Another Michael Larson article

[alfonzos]

This one is from Pricenomics. https://priceonomics.com/the-man-who-got-no-whammies/

[Matt Ottinger]

"The Man Who Got No Whammies", featuring a photo of the man who clearly has one Whammy.

[TLEberle]

For valor on the battlefield and saying it so I don't have to, step forward and claim your fifty Eberle Escudos.

[CJBojangles]

"The Man Who Got No Whammies", featuring a photo of the man who clearly has one Whammy.

This also isn't what happened...

Finally, 40 successful spins and $102,851 later, Larson passed his final 3 spins to Ed Long, fearing that he was beginning to lose focus.

[BrandonFG]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a little more than a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

[TLEberle]

I want to defend the writer very badly, because "no whammies!" is the tagline and it's easy to gloss over the fact that there were lots of big winners in the early 1980s, (note that Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right primarily gave away prizes, and Press Your Luck was the best cash game in town), but jeez, those little things don't induce me to click on the link.

[PYLdude]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

And that wasn't even accurate, because didn't somebody win a total of $43K plus not that long before Larson went at it?

[BrandonFG]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

And that wasn't even accurate, because didn't somebody win a total of $43K plus not that long before Larson went at it?

According to this episode guide, you would be correct. There were a couple of 40K+ winners pre-Larson, and a couple more that were very close to that number.

[PYLdude]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

And that wasn't even accurate, because didn't somebody win a total of $43K plus not that long before Larson went at it?

According to this episode guide, you would be correct. There were a couple of 40K+ winners pre-Larson, and a couple more that were very close to that number.

Ah, good ol' JD shows us the way.

[MSTieScott]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a little more than a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

I haven't read the article, but now I suspect that the author used Buzzr's recent broadcast of the Michael Larson episodes for their information. One of the pop-up factoids that Buzzr aired was something about how before Press Your Luck, no game show had given away more than $40,000, and I was left figuratively scratching my head at where the network got that from.

[BrandonFG]

For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune

Meanwhile, a solid Pyramid contestant could win more than that in two days. A Barry-Enright contestant could amass that after about a little more than a week. Maybe the author meant you wouldn't win more than 40K in one day, but Words Have Meanings.

I haven't read the article, but now I suspect that the author used Buzzr's recent broadcast of the Michael Larson episodes for their information. One of the pop-up factoids that Buzzr aired was something about how before Press Your Luck, no game show had given away more than $40,000, and I was left figuratively scratching my head at where the network got that from.

I'm sure Thom McKee (along with the people in that link I provided) would like to have a word with them.

[Kevin Prather]

One of the pop-up factoids that Buzzr aired was something about how before Press Your Luck, no game show had given away more than $40,000, and I was left figuratively scratching my head at where the network got that from.

I remember Tomarken saying that in the documentary, but I feel like he meant it more as a rule of thumb. Sure it had happened, but it didn't typically happen.

[rebelwrest]

IIRC, I think the quote was "nobody won more than $40,000 in a single day" EDIT: Video only playable at YouTube.  Quote begins at 1:30 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzNMCXWCZzQ&t=1m30s

I stopped reading the article after it mentioned "The Price In Right"

[WarioBarker]

To be (very, very slightly) fair to the author of this piece, the one Whammy Michael hit was on his very first spin, where he had nothing at risk and spoke like a typical contestant. After that spin, he clammed up and focused on the light patterns, only talking between spins (if at all).

So the title should be "The Man Who Got No Whammies When He Had Something At Risk", but that doesn't get the clicks.

[TLEberle]

Solution is to give it the title "Big Bucks, One Whammy." Great allegory and totally accurate too.