January 23, 2025 • 30 mins
Michael Larson's extraordinary story is one of brilliance and tragedy, as he famously outsmarted the game show "Press Your Luck" in 1984, winning a staggering $110,237—an unprecedented amount at the time. Larson cracked the show's code by meticulously studying the patterns of the game board and discovering that certain squares never contained a dreaded “whammy,” allowing him to dominate the game like no contestant before. However, his victory was not without controversy, as CBS executives suspected cheating and took drastic measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Following his windfall, Larson's life took a dark turn, involving questionable investments and ultimately leading to his untimely death from cancer at the age of 49. This episode explores Larson's rise and fall, highlighting the fine line between genius and greed, and the lasting impact of his actions on game show history.
Takeaways:
- Michael Larson's extraordinary win on Press Your Luck was a blend of intelligence and luck.
- The CBS network was embarrassed by Larson's success, leading to changes in the game show.
- Larson's life took a tragic turn after his game show victory due to poor investments.
- The Press Your Luck scandal illustrates how the game was not as random as believed.
- Larson's story serves as a cautionary tale about greed and lost opportunities.
- His journey from a game show champion to a life of struggles highlights the unpredictability of fortune.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to True Crime, authorsand Extraordinary People, the podcast
where we bring two passions together.
The show that gives newmeaning to the old adage, truth is
stranger than fiction.
And reminding you that thereis an extraordinary person in all
of us, here is your host,David McClam.
(00:26):
What's going on, everybody?
And welcome to another episodeof True Crime.
All the extraordinary people,of course.
I'm your man, David Clam.
Hey, if you guys haven'talready, make sure you follow us
on all social media.
One link to a link tree willget you every place you need to go
pertaining to the show.
And as you heard coming in, ifyou are someone or you know someone
(00:46):
that feels like they want tohurt themselves or others, please
dial 988.
It is a suicide prevention hotline.
They will give you the helpthat you need.
If no one else has told youthis today, let me be the first to
tell you that I do care and wedo need you to be here.
There is nothing worth your life.
(01:08):
All right, so welcome to thefirst episode of season three.
I usually do not give dates,but because of what today is, I am
recording this on January 20thof 2025, which is Martin Luther King
Day.
Stay tuned to the end and I'llgive you maybe some words of encouragement
(01:31):
as we move into this new inhopes that we can all make it through
this time that we are about to face.
All right, As I try to do atthe beginning of every season is
I kind of give you a fun casebecause I know what's coming down
the pipeline, and the casesthat we're going to get into this
(01:54):
year are not going to be aseasy as this.
So they have a little bit offun at the beginning and maybe give
you a case that you've never,ever heard of, or maybe you was too
young to hear of or you heardof it, but you never really dove
deep into it.
So today we're going to diveinto one of the most extraordinary
and controversial stories ingame show history.
(02:18):
It is the press your luck scandal.
Now, at the head of this storyis Michael Larson, and it is a tale
of intelligence, obsession,greed, and ultimate downfall.
So let's press our luck hereand get into it.
The year was 1984.
(02:41):
Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
MTV was in his heyday, andPress yous Luck was a hit on cbs.
It was a game show wherecontestants could win vacations,
prizes, and cash by spinningthe big board, a ring of 18 flashing
squares that seemed to move ina random pattern.
(03:02):
Contestants would press abutton to stop the lights and they
were hoping to avoid thedreaded whammy, who was a mischievous
animated character that wipedout all of their winnings.
But as it turned out, the BigBoy wasn't as random as it seemed.
And one man from Ohio figuredit out.
(03:24):
Now, Pressure Luck is one ofmy favorite game shows.
It still is.
My mom and I used to watch allthe time when I was a kid.
The original host, these hoststhat I saw was Peter to Morgan.
He was the original host onthat show.
And unfortunately, he's nolonger with us because Peter to Morgan
was killed March 13, 2006, ina plane crash.
(03:47):
The show now is currentlyhosted by Elizabeth Banks.
So you can find it now, Ithink it's in like the third or fourth
new season or something like that.
You can find it on Hulu, butgo check out the show.
It is a great show.
Now, as we just heard, theboard wasn't as random as it seemed,
(04:09):
and one man from Ohio was ableto figure that out.
So Paul Michael Larson, whowas born in Lebanon, Ohio, was a
man with a knack for get richquick schemes.
And by 1983, he was livingwith his girlfriend, Teresa Dinwiddie,
working odd jobs like airconditioning repair and driving an
ice cream truck.
(04:30):
But Larson had bigger dreams.
He spent his spare timestudying game shows and scheming
ways to make a fortune.
So one night, while watchingPress yous Luck, Larson noticed something
peculiar.
See, the flashing lights onthe Big Boy wasn't random at all.
With the help of a vcr, acutting edge technology for his time,
(04:51):
Larson studied the patternsand discovered there were only five
sequences.
Even more importantly, herealized that two squares, 4 and
8, never contained a whammy.
They always had cash or anextra spin.
So Larson spent monthsperfecting his timing, practicing
over and over with his VCR'spause button, and he believed he
(05:15):
had cracked the code.
Now, we're talking back in the80s, right?
So for those of you youngpeople who don't know what a VCR
is, it was kind of a bigoblong machine.
We actually had to put thesebig things in them called videotapes,
VCR tapes.
You can find some now.
Still, some people sell them.
But this was our way ofwatching movies or recording shows
(05:38):
from TV.
There was no such thing as DVDs.
There was no such thing asCDs, the way we know them.
Now, this was the only way of recording.
Matter of fact, you probablyheard your parents sometimes say,
hey, do you have the vcr or doyou have the Betamax?
That was another version ofthe vcr.
Then we will record our showsand we will pause and go through
(06:00):
them.
Technology, of course, was notas advanced as it was now.
So these game shows have verysimplistic boards that if somebody
had the net, they can figurethat out.
And in this case, if you'venever seen the show, Pressure Luck,
like it says, it's just aspinning board.
So you have all of thesedifferent things popping in and out
(06:20):
of these squares.
Some of them are whammies,some of them are cash, some of them
are prizes, some of them are trips.
Your goal is to hit thatbutton, yell stop, and hopefully
that behind that square is nota whammy.
If you do hit a whammy Today,you have $30,000.
The whammy will come and willwipe out all that money.
(06:42):
But if you never hit a whammy,you just continue to pile cash up
on your or prizes, whicheverone you hit.
Now, as he discovered thatsquares 4 and 8 never contained a
whammy, of course, they werenot expecting somebody to figure
that out.
(07:02):
They always contain extra cashor spin.
So what do you think he was thinking?
I know what I've been thinking.
Can I come with the way toconsistently hit 4 and 8?
I will never hit a whammy.
I will always win.
Producers ain't thinking aboutthis, because no one's cracked this
(07:25):
board like this before.
So by May 1984, Larson wasready to test his theory.
Using the last of his money,he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned
for Pressure Luck.
His charm and charisma wonover the producers, and despite some
reservations, they gave him aspot on the show.
(07:47):
The episode was filmed on May19, 1984.
Larson's opponents were EdLong, a Baptist minister, and Janie
Lettres, a dental assistant.
See, at first, Larson'sperformance was unremarkable.
He hit a whammy early on andhad the lowest score going into the
second half.
But then the magic began.
(08:08):
Larson started to dominate thebig board like no one had ever seen.
And by carefully timing hisbutton presses, he avoided the whammies
and landed on squares four andeight repeatedly.
He had hit 29 consecutivewinning spins, racking up an unprecedented
$102,851 in cash and prizes.
(08:34):
When all was said and done,Larson's total winnings was $110,237,
which is the equivalent toover $323,000 today.
Now, what you have tounderstand is there is a documentary
called Pressure Luck.
(08:54):
You can find it on YouTube.
There were some of theseProducers, though, when they met
Larson that really didn't like him.
I think there was even acouple of them that went and said,
maybe we should think twiceabout having this guy on the show.
Because I believe the storythat he told on the show when he
got on there was that he wasjust an ice cream man.
I think that's what he.
I can't remember for a second.
(09:15):
I think it's something.
Ice cream.
There was something else thathe did, but he just came off like
he was just an averageeveryday Joe.
Some people in the productionteam, though, was kind of feeling
that he was there for shadierpurposes, but they went ahead and
allowed him on the show.
Now, of course, since he'sracked up $110,237, I believe at
(09:42):
this time, this is the mostmoney that anybody has ever racked
up.
You have to understand the waythat these game shows are set up.
Now, I live in California,where some calls the home of movies.
We have Universal Studioshere, which is Universal Studios
(10:03):
Hollywood, There's UniversalStudios Florida.
But the Hollywood set containsa lot of sets from movies and TV
shows.
And of course, all the gameshows mainly is shot here.
I have actually been toHollywood Squares Live, which is
shot in the exact same studioof the Price Is Right.
So that's why everybody comesto LA for these things.
(10:26):
They have never seen this kindof winnings before.
And the way that these showsare set up is you're not supposed
to win that much money.
At some point, you're going tosmack a whammy.
Now, if you ever watch theshow, me and my wife, you guys probably
get annoyed because there aresome people that's just greedy and
they want to continue topressure luck.
And if you make it around thatboard about four or five different
times and no whammy shows upand you've just racked up about 20,
(10:49):
30,000.
The whammy is on his way.
Now, if you never watch thisshow, let me kind of give you the
options that the person thatis spinning has.
Let's say the person has 20 spins.
That's kind of high.
Just go with the number.
If that person makes itthrough half of Those spins being
10 and has not hit a whammy,Elizabeth will say, all right, here's
(11:12):
what you just hit on the board.
So let's say you got the car.
Okay, so you just won the car.
You have now a total in yourbank of $320,000.
Do you want to press your luckor do you want to pass?
Now, here's why I say insteadof for you not to win any money,
you can't just pass thosespins to anyone.
(11:32):
Those spins has to get passedto the person that has the second
highest total.
So if you've got 320,000, theperson next to you only has 5,000,
and the person on thatopposite end has 110,000, your experience
is going to go to the $110,000 person.
Because the producers in thegame hoping that you are going to
(11:58):
whammy on that person, theyreally want the person with the most
money to keep spinning inhopes that that happens.
But if you are smart, you'regoing to pass them.
I guarantee you, within one totwo spins, the whammy will show up.
So this is why this is thegame of greed.
Because some people like, man,I'm gonna press my luck.
(12:18):
And I'm sitting here going,your dummy.
You don't run around thisboard six times, no whammies.
Whammy about to come up, andsure enough, whammy hit.
So they start looking around.
They're shocked.
Man, he's already hit 110,000.
Do we even have 110,000 in thebank to give this person and all
these cash and prizes?
So they go on.
So as the producers werestunned and as the game unfolded,
(12:41):
CBS executives rushed to thestudio convincing Larson must be
cheating.
But after reviewing thefootage, they realized he had done
nothing illegal.
Larson has simply outsmartedthe game.
And the episode aired in twoparts on June 8th and 11th of 1984,
but CBS banned it from beingre aired in syndication.
(13:05):
They also revamped the bigboard, adding 27 new patterns to
prevent anyone else fromexploding the system.
People.
Because this was an embarrassment.
This was an embarrassment to cbs.
Now Larson did nothing, butnow CBS is on the hook to have to
give him all this money.
(13:25):
$110,000.
And believe me, you'll hearhere in a minute, they're gonna do
everything they can not tohave to pay him that 110,000.
But in your mind, think this.
I'll ask you, do you thinkthat Larson was cheating?
I don't.
I think he just figured outthis simple board.
(13:46):
It's not his fault that theymade this board crackable.
It's not his fault that theydidn't think that one day somebody
would figure out squares 4 and8 had no whammy in it.
It ain't his fault that hedecided, hey, I'm just gonna sit
at home and I'm gonna practiceit in VCR and see if I can make it.
He's already proved to youthat he wasn't cheating and that
(14:06):
his plan wasn't 100% foolproofif he didn't concentrate, because
his first spin, I believe itwas, he hit the whammy and had the
lowest score going into thesecond round.
In that round, he found his rhythm.
He found we had to hit thebutton every time.
And there you have it.
Now, they did everything theycould have to pay him, but eventually
(14:28):
they said, okay, he did nowrongdoing, and they gave Michael
Larson All $110,237 in cashand prizes, mostly in cash.
But see, after he won, afterhis victory, after what I believe
was the biggest victory in TVgame show history, Larson's life
(14:53):
took a dark turn.
He spent much of his winningson questionable investments, including
a real estate Ponzi scheme.
He even withdrew $100,000 in$1 bills to try to win a radio contest.
That cash was later stolenfrom his girlfriend's home in a still
unsolved burglary.
People, let me give you apiece of advice.
(15:17):
If you win a hundred and tenthousand or any like that, don't
go pulling out 100 grand putin your house.
He left it in his house.
One night, they all went outto eat, and he left a double bag
full of $1 bills that was$100,000 in the middle of his living
room.
I think at some point his wifeeven said something to him or his
(15:40):
girlfriend.
I'm sorry, even said somethingto him like, don't we want to take
this with us?
Or, you know, don't you wantto lock it?
He said, nope, I think wegonna be fine.
Here's the one thing for allof us to remember.
Somebody's always watching us.
And I believe the way thisunfolded was somebody was watching
him.
You know, it said he made qu investments.
(16:01):
The way that Michael Larsonlooked to me was he was the kind
of person that really couldn'tkeep his mouth shut.
He probably ran around, wastalking about all the winnings he
got, but better yet, it was onnational tv.
So everybody knew that healready won all this money.
So I believe that somebody waslying in wait.
Somebody probably saw himcarry a duffel bag in one day, and
(16:22):
they said, one day when heain't there, we gonna go on and see
if we get lucky.
And that's what happened.
They broke into his house orhis girlfriend's house, stole the
duffel bag that had a hundredthousand dollars in it.
And until this day, thatburglary or what actually happened
is still unsolved.
So by 1995, Larson was underinvestigation for running a fraudulent
(16:43):
multi level marketing scheme.
Facing charges from the FBI,the rs, he fed Ohio and went into
hiding.
He died unfortunately ofthroat cancer in 1999 alone in Apopka,
Florida at the age of 49.
Michael Larson's story is oneof brilliance and tragedy.
He outsmarted one of the mostpopular game shows of all time.
(17:06):
But his insatiable greed andpension for schemes ultimately led
to his downfall.
To some, he's a folk hero, aDavid who beat Goliath.
To others, he's a cautionary tale.
His story has inspireddocumentaries, books and even a 2024
film titled the Luckiest manin America, starring Paul Walter
(17:30):
Holzer as Larson.
But no matter how you viewhim, one thing is clear.
Michael Larson left anindelible mark on game show history.
Now, I know that you wouldkind of think that because of the
way that it happened thatmaybe they don't talk about Michael
Arsenal anymore or maybe it isa piece of a history they rather
(17:53):
forget.
I can tell you that's far fromthe truth.
If you go and look up thisdocumentary and I'll leave a link
to it in the bottom of theshow notes here, you'll see at the
end of that, they did callback everybody, the people that was
on the show with Marco Larson,even I think one of the two producers
came back.
Unfortunately no Peter toMorgan because he's already passed.
(18:14):
But they came back and talkedabout what happened the day he was
on the show with Michael Larson.
They even had a replica of theold board the way that it was.
And then they showed thecontestants from years ago what the
new board looked like.
Now that thing runs like 27squares and so many thousands of
(18:34):
patterns.
So now it would.
You would have to actuallycheat now at this point in time and
the way that this is set up toactually do the same thing that he
did again, it is somethingthat I don't think will ever, ever
be repeated at all.
Because it's impossible withtoday's technology for that to happen.
(18:59):
If something like that happensagain, then he's either inside job
or somebody really messed upon the programming.
So what do you guys think?
Have you ever heard of thatcase before?
It is very true.
It is one that I've alwayswanted to cover.
So here it is.
Go look it up for yourself.
I have not seen the 2024 filmtitled the Luckiest man in America.
(19:22):
That is now my plan because Iwould like to see you know the take
they took on it.
And I always like to know ifthey tell the truth in these things.
I know some things aresensational lies, but you gotta have
that ounce of truth in there.
All right here at closing, Ithink I said I was going to come
back and kind of have a coupleof words of encouragement as we go
into this new year.
(19:44):
I think I did make mention atthe beginning that I was recording
this on what I consider andmany others does consider a historic
day, January 20, 2025, whichis Martin Luther King's Day.
So I know that Martin LutherKing's birthday is on January 15th,
but I think the way that wasset up is that we were celebrated
on the second Monday ofJanuary, which leads us to the 20th.
(20:09):
It has not been missed on methat today was also the inauguration
of Donald Trump.
So let me tell you why I standon that and kind of give you guys
a couple of words ofencouragement, if I can, before we
get out of here.
I know there's some peoplethat's happy.
I know there's some peoplethat's sad.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat boycotted the inauguration.
(20:30):
I did not watch it myself.
I do also know that somepeople was mad because it fell on
Martin Luther King's birthday.
Of course, I heard the thiswould have been perfect if Kamala
Harris would have won becauseof the day that it is.
Now, what I want you guys tounderstand about Martin Luther King
Day is this.
It is not a day that came easyor free.
(20:52):
His monument certainly was not free.
If you guys go look over that,we as a black people had to fight
for Martin Luther King's birthday.
The black Americans did start that.
There was a number of whiteAmericans, there's a number of Asians
and a number of othernationalities that joined in to get
this done.
But it was a few years, I wantto say, between two and five years
(21:14):
of commercials of.
Do you want to donate?
To get the monument made, theyhad to raise X amount of money.
Don't quote me on this.
It's been a long time already,but I think it's like 50% or so that
they had to raise before thegovernment would even consider putting
in the rest.
So when you go to see MartinLuther King's monument, that is down
(21:35):
from the Lincoln Memorial.
Don't even think that thegovernment is by their own free will.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Was so great.
They gave him this monument.
No, that was a lot ofperseverance on black Americans to
get that done.
And he deserved to have that.
Now, there's other monumentsin Atlanta that's not far down from
Ebenezer Baptist Church, whichis the church that he was over.
(21:57):
You know, they're beautifulmonuments of just running water that's
coming down.
I tell you guys.
All that to say this sinceMartin Luther King was around and
before he died and after.
It has been a struggle when itcomes to African Americans in the
40 years.
Now, Martin Luther King Jr.
Would have been 96 years oldthis year.
So I want to take this number.
His day has only been aroundfor 40 years.
(22:21):
In 40 years, his celebrationday has only coincided with the president's
inauguration.
Now, three times, believe ithappened when Obama was sworn in.
It happened once when Clintonwas sworn in.
And now when Donald Trump ishere, here's the encouragement I'm
(22:41):
going to give you guys.
The time for what could havehappened is over.
The time for what took placein November is done.
The time for.
We feel that the election was rigged.
I'm just gonna call it aspade, a spade.
We, a lot of us, not justblack people, a lot of scholars,
(23:03):
a lot of staticians, a lot ofwhite people that I know feel that
it's rigged.
And I know Trump is.
Oh, it was a joke.
It was no joke.
He actually just stood up atone of his rallies, admitted that,
in fact, the election was rigged.
We can't do anything aboutthat now.
All we can do as a people isstick together.
(23:26):
And there's a lot of racismthat is here.
There's a lot of racism thatis coming.
It's always funny to me.
People tell me to go back towhere I came from, came from here.
Your ancestors, if you'rewhite, ended that for me when they
put my ancestors on a boat anddrug us over here from Africa.
I'm 52, never been to Africa aday in my life.
(23:46):
But my ancestors is the onethat built this beautiful place called
America, that White House thatnow only one black person has lived
up underneath.
Donald Trump's going to sleepup under that mug starting tonight
and all the other presidents.
It was built by the hands ofAfrican Americans.
And that building still standsbetter than many other buildings
(24:06):
does.
So know your culture, knowyour history.
I can only tell you minebecause they want to end critical
race theory.
What that means is anythingthat opposes what the white man believes
is, quote, unquote, unharmful.
They want to.
They want to remove it.
I've heard things like, youngwhite kids is feeling guilty because
(24:29):
of slavery, and they shouldn'thave to look at that, okay, well,
young black kids shouldn'thave to go read a book about the
King.
And when you open it up, thefirst thing you see is an old black
woman getting hosed down by afireman because he was racist.
See how that works in tandem?
I just got through watchingthe Martin Luther King celebration
that was held at EbenezerBaptist Church by way of the King
(24:53):
Center.
Dr.
King and Coretta Scott King'syoungest daughter, Dr.
Bernice King, runs that place,and she gave a very good sermon.
So all I could tell you forencouragement is this.
Whether you voted for DonaldTrump, whether you didn't, I don't
know whether you're happy,whether you sad.
We as America now has to sticktogether to make sure our democracy
(25:16):
and humanity stays where wewanted to as Americans.
There is now a lot of peoplethat voted for Trump that is now
regretting it.
They're now seeing where it's going.
I read tweets all day about it.
I watch YouTube videos all dayabout it.
There's a number of divorces.
Problem is, you can't changeyour vote if you wanted to.
(25:39):
All we can do is stand up inthe face of Donald Trump if he does
everything that he says thathe's going to do.
Now, to his credit, we don'tknow this yet, right?
We are just now day one,starting on Tuesday.
Tom Holman has already swornhe's going to Chicago to march out
(25:59):
and start deporting people.
So I can say, let's sit backand see what's going to happen.
But in the case that thesethings do happen, you have to hold
on to your humanity, yourdignity and your faith, because as
a Christian, I believe this.
Nothing he can do to me.
There's a God that I servethat says high looks low.
(26:20):
There's a God that controlseverything Donald Trump does.
And sometimes people mistakeGod for being an evil God, because
why would you let these happens?
Read your Bible.
The Bible's already told youall of these things are going to
take place, down to the letterwhere we are right now, even down
to the pandemic.
If you want to read deepenough, he's already told you that
(26:42):
he's by your side the whole time.
But that trial andtribulations has to happen.
So for me, I stand tall on myChristian belief.
I stand tall on the fact thatthere is a God that says high looks
low.
And I stand tall on the factthat Donald Trump can't do nothing
to me or any of us or anybodyif you have that belief.
(27:03):
So I'm not a political channel.
A lot of political people youcan go listen to.
I can recommend some for you,but all I can tell you is just hold
on.
Let's see what happens.
Let's fight the fights that weneed to fight.
Let's let the ones go that we don't.
If he does everything that hesays that he's going to do, in my
opinion, I think we only haveto last this out for the remaining
(27:25):
of 2025, because in 2026 it isthe primaries.
And if he does do what he sayshe's going to do, then I think that
you're going to see control ofthe Senate and the government as
a whole will change back intoDemocratic hands where he will be
shackled.
We'll see if he learnedanything from 2020, but I don't know.
(27:46):
Okay, so that's all I can tellyou guys.
That's all I wanted to say.
I'm not gonna get overpolitical, but let's just see what
happens.
And if it does happen, nomatter what color you are, white
people, black people, Asianpeople, Indian people, no matter
what, sexual orientation, gay,straight, lesbian, transgender.
(28:08):
We're going to have to have toall stick together to make sure that
all of us still have equalrights and can still live in this
place that we call America.
The home of the free, the landof the brave.
All right, so that's all forthis episode for today.
(28:30):
I want to thank you forjoining me as I unravel the fascinating
story of Michael Larson andthe pressure luxe scandal.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave a review and if there's a story
you would like me to cover,send me a message.
And as always, I know you havemany choices in True crime and interview
podcast.
(28:50):
I am grateful that for thelast three years almost now that
you've chosen me and you havebeen listening to the only three
faceted podcast of its kind.
Be good to yourself and each other.
And always remember, alwaysstay humbled.
An act of kindness can makesomeone's day.
A little love and compassioncan go a long way.
(29:13):
And remember that there is anextraordinary person in all of us.
I'll catch you guys on thenext one.
Don't forget to rate, commentand subscribe.
Join us on social media.
One link to the link tree hasit all.
Feel free to drop us a line attruecrime and authorsmail.
(29:37):
Cover art and logo designed by Arslith.
Sound mixing and editing byDavid McClam.
Intro script by Sophie Wildeand David McClam.
Theme music legendary by NewAlchemist Introduction and ending
credits by Jackie Voice.
See you next time on TrueCrime authors and extraordinary people.
Welcome to True Crime, authorsand Extraordinary People, the podcast
where we bring two passions together.
The show that gives newmeaning to the old adage, truth is
stranger than fiction.
And reminding you that thereis an extraordinary person in all
of us, here is your host,David McClam.
(00:26):
What's going on, everybody?
And welcome to another episodeof True Crime.
All the extraordinary people,of course.
I'm your man, David Clam.
Hey, if you guys haven'talready, make sure you follow us
on all social media.
One link to a link tree willget you every place you need to go
pertaining to the show.
And as you heard coming in, ifyou are someone or you know someone
(00:46):
that feels like they want tohurt themselves or others, please
dial 988.
It is a suicide prevention hotline.
They will give you the helpthat you need.
If no one else has told youthis today, let me be the first to
tell you that I do care and wedo need you to be here.
There is nothing worth your life.
(01:08):
All right, so welcome to thefirst episode of season three.
I usually do not give dates,but because of what today is, I am
recording this on January 20thof 2025, which is Martin Luther King
Day.
Stay tuned to the end and I'llgive you maybe some words of encouragement
(01:31):
as we move into this new inhopes that we can all make it through
this time that we are about to face.
All right, As I try to do atthe beginning of every season is
I kind of give you a fun casebecause I know what's coming down
the pipeline, and the casesthat we're going to get into this
(01:54):
year are not going to be aseasy as this.
So they have a little bit offun at the beginning and maybe give
you a case that you've never,ever heard of, or maybe you was too
young to hear of or you heardof it, but you never really dove
deep into it.
So today we're going to diveinto one of the most extraordinary
and controversial stories ingame show history.
(02:18):
It is the press your luck scandal.
Now, at the head of this storyis Michael Larson, and it is a tale
of intelligence, obsession,greed, and ultimate downfall.
So let's press our luck hereand get into it.
The year was 1984.
(02:41):
Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
MTV was in his heyday, andPress yous Luck was a hit on cbs.
It was a game show wherecontestants could win vacations,
prizes, and cash by spinningthe big board, a ring of 18 flashing
squares that seemed to move ina random pattern.
(03:02):
Contestants would press abutton to stop the lights and they
were hoping to avoid thedreaded whammy, who was a mischievous
animated character that wipedout all of their winnings.
But as it turned out, the BigBoy wasn't as random as it seemed.
And one man from Ohio figuredit out.
(03:24):
Now, Pressure Luck is one ofmy favorite game shows.
It still is.
My mom and I used to watch allthe time when I was a kid.
The original host, these hoststhat I saw was Peter to Morgan.
He was the original host onthat show.
And unfortunately, he's nolonger with us because Peter to Morgan
was killed March 13, 2006, ina plane crash.
(03:47):
The show now is currentlyhosted by Elizabeth Banks.
So you can find it now, Ithink it's in like the third or fourth
new season or something like that.
You can find it on Hulu, butgo check out the show.
It is a great show.
Now, as we just heard, theboard wasn't as random as it seemed,
(04:09):
and one man from Ohio was ableto figure that out.
So Paul Michael Larson, whowas born in Lebanon, Ohio, was a
man with a knack for get richquick schemes.
And by 1983, he was livingwith his girlfriend, Teresa Dinwiddie,
working odd jobs like airconditioning repair and driving an
ice cream truck.
(04:30):
But Larson had bigger dreams.
He spent his spare timestudying game shows and scheming
ways to make a fortune.
So one night, while watchingPress yous Luck, Larson noticed something
peculiar.
See, the flashing lights onthe Big Boy wasn't random at all.
With the help of a vcr, acutting edge technology for his time,
(04:51):
Larson studied the patternsand discovered there were only five
sequences.
Even more importantly, herealized that two squares, 4 and
8, never contained a whammy.
They always had cash or anextra spin.
So Larson spent monthsperfecting his timing, practicing
over and over with his VCR'spause button, and he believed he
(05:15):
had cracked the code.
Now, we're talking back in the80s, right?
So for those of you youngpeople who don't know what a VCR
is, it was kind of a bigoblong machine.
We actually had to put thesebig things in them called videotapes,
VCR tapes.
You can find some now.
Still, some people sell them.
But this was our way ofwatching movies or recording shows
(05:38):
from TV.
There was no such thing as DVDs.
There was no such thing asCDs, the way we know them.
Now, this was the only way of recording.
Matter of fact, you probablyheard your parents sometimes say,
hey, do you have the vcr or doyou have the Betamax?
That was another version ofthe vcr.
Then we will record our showsand we will pause and go through
(06:00):
them.
Technology, of course, was notas advanced as it was now.
So these game shows have verysimplistic boards that if somebody
had the net, they can figurethat out.
And in this case, if you'venever seen the show, Pressure Luck,
like it says, it's just aspinning board.
So you have all of thesedifferent things popping in and out
(06:20):
of these squares.
Some of them are whammies,some of them are cash, some of them
are prizes, some of them are trips.
Your goal is to hit thatbutton, yell stop, and hopefully
that behind that square is nota whammy.
If you do hit a whammy Today,you have $30,000.
The whammy will come and willwipe out all that money.
(06:42):
But if you never hit a whammy,you just continue to pile cash up
on your or prizes, whicheverone you hit.
Now, as he discovered thatsquares 4 and 8 never contained a
whammy, of course, they werenot expecting somebody to figure
that out.
(07:02):
They always contain extra cashor spin.
So what do you think he was thinking?
I know what I've been thinking.
Can I come with the way toconsistently hit 4 and 8?
I will never hit a whammy.
I will always win.
Producers ain't thinking aboutthis, because no one's cracked this
(07:25):
board like this before.
So by May 1984, Larson wasready to test his theory.
Using the last of his money,he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned
for Pressure Luck.
His charm and charisma wonover the producers, and despite some
reservations, they gave him aspot on the show.
(07:47):
The episode was filmed on May19, 1984.
Larson's opponents were EdLong, a Baptist minister, and Janie
Lettres, a dental assistant.
See, at first, Larson'sperformance was unremarkable.
He hit a whammy early on andhad the lowest score going into the
second half.
But then the magic began.
(08:08):
Larson started to dominate thebig board like no one had ever seen.
And by carefully timing hisbutton presses, he avoided the whammies
and landed on squares four andeight repeatedly.
He had hit 29 consecutivewinning spins, racking up an unprecedented
$102,851 in cash and prizes.
(08:34):
When all was said and done,Larson's total winnings was $110,237,
which is the equivalent toover $323,000 today.
Now, what you have tounderstand is there is a documentary
called Pressure Luck.
(08:54):
You can find it on YouTube.
There were some of theseProducers, though, when they met
Larson that really didn't like him.
I think there was even acouple of them that went and said,
maybe we should think twiceabout having this guy on the show.
Because I believe the storythat he told on the show when he
got on there was that he wasjust an ice cream man.
I think that's what he.
I can't remember for a second.
(09:15):
I think it's something.
Ice cream.
There was something else thathe did, but he just came off like
he was just an averageeveryday Joe.
Some people in the productionteam, though, was kind of feeling
that he was there for shadierpurposes, but they went ahead and
allowed him on the show.
Now, of course, since he'sracked up $110,237, I believe at
(09:42):
this time, this is the mostmoney that anybody has ever racked
up.
You have to understand the waythat these game shows are set up.
Now, I live in California,where some calls the home of movies.
We have Universal Studioshere, which is Universal Studios
(10:03):
Hollywood, There's UniversalStudios Florida.
But the Hollywood set containsa lot of sets from movies and TV
shows.
And of course, all the gameshows mainly is shot here.
I have actually been toHollywood Squares Live, which is
shot in the exact same studioof the Price Is Right.
So that's why everybody comesto LA for these things.
(10:26):
They have never seen this kindof winnings before.
And the way that these showsare set up is you're not supposed
to win that much money.
At some point, you're going tosmack a whammy.
Now, if you ever watch theshow, me and my wife, you guys probably
get annoyed because there aresome people that's just greedy and
they want to continue topressure luck.
And if you make it around thatboard about four or five different
times and no whammy shows upand you've just racked up about 20,
(10:49):
30,000.
The whammy is on his way.
Now, if you never watch thisshow, let me kind of give you the
options that the person thatis spinning has.
Let's say the person has 20 spins.
That's kind of high.
Just go with the number.
If that person makes itthrough half of Those spins being
10 and has not hit a whammy,Elizabeth will say, all right, here's
(11:12):
what you just hit on the board.
So let's say you got the car.
Okay, so you just won the car.
You have now a total in yourbank of $320,000.
Do you want to press your luckor do you want to pass?
Now, here's why I say insteadof for you not to win any money,
you can't just pass thosespins to anyone.
(11:32):
Those spins has to get passedto the person that has the second
highest total.
So if you've got 320,000, theperson next to you only has 5,000,
and the person on thatopposite end has 110,000, your experience
is going to go to the $110,000 person.
Because the producers in thegame hoping that you are going to
(11:58):
whammy on that person, theyreally want the person with the most
money to keep spinning inhopes that that happens.
But if you are smart, you'regoing to pass them.
I guarantee you, within one totwo spins, the whammy will show up.
So this is why this is thegame of greed.
Because some people like, man,I'm gonna press my luck.
(12:18):
And I'm sitting here going,your dummy.
You don't run around thisboard six times, no whammies.
Whammy about to come up, andsure enough, whammy hit.
So they start looking around.
They're shocked.
Man, he's already hit 110,000.
Do we even have 110,000 in thebank to give this person and all
these cash and prizes?
So they go on.
So as the producers werestunned and as the game unfolded,
(12:41):
CBS executives rushed to thestudio convincing Larson must be
cheating.
But after reviewing thefootage, they realized he had done
nothing illegal.
Larson has simply outsmartedthe game.
And the episode aired in twoparts on June 8th and 11th of 1984,
but CBS banned it from beingre aired in syndication.
(13:05):
They also revamped the bigboard, adding 27 new patterns to
prevent anyone else fromexploding the system.
People.
Because this was an embarrassment.
This was an embarrassment to cbs.
Now Larson did nothing, butnow CBS is on the hook to have to
give him all this money.
(13:25):
$110,000.
And believe me, you'll hearhere in a minute, they're gonna do
everything they can not tohave to pay him that 110,000.
But in your mind, think this.
I'll ask you, do you thinkthat Larson was cheating?
I don't.
I think he just figured outthis simple board.
(13:46):
It's not his fault that theymade this board crackable.
It's not his fault that theydidn't think that one day somebody
would figure out squares 4 and8 had no whammy in it.
It ain't his fault that hedecided, hey, I'm just gonna sit
at home and I'm gonna practiceit in VCR and see if I can make it.
He's already proved to youthat he wasn't cheating and that
(14:06):
his plan wasn't 100% foolproofif he didn't concentrate, because
his first spin, I believe itwas, he hit the whammy and had the
lowest score going into thesecond round.
In that round, he found his rhythm.
He found we had to hit thebutton every time.
And there you have it.
Now, they did everything theycould have to pay him, but eventually
(14:28):
they said, okay, he did nowrongdoing, and they gave Michael
Larson All $110,237 in cashand prizes, mostly in cash.
But see, after he won, afterhis victory, after what I believe
was the biggest victory in TVgame show history, Larson's life
(14:53):
took a dark turn.
He spent much of his winningson questionable investments, including
a real estate Ponzi scheme.
He even withdrew $100,000 in$1 bills to try to win a radio contest.
That cash was later stolenfrom his girlfriend's home in a still
unsolved burglary.
People, let me give you apiece of advice.
(15:17):
If you win a hundred and tenthousand or any like that, don't
go pulling out 100 grand putin your house.
He left it in his house.
One night, they all went outto eat, and he left a double bag
full of $1 bills that was$100,000 in the middle of his living
room.
I think at some point his wifeeven said something to him or his
(15:40):
girlfriend.
I'm sorry, even said somethingto him like, don't we want to take
this with us?
Or, you know, don't you wantto lock it?
He said, nope, I think wegonna be fine.
Here's the one thing for allof us to remember.
Somebody's always watching us.
And I believe the way thisunfolded was somebody was watching
him.
You know, it said he made qu investments.
(16:01):
The way that Michael Larsonlooked to me was he was the kind
of person that really couldn'tkeep his mouth shut.
He probably ran around, wastalking about all the winnings he
got, but better yet, it was onnational tv.
So everybody knew that healready won all this money.
So I believe that somebody waslying in wait.
Somebody probably saw himcarry a duffel bag in one day, and
(16:22):
they said, one day when heain't there, we gonna go on and see
if we get lucky.
And that's what happened.
They broke into his house orhis girlfriend's house, stole the
duffel bag that had a hundredthousand dollars in it.
And until this day, thatburglary or what actually happened
is still unsolved.
So by 1995, Larson was underinvestigation for running a fraudulent
(16:43):
multi level marketing scheme.
Facing charges from the FBI,the rs, he fed Ohio and went into
hiding.
He died unfortunately ofthroat cancer in 1999 alone in Apopka,
Florida at the age of 49.
Michael Larson's story is oneof brilliance and tragedy.
He outsmarted one of the mostpopular game shows of all time.
(17:06):
But his insatiable greed andpension for schemes ultimately led
to his downfall.
To some, he's a folk hero, aDavid who beat Goliath.
To others, he's a cautionary tale.
His story has inspireddocumentaries, books and even a 2024
film titled the Luckiest manin America, starring Paul Walter
(17:30):
Holzer as Larson.
But no matter how you viewhim, one thing is clear.
Michael Larson left anindelible mark on game show history.
Now, I know that you wouldkind of think that because of the
way that it happened thatmaybe they don't talk about Michael
Arsenal anymore or maybe it isa piece of a history they rather
(17:53):
forget.
I can tell you that's far fromthe truth.
If you go and look up thisdocumentary and I'll leave a link
to it in the bottom of theshow notes here, you'll see at the
end of that, they did callback everybody, the people that was
on the show with Marco Larson,even I think one of the two producers
came back.
Unfortunately no Peter toMorgan because he's already passed.
(18:14):
But they came back and talkedabout what happened the day he was
on the show with Michael Larson.
They even had a replica of theold board the way that it was.
And then they showed thecontestants from years ago what the
new board looked like.
Now that thing runs like 27squares and so many thousands of
(18:34):
patterns.
So now it would.
You would have to actuallycheat now at this point in time and
the way that this is set up toactually do the same thing that he
did again, it is somethingthat I don't think will ever, ever
be repeated at all.
Because it's impossible withtoday's technology for that to happen.
(18:59):
If something like that happensagain, then he's either inside job
or somebody really messed upon the programming.
So what do you guys think?
Have you ever heard of thatcase before?
It is very true.
It is one that I've alwayswanted to cover.
So here it is.
Go look it up for yourself.
I have not seen the 2024 filmtitled the Luckiest man in America.
(19:22):
That is now my plan because Iwould like to see you know the take
they took on it.
And I always like to know ifthey tell the truth in these things.
I know some things aresensational lies, but you gotta have
that ounce of truth in there.
All right here at closing, Ithink I said I was going to come
back and kind of have a coupleof words of encouragement as we go
into this new year.
(19:44):
I think I did make mention atthe beginning that I was recording
this on what I consider andmany others does consider a historic
day, January 20, 2025, whichis Martin Luther King's Day.
So I know that Martin LutherKing's birthday is on January 15th,
but I think the way that wasset up is that we were celebrated
on the second Monday ofJanuary, which leads us to the 20th.
(20:09):
It has not been missed on methat today was also the inauguration
of Donald Trump.
So let me tell you why I standon that and kind of give you guys
a couple of words ofencouragement, if I can, before we
get out of here.
I know there's some peoplethat's happy.
I know there's some peoplethat's sad.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat boycotted the inauguration.
(20:30):
I did not watch it myself.
I do also know that somepeople was mad because it fell on
Martin Luther King's birthday.
Of course, I heard the thiswould have been perfect if Kamala
Harris would have won becauseof the day that it is.
Now, what I want you guys tounderstand about Martin Luther King
Day is this.
It is not a day that came easyor free.
(20:52):
His monument certainly was not free.
If you guys go look over that,we as a black people had to fight
for Martin Luther King's birthday.
The black Americans did start that.
There was a number of whiteAmericans, there's a number of Asians
and a number of othernationalities that joined in to get
this done.
But it was a few years, I wantto say, between two and five years
(21:14):
of commercials of.
Do you want to donate?
To get the monument made, theyhad to raise X amount of money.
Don't quote me on this.
It's been a long time already,but I think it's like 50% or so that
they had to raise before thegovernment would even consider putting
in the rest.
So when you go to see MartinLuther King's monument, that is down
(21:35):
from the Lincoln Memorial.
Don't even think that thegovernment is by their own free will.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Was so great.
They gave him this monument.
No, that was a lot ofperseverance on black Americans to
get that done.
And he deserved to have that.
Now, there's other monumentsin Atlanta that's not far down from
Ebenezer Baptist Church, whichis the church that he was over.
(21:57):
You know, they're beautifulmonuments of just running water that's
coming down.
I tell you guys.
All that to say this sinceMartin Luther King was around and
before he died and after.
It has been a struggle when itcomes to African Americans in the
40 years.
Now, Martin Luther King Jr.
Would have been 96 years oldthis year.
So I want to take this number.
His day has only been aroundfor 40 years.
(22:21):
In 40 years, his celebrationday has only coincided with the president's
inauguration.
Now, three times, believe ithappened when Obama was sworn in.
It happened once when Clintonwas sworn in.
And now when Donald Trump ishere, here's the encouragement I'm
(22:41):
going to give you guys.
The time for what could havehappened is over.
The time for what took placein November is done.
The time for.
We feel that the election was rigged.
I'm just gonna call it aspade, a spade.
We, a lot of us, not justblack people, a lot of scholars,
(23:03):
a lot of staticians, a lot ofwhite people that I know feel that
it's rigged.
And I know Trump is.
Oh, it was a joke.
It was no joke.
He actually just stood up atone of his rallies, admitted that,
in fact, the election was rigged.
We can't do anything aboutthat now.
All we can do as a people isstick together.
(23:26):
And there's a lot of racismthat is here.
There's a lot of racism thatis coming.
It's always funny to me.
People tell me to go back towhere I came from, came from here.
Your ancestors, if you'rewhite, ended that for me when they
put my ancestors on a boat anddrug us over here from Africa.
I'm 52, never been to Africa aday in my life.
(23:46):
But my ancestors is the onethat built this beautiful place called
America, that White House thatnow only one black person has lived
up underneath.
Donald Trump's going to sleepup under that mug starting tonight
and all the other presidents.
It was built by the hands ofAfrican Americans.
And that building still standsbetter than many other buildings
(24:06):
does.
So know your culture, knowyour history.
I can only tell you minebecause they want to end critical
race theory.
What that means is anythingthat opposes what the white man believes
is, quote, unquote, unharmful.
They want to.
They want to remove it.
I've heard things like, youngwhite kids is feeling guilty because
(24:29):
of slavery, and they shouldn'thave to look at that, okay, well,
young black kids shouldn'thave to go read a book about the
King.
And when you open it up, thefirst thing you see is an old black
woman getting hosed down by afireman because he was racist.
See how that works in tandem?
I just got through watchingthe Martin Luther King celebration
that was held at EbenezerBaptist Church by way of the King
(24:53):
Center.
Dr.
King and Coretta Scott King'syoungest daughter, Dr.
Bernice King, runs that place,and she gave a very good sermon.
So all I could tell you forencouragement is this.
Whether you voted for DonaldTrump, whether you didn't, I don't
know whether you're happy,whether you sad.
We as America now has to sticktogether to make sure our democracy
(25:16):
and humanity stays where wewanted to as Americans.
There is now a lot of peoplethat voted for Trump that is now
regretting it.
They're now seeing where it's going.
I read tweets all day about it.
I watch YouTube videos all dayabout it.
There's a number of divorces.
Problem is, you can't changeyour vote if you wanted to.
(25:39):
All we can do is stand up inthe face of Donald Trump if he does
everything that he says thathe's going to do.
Now, to his credit, we don'tknow this yet, right?
We are just now day one,starting on Tuesday.
Tom Holman has already swornhe's going to Chicago to march out
(25:59):
and start deporting people.
So I can say, let's sit backand see what's going to happen.
But in the case that thesethings do happen, you have to hold
on to your humanity, yourdignity and your faith, because as
a Christian, I believe this.
Nothing he can do to me.
There's a God that I servethat says high looks low.
(26:20):
There's a God that controlseverything Donald Trump does.
And sometimes people mistakeGod for being an evil God, because
why would you let these happens?
Read your Bible.
The Bible's already told youall of these things are going to
take place, down to the letterwhere we are right now, even down
to the pandemic.
If you want to read deepenough, he's already told you that
(26:42):
he's by your side the whole time.
But that trial andtribulations has to happen.
So for me, I stand tall on myChristian belief.
I stand tall on the fact thatthere is a God that says high looks
low.
And I stand tall on the factthat Donald Trump can't do nothing
to me or any of us or anybodyif you have that belief.
(27:03):
So I'm not a political channel.
A lot of political people youcan go listen to.
I can recommend some for you,but all I can tell you is just hold
on.
Let's see what happens.
Let's fight the fights that weneed to fight.
Let's let the ones go that we don't.
If he does everything that hesays that he's going to do, in my
opinion, I think we only haveto last this out for the remaining
(27:25):
of 2025, because in 2026 it isthe primaries.
And if he does do what he sayshe's going to do, then I think that
you're going to see control ofthe Senate and the government as
a whole will change back intoDemocratic hands where he will be
shackled.
We'll see if he learnedanything from 2020, but I don't know.
(27:46):
Okay, so that's all I can tellyou guys.
That's all I wanted to say.
I'm not gonna get overpolitical, but let's just see what
happens.
And if it does happen, nomatter what color you are, white
people, black people, Asianpeople, Indian people, no matter
what, sexual orientation, gay,straight, lesbian, transgender.
(28:08):
We're going to have to have toall stick together to make sure that
all of us still have equalrights and can still live in this
place that we call America.
The home of the free, the landof the brave.
All right, so that's all forthis episode for today.
(28:30):
I want to thank you forjoining me as I unravel the fascinating
story of Michael Larson andthe pressure luxe scandal.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave a review and if there's a story
you would like me to cover,send me a message.
And as always, I know you havemany choices in True crime and interview
podcast.
(28:50):
I am grateful that for thelast three years almost now that
you've chosen me and you havebeen listening to the only three
faceted podcast of its kind.
Be good to yourself and each other.
And always remember, alwaysstay humbled.
An act of kindness can makesomeone's day.
A little love and compassioncan go a long way.
(29:13):
And remember that there is anextraordinary person in all of us.
I'll catch you guys on thenext one.
Don't forget to rate, commentand subscribe.
Join us on social media.
One link to the link tree hasit all.
Feel free to drop us a line attruecrime and authorsmail.
(29:37):
Cover art and logo designed by Arslith.
Sound mixing and editing byDavid McClam.
Intro script by Sophie Wildeand David McClam.
Theme music legendary by NewAlchemist Introduction and ending
credits by Jackie Voice.
See you next time on TrueCrime authors and extraordinary people.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com