The Luckiest Man in America

In 1984, an ordinary and unemployed man named Michael Larson defied all odds and etched his name into the history of American television. Larson, a former ice cream truck driver from Ohio, appeared on the popular game show Press Your Luck with an ambition that went far beyond cash prizes and fleeting fame. What no one knew—not the producers, the audience, or even his fellow contestants—was that Michael had discovered a secret capable of guaranteeing him an endless winning streak.

Press Your Luck, broadcast by CBS, was based on a seemingly random dynamic in which contestants pressed a button to stop a flashing light that moved around a prize board. The goal was to avoid landing on the dreaded “Whammy,” a mischievous animated character that would wipe out all accumulated winnings. For the average viewer, the game seemed unpredictable. But Michael Larson had spent months recording episodes and carefully studying the patterns on the board. He discovered that, in reality, the lights followed a fixed sequence. By memorizing the exact movements, he prepared himself to manipulate the system.

On the day of his appearance, Larson applied his knowledge with astonishing precision. Instead of relying on chance, he pressed the button at just the right moment to consistently land on the highest-value spaces and avoid the Whammies. His winning streak was so extraordinary that he broke the show’s record, winning over $110,000 in a single episode—an unheard-of sum at the time.