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The Man Who Got No Whammies

MaxScheiber 11y ago
The Michael Larson story is absolutely fascinating. The Game Show Network produced a made-for-TV documentary about this called Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal that I highly recommend watching. If I remember correctly, they brought in Long and Litras to play a re-created Press Your Luck game, who were both successfully taught how to time the board the way that Larson did. If one knew the board as well as Larson did, it'd be easier to beat than any arcade timing game. If you're interested in game show cheating scandals, I also highly recommend Major Fraud, a documentary about a cheater on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The summary of that one is an audience signal via coughing.
- zackcrockett 11y ago
  "Major Fraud" is an awesome doc. Charles Ingram, a former British Army major, won £1,000,000 after his wife (planted in the audience) coughed to signify each correct answer. Unlike Larson, his winnings were rescinded.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    Of course he cheated, where as Larson simply took advantage of the system but played entirely within the rules.
kbenson 11y ago
> Under the name “Pleasure Time Incorporated,” Larson sold shares in a non-existent American-Indian Lottery, and, by the mid-1990s, he’d managed to cheat 20,000 investors out of $3 million. With the SEC, IRS, and FBI hot on his tail, he fled Ohio and disappeared into the void. > > When investigators finally tracked Larson to Apopka, Florida in 1999, he’d succumbed to throat cancer. ... > “Winning that game show was the start of [Michael’s] downfall,” Larson’s brother, James, would later say. “It made him think he could trick anybody, and do just about anything he pleased.” Well, yeah. Why wouldn't he think that. He got away with everything until he was already on his way out the door. I don't agree with his methods, but there's something to be admired in the sheer audaciousness of how he lived his life. It's obvious this thought is shared by many, there are plenty of movies about heists and con-men where they are portrayed as heroes (and the movies go over very well) as evidence of this.
- jaxytee 11y ago
  In show's introduction, the host said "Hopefully you don't overdose on money Michael" after Michael joked about eating too much Ice cream. What an omen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h07eO0SKtUI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h07eO0SKtUI
joezydeco 11y ago
I remember seeing the original shows when I was a kid and even I saw the pattern he was exploiting. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It's boggling that everyone else in the studio didn't see this. Or maybe they did and couldn't do a thing about it until they had a way to reprogram the system. Game shows tend to tape multiple episodes per day.
- xlm1717 11y ago
  Maybe they couldn't convince higher-ups at CBS to upgrade the system until someone came in and fleeced them for $90K after taxes.
  - Moeancurly 11y ago
    Wouldn't CBS have been fleeced for $110K regardless of taxes? Or is there some sort of game-show accounting number-fudging that reduces their monetary obligation?
mitchtbaum 11y ago
NPR's This American Life has a good episode which includes Michael Larson's story as one of its angles: Million Dollar Idea http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/412/million-dollar-idea http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/412/m... Funny.. I could have sworn that I got a link to it from HN... Oh yea, I found it right after listening to this really good, yet embellished story about Shenzhen workers ("it's some kind of magic, [this tablet computer I put together]"): Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/m... [insert HN link here after meal]
- jdietrich 11y ago
  The retraction episode is far better than Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory. It shows the journalistic values of Ira Glass and NPR in general. The interview with Mike Daisey asking him to account for his fabrication is one of the strangest, most uncomfortable things I've ever heard on the radio. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/r...

The Michael Larson story is absolutely fascinating. The Game Show Network produced a made-for-TV documentary about this called Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal that I highly recommend watching. If I remember correctly, they brought in Long and Litras to play a re-created Press Your Luck game, who were both successfully taught how to time the board the way that Larson did. If one knew the board as well as Larson did, it'd be easier to beat than any arcade timing game. If you're interested in game show cheating scandals, I also highly recommend Major Fraud, a documentary about a cheater on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The summary of that one is an audience signal via coughing.

zackcrockett 11y ago
"Major Fraud" is an awesome doc. Charles Ingram, a former British Army major, won £1,000,000 after his wife (planted in the audience) coughed to signify each correct answer. Unlike Larson, his winnings were rescinded.
- MBCook 11y ago
  Of course he cheated, where as Larson simply took advantage of the system but played entirely within the rules.

kbenson 11y ago

> Under the name “Pleasure Time Incorporated,” Larson sold shares in a non-existent American-Indian Lottery, and, by the mid-1990s, he’d managed to cheat 20,000 investors out of $3 million. With the SEC, IRS, and FBI hot on his tail, he fled Ohio and disappeared into the void. > > When investigators finally tracked Larson to Apopka, Florida in 1999, he’d succumbed to throat cancer. ... > “Winning that game show was the start of [Michael’s] downfall,” Larson’s brother, James, would later say. “It made him think he could trick anybody, and do just about anything he pleased.” Well, yeah. Why wouldn't he think that. He got away with everything until he was already on his way out the door. I don't agree with his methods, but there's something to be admired in the sheer audaciousness of how he lived his life. It's obvious this thought is shared by many, there are plenty of movies about heists and con-men where they are portrayed as heroes (and the movies go over very well) as evidence of this.

jaxytee 11y ago
In show's introduction, the host said "Hopefully you don't overdose on money Michael" after Michael joked about eating too much Ice cream. What an omen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h07eO0SKtUI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h07eO0SKtUI

joezydeco 11y ago

I remember seeing the original shows when I was a kid and even I saw the pattern he was exploiting. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It's boggling that everyone else in the studio didn't see this. Or maybe they did and couldn't do a thing about it until they had a way to reprogram the system. Game shows tend to tape multiple episodes per day.

xlm1717 11y ago
Maybe they couldn't convince higher-ups at CBS to upgrade the system until someone came in and fleeced them for $90K after taxes.
- Moeancurly 11y ago
  Wouldn't CBS have been fleeced for $110K regardless of taxes? Or is there some sort of game-show accounting number-fudging that reduces their monetary obligation?

mitchtbaum 11y ago

NPR's This American Life has a good episode which includes Michael Larson's story as one of its angles: Million Dollar Idea http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/412/million-dollar-idea http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/412/m... Funny.. I could have sworn that I got a link to it from HN... Oh yea, I found it right after listening to this really good, yet embellished story about Shenzhen workers ("it's some kind of magic, [this tablet computer I put together]"): Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/m... [insert HN link here after meal]

jdietrich 11y ago
The retraction episode is far better than Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory. It shows the journalistic values of Ira Glass and NPR in general. The interview with Mike Daisey asking him to account for his fabrication is one of the strangest, most uncomfortable things I've ever heard on the radio. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/r...