Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, Part 1/11

[specimen25]

he's only 35 and he looks like that?!

[GunGemini]

The rules say you cant memorize the board so how is this cheating?

good for him.

[landrykkb]

Something seemed fishy about Michael Larson being an "unemployed ice cream truck driver".I mean,it sounds as if he just fabricated that before he appeared on PYL.

[SaleGuy]

@landrykkb There is also an urban legend that Michael Larson molested children during his employment as an ice cream truck driver!

[KingMacintosh]

You guys need to stop taking this CBS's liberal greedy butthurt way. Michael Larson is a game show legend and genius and he got a bang for his buck (knowledge).

[weckar]

Why do they paint this guy as a villain? He's a hero!

[metalsnake27]

Very intense story, shows how insane someone can get... but how smart they can be....

[TheSchoolWorld]

That's the thin line between genius and insanity there.

[StukInBuf]

Probably lots of hard living did Mr. Larson in.

Born in 1949... my mother in law was born then, too!

[WSBT960]

CBS really blew it with the lack of board patterns, if Larsen hadn't of been on, someone else would've broke the bank.

[chadbryantnet]

@WSBT960 It was actually disclosed that several other contestants who appeared immediately after Larson's episode taped had also figured out the original board pattern.

[AmaraKoreda]

Thumbs up if you first found about Michael Larson from ThisAmericanLife radio show

[ihavesexforhappymeal]

He was born in 1949 but had full gray hair and beard when he was 35?

[BloodyCarrie]

Awesome of him to figure out the board. My hearts breaks for him that he lost it all.

[DorvellTStewart]

Well, he lost it all because he was not the brightest when it came to how it should be handled.

[lowgeemudbone]

wow i remenber this when it happened .this guy was super smart and deserved that loot!

[braves4life25]

he should have been aloud to keep the money... its their own fault for only having a limited amount of patterens.. hes not a cheater but a genious!!!

[ddorsz]

from wikipedia: Although CBS investigated Larson, they determined that figuring out the patterns was not cheating and let him keep his winnings. The board was reprogrammed for more (and more complicated) patterns to prevent another player from being able to memorize the board like Larson had

[staff0flag]

@braves4life25 He was allowed to keep the money. He later lost half of it when his home was broken into (he was trying to match seriel numbers to a radio show contest.)

[Ultranothing]

@braves4life25 "Genius".  Not "genious."

[AndrewDBarker]

@braves4life25 He was allowed to keep his money. He lost it all to a scam and died of cancer in 1999.

[miketh2005]

@braves4life25 He did keep the money, are you nuts?

[markdoublea84]

It was no problem. I hope one day it will come out on DVD.

[wildcat3415]

Thanks for the upload! GSN wont show this anymore

[kylas124]

@wildcat3415 Yes thank you so much, very appreciated:]

[TheUndertakerfan2002]

I have this PYL Scandal on VHS tape

I like to call it "The Michael Larson Saga" because of the way he won all that money and those prizes (trips)

If you guys have an iPod they have the talk about Michael Larson and how he Whammied the Whammy on iTunes

[Krystle2007]

Aww, I love MJ at 0:53 ! Also, Peter Tomarken was my favorite gameshow host. RIP Angels!

[Josefin7]

May 19, 1984 fell on a Saturday. It's Actually aired on May 18, 1984.

[MrBennetzen]

They taped it on May 19th, 1984. It actually aired on June 8th and June 11th, 1984.

[alexbluegrass]

Michael Larson's the man! One of my heroes. I'm so glad he won all that money! He deserved it. Even though he momorized the whammy board. No rule that I've ever seen is against that! Way to go Michael!!!!!

[SurgingChaos19]

I definately agree with you. Michael Larson definately is a game show legend in my eyes.

[MrBennetzen]

I remember this one closely. My entire family watched this special. Everybody was watching it like it was a big deal.

[zentaaki]

Anyone else notice at 1:10 he says:

"During it's 4 year run from 1983 to 1986"

Something seems amiss there...

[StoneCold448]

Nope, he's right.

Year 1: 1983

Year 2: 1984

Year 3: 1985

Year 4: 1986

[zentaaki]

My bad

[tbagriot]

1983

1984

1985

1986

Four years =)

[aoinatafanboy84]

@zentaaki I did, I was hoping someone else would too.

[PainkillerZ1]

i remember i was a teenager when this happened and my gf called me up while it was one live and told me to watch it

[gamshwfan]

I've been waiting to see this.