A gameshow is a sandbox. No contestant will end up bankrupt as part of the show. The worst possible case is winning nothing. While the contestant can be out tra

A gameshow is a sandbox. No contestant will end up bankrupt as part of the show. The worst possible case is winning nothing. While the contestant can be out travel costs and opportunity costs, those are not part of the game itself. Therefore I don't think it really includes a risk of ruin. Now, if the expected value were awarded at each stage, and had to be reported as taxable income, and losing the show required that the contestant pay back the money but still had to pay the taxes, than that would have a real risk of ruin.