No Whammies, no Whammies, no Whammies, STOP!
Twice in history a man with a beard has totally taken advantage of the popular game show Press Your Luck. The first occured on May 19th, 1984. Contestant Michael Larson, an “unemployed ice cream truck driver”, age 34, memorized that pattern that the electronic board used to display it’s array of prizes and Whammies. He spun 47 times on the big board and won a grand total of $110,237 in cash and prizes. Michael lost of all of his money quickly, including $40,000 in one dollar bills that was stolen from his home shortly after his episode aired. At the time of his death in 1999, Michael was on the run from the law, and many members of his family weren’t speaking to him. Here is Michael at his finest.
The second event occured on October 11th, 2008 at approximately 4:45 A.M. in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brian Sturgill an “unemployed comedian and ice cream lover”, age 24, memorized his hotel room number and wandered the city with companions Mark and Dean. He went into the Ocean’s 11 famed Bellagio casino, put one dollar into a Press Your Luck themed slot machine and immediately won $505.95 in nickels. Hopefully I manage my money better than Michael, though I do plan on swimming in a sea of nickels. We’ll see how my family responds. Here I am outside, right after the win.
Here I am later sharing the wealth with Tom Cruise and a used car salesman.
