Whammied out, back and forth spin battles, riding out a ton of passed spins, etc.

[@ashleyduffy7412]

R.I.P. MR. ROD RODDY & AARON KNIGHT

[@VahanNisanian]

@@ashleyduffy7412 Who is this "Aaron Knight"?

[@JonesDylan874]

CLASSIC MOMENTS! I LOVE PRESS YOUR LUCK!

[@chrishernandez8918]

Michael of 1986 was crazzzyyyyyy!!!!!!

[@jonathanmyers2867]

Press Your Luck is awesome!

[@Overton1994]

Ed’s facial expressions during the Michael Larson episode are priceless 😂 Poor guy looks like he needs a handful of Tylenol

[@jacobrichardson1952]

As an old soul person for '83 im getting the chills.

[@seanjefferies9992]

#9 - the rarely seen episode 182. The game went on so long they had to skip the closing segment. The episode ended with Cindy winning and the PYL victory music. No Rod Roddy extolling the virtues of the prizes won.

[@guyfierimtwi]

I feel like that game only went on so long because of cindy taking so long to stop the board.

[@seanjefferies9992]

@guyfierimtwi agreed. I think also because there were alot of money plus a spin hits. I am surprised they didn't edit those spins down at all.

[@AdamJ617]

That win at #9 was a rerun episode. I’ll bet CBS had to heavily edit That airing to squeeze the ending in.

[@nicholasbruno9497]

Cindy is also a nervous wreck while playing the big board

[@253jacksonrhoads1]

Cindy is probably the most genuine moment in any gameshow. That final spin pass really set that moment up. Both players reaction, that audience pop and her emotion after winning.

[@253jacksonrhoads1]

The only thing missing was the ending of that episode. 😞 You can’t find it anywhere.

[@mauricesnell5886]

56:20 I think Peter Tomarken was relieved that Michael Larson couldn't come back to the show to defend his championship.

[@PREGO1966]

At the time he was. He didn't want to see a repeat occurrence the next day.

[@Tazzer88]

I have to give my props to the guy at #3. Riding that whole way from $0 and 3 Whammies off of 4 starting spins, hitting the double up space at the end of his earned spins then surviving an 8 passed spin gauntlet was incredible. The intensity just built and built until they're practicing screaming! As Peter said, Michael really earned that win!

[@SlimFury]

If I was the Michael that had 3 whammies and 8 mandatory spins, my blood pressure would be through the roof. Props to him, I hope he enjoyed all the trips he won.

[@alexanderpappas2875]

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. I have imagined myself as a contestant on Press Your Luck (Spring 1984). And becoming one of these lucky one-day retired champions. I have imagined taking in the second round as many as at least ten spins, all the while landing on trips and fine stashes of cash. Later, a few more spins passed by an opponent and STILL avoiding the Whammy! And ending up with a one-day grand total of $35,729!! I could actually see playbacks on later episodes showing highlights of my road to victory! I would be one happy boy!!! P.S. I have been imagining this EVER SINCE 1984!! BEFORE I SAW THIS COMPILATION!!

[@KyleJBAwesomeness-OfficialChan]

Of course it can’t be a true PYL marathon or compilation video without saving the infamous Michael Larson episode saved best for last

[@guyfierimtwi]

Redudant, yes. True, yes. Cheater, NO.

[@blind_t2]

@@guyfierimtwiexactly. he was just smart. that’s why they did the computer system now, especially with the new tech out now. ain’t no way this could happen now. maybe a hacker could do this, but an average player can’t know those patterns now.

[@foxmccloud7055]

In regards to #1, I heard that they are doing a movie about it.

[@foxmccloud7055]

Elizabeth Banks would have a heart attack if #3, #2, and I can't imagine what she would do if #1 happened. Becky and Paul had nearly $58,000 between the two. The record for #1 stood until 2019.

[@gameshowguy2000]

Imagine if she gets to host a Larson rematch.

[@mauricesnell5886]

There was the Larson reunion on "Whammy! The (Then) All-New Press Your Luck" that Todd Newton hosted on Game Show Network that featured the three players (Michael Larson died in 1999, his brother James took his place).

[@robertcroxtonjr.7623]

cindy was my favorite contestant. what i like about her was that she was always careful not to hit a whammy when she pressed her luck.

[@matthewcasiglio2539]

I think the michael at 35:27 deserved that $30,000 ➕️ that was a hard fought game he played against jeff and etta

[@PREGO1966]

To Game Bouncer: Your title is misleading. You call this the "TOP 10 ONE DAY WINNERS". Numbers 3, 8 and 10 clearly has Rod Roddy announcing the winner total accumulated earnings over more days than 1. Ergo they should not be on your list. Numbers 8 and 5 are the same person, so that also needs adjustment. Technically you could say it about Number 1, Michael Larson as well. But in his case, it was the only time the show had to straddle since his round 2 turns didn't end til the end of the second day and, no game was played that day. Furthermore, he DID accumulate it all in at one sitting (despite it taking 2 broadcasts) so unlike Number 10, he could be considered a one day winner

[@guyfierimtwi]

I've updated my description to reflect that. Who earned the most money in a single game of press your luck is what this video reflects. Not who earned the most money only competing on one day of press your luck. Does that make sense?

[@MatthewJicha]

The combined total of all single game cash winners is $366,001.

[@guyfierimtwi]

That's a lotta money!

[@mauricesnell5886]

Susan was channeling her inner Michael Larson.

[@michaelewing4515]

7:49 If she whammies, then all of a sudden, we'll wake Danielle up and she may be the winner.

[@guyfierimtwi]

Referencing the Tournament of Losers I see?

[@michaelewing4515]

@@guyfierimtwi Yes. That's true!

[@KyleJBAwesomeness-OfficialChan]

Do a compilation of all the Press Your Luck champions that retired after their grand total in cash and prizes winnings went over the $25,000 or $50,000 CBS budget restrictions.

[@PREGO1966]

Yes they do. In fact (not to embarrass you) but if you listen carefully to Peter speaking to the contestant after their winnings are announced, he clearly tells them "you get to keep everything you won but you must retire into the hall of fame as an undefeated champion".

[@foxmccloud7055]

​@PREGO1966 After #1, they added more patterns, randomized the board to throw off contestants, raised the retirement cap to $50,000 and added a hard cap of $75,000

[@PREGO1966]

@@foxmccloud7055I already was aware of that. If you read the screen correctly you will see, the question was asked by Kyle not me and I answered it. Instead of pointing your reply at me, you would have been better off replying to Kyle and maybe referenced me with a "to clarify Eric's reply a little more accurately" or words to that effect.

[@guyfierimtwi]

@@foxmccloud7055 What do you mean hard cap of $75,000 yet $50,000 retirement cap? I know 50K cap was in place for a long time but I didn't understand the 75K cap

[@foxmccloud7055]

@guyfierimtwi The hard cap was put in place to ensure that no contestant could bankrupt the network.

[@EC4U2C_Studioz]

Will anyone win $1 million on the ABC version of Press Your Luck?

[@KevinJL]

You think Becky figured some of the patterns? Hmmm

[@guyfierimtwi]

I feel like she may have known some but I think she kept hitting the button late. She got 2-12-1-9-4 once. She barely kept missing 2-9-17-8 and 2-13-17-7-4.

[@whammy3323]

I think we should also add an Honorable Mention: Jonie from #413 and her $25,332

[@guyfierimtwi]

That one barely did not make the cut. But she was very close.

[@sirharry13]

FWIW, her $25,332 win was the biggest one day win for all of calendar year 1985

[@aaronbruceladner1983]

19:06

[@Itsametyler1993]

I Think Elizabeth Banks Will Be Better Than Tomarken's

[@KevinJL]

I still roll with Peter and Rod. R.I.P. legends.