Tim on Wheel of Fortune - $36,830 win! (Part 3 Bonus Round)

[samuricex]

Lucky Stiff? How dumb is that?

You might as well have chosen a Batman symbol as your vowel.

[wazzobazzo]

Lucky stiff = boner? Anyway congrats on winning the cash.

[Cybren84]

You're a pretty lucky dude! I never really thought being a contestant would be that hard x3

Did ya burn through all that money yet? =P

[lionking300]

@Cybren84

No, I pretty much saved all of it with the hopes of making a down payment on a house soon. Some of went to finish my college education and also get my current car after my old one was totaled in a hit-and-run one year after my show aired. And yes I was quite lucky that things worked out the way they did from Day 1 of the auditions to the taping of the show. Except for the bonus puzzle. That was NOT "lucky"! ;)

[KoraggRules]

Lucky Stiff..i never heard of it...that wasn't fair since you had no idea what the puzzle was

[neogeon]

how is that a person? WOF categories are such BS.

Would've been a good one to win with though, "hey look, I'm a lucky stiff! har har har!"

[ttty2t1j3]

Nice run

[saintjohners]

did it take you along time for you to get on wheel of fortune?

[saintjohners]

would you want to go back on wheel of fortune

[lionking300]

Oh most definitely! Unfortunately with the millions of people that show interest in becoming a contestant every year and the tens of thousands that try out, to accomodate the most possible it's a once-and-done deal.

[EC91Inf3kt3d93TO]

What the hell kinda answer is that? Lucky Stiff? That's nasty.

[Phentie]

wheel of fortune is my favorite show ever!!! I would LOVE to go on!!!!

[lionking300]

Yes, it's definitely not enough :) Especially with all the lights and cameras and the pressure it seemed like it was over in 3 seconds.

If I had 10 more it might have occurred to me to say LUCKY STIFF purely out of context because before that day I had never heard that term used before in my life.

[MusicKilla1]

@lionking300 whoah Dude thats you? raaaaaad how did you get there anyway is it hard?

[lionking300]

@MusicKilla1 Yes that is me! About 6 years ago lol. It was very hard to become a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. I went through their Wheelmobile audition process, during which probably 1,500-2,000 people tried out from the Greater Seattle area at 3 different locations and I was one of only a handful (maybe 5 or so) chosen. Over one million people inquire about being on the show every year and only about 400 make it all the way to the show in the course of a TV season.

[guitarguy93]

I personally don't think 10 seconds is enough.

[subban]

Thats a ridiculous phrase. who uses that phrase anymore, maybe if it was 1948.

[neogeon]

go shit in your hat and pull it over your ears

[/1940's phrase]

[subban]

suck my cock and swallow.

[/2000's pharase]

[CDLTESTING]

i know lol

[CDLTESTING]

@neogeon lol

[gamersoldier]

go tim!

[dumbtardface]

yay for u timmay!

[Mikeysouls]

guess you weren't that a lucky stiff afterall!

[DemonBird2]

Nice try, I couldn't have guessed that if my life depended on it lol. What did you spend your winnings on?

[lionking300]

After taking out CA state tax since the show was held in CA ($2,800) and the IRS's fatty share (about $5,000) I put the rest away for college - I recently graduated from UW Seattle with a degree in journalism and some of it went to get a new car after my old car was totaled in a hit & run by a drunk driver exactly one year after my show aired...

And I spent a bunch on the trip I won in round 2 - our stopover was in NYC, so I arranged to spend a few days there and sightsee before touring England

[JMFSpike]

The "plan" that you talked about here in detail is the same strategy that I use when I play the video game WoF: 2nd edition on my PS1. It's a very smart way to play and it gives you a great advantage. It's kind of obvious that your opponents had no real strategy. You're a great player, excellent work!

[lionking300]

Thanks! That's the game I used to practice my puzzle-solving and game playing skill for the real show, I like it much better than the ps2 version. Hopefully you'll get to try out for the Wheel someday!

[GummiBearzz]

This show is kool

[argosy2006]

lucky stiff''' is was suppose to be person, not a phrase,  ''ur a lucky stiff is phrase'' its not a name, you were robbed lol

[GohanSoul]

rofl

[prairiedogeric10]

I never heard of "lucky stiff" either, nice job though!

[ogurantz]

Just because you ended up winning, does not mean you were in control. Congratulations, but there was nothing "dominant" -- you landed on $5000, the women landed multiple times on bankrupt at the best moment with an large open puzzle, and then you got 6 or 7 in a row. There were multiple times where you couldn't get the puzzle (Clay tennis court...) Again, good job, but that was a lot of luck, with probably 3 equally skilled players -- there was no plan "executed to perfection".

[lionking300]

I will be the first to admit that I was very fortunate to gain control of the game at certain points. My opponents' bad luck was part of my success, true. But once I was in control that is when my plan was executed. For example, the $5,000 hit was virtually all skill. I have the wheel memorized. I found during the rehearsals that my average strength spin went once around plus a few spaces. When I first spun in round 4 I saw that the 5K was 16 spaces ahead on the wheel.

[lionking300]

I let the wheel fly. The gift tag I hit was 8 spaces ahead of where I had started, so I knew if I duplicated that exact strength spin on the next one I should get very close to the $5K - and I nailed it right in the middle. That wasn't luck. And I do a great job of pretending in round 3 - I knew it after I called the 4 E's.

[lionking300]

From then on when I hit small amounts on the wheel I call the letters that appear once or twice in the puzzle and when I hit the larger amounts I call the letters that appear 3 times to maximize profit. Again, that wasn't luck either - there is a large section of the wheel with no bad spaces (the part with the mystery wedges) so I just spin normal strength or less to stay in there and rack up money.

[lionking300]

It isn't about hitting the big money every time, that sort of precision is impossible, especially since they moved the 3500 space right next to the Bankrupt. It's about avoiding the two spaces that will harm you - BANKRUPT and LOSE-A-TURN and by paying attention to my spins I was able to avoid "bad luck" on 19 spins while my opponents hit them 3 times.

[lionking300]

I was lucky on CLAY TENNIS COURT though, 9 times out of 10 I lose that one. My main advantage was that I had better control of the wheel than my opponents and I bought vowels. I also lost the bonus round because I've never heard LUCKY STIFF before, tough break for me. But thanks for bringing this up, so I could explain what I meant by my "plan" and the skill involved in Wheel of Fortune.

[Eruption1001]

i agree, that was kind of a bad puzzle. but hey, you did awesome man! i watch that show all the time, it must be really fun to actually play it.

[tkhushrenada]

well done chief. Takes balls to go on TV

[chachaeoe]

I hate when they do that.

"Person" make you automatically assume it is looking for a name.

That was BULL.

You should have won.

I bet you had a great time.

Congrats.

[aric2007]

If you solved the puzzle and won $25,000, you could've gotten $61,830!