Where this was said
The Heater: From $0 to $100,000 and the Control Room in Chaos
At 30:20 · chapter starts 23:20
The second prize round began innocuously enough — Larson earned 7 spins in the question round and again went first due to his low money total. His first spin: $4,000 and an extra spin. Then another. Then another. Within 7 straight successful spins he had piled up $19,336 and showed no sign of stopping [1] — Host "As Larson's streak extended past 15 spins and through the allotted episode time, the CBS control room descended into chaos. They couldn't s…" 30:00 . Whammy-fearing contestants traditionally pass their spins to opponents after a few successes. Larson waved that custom away, wagging his finger at host Peter Tomarken as if to say: keep going. He declared, famously, 'I ain't never losin'.' Meanwhile, in the CBS control room, bedlam. Head of daytime programming Michael Brockman would later describe it in exactly those terms. The producers had no mechanism to halt the taping without evidence of overt cheating, and no such evidence existed. The board kept spinning. Larson kept landing on his preferred squares at 12 and 3 o'clock. He passed $37,000 — already a single-day show record. Then $50,000. $60,000. $70,000. $80,000. $90,000. The taping ran past the episode's allotted time limit, something that had never happened before. That's why Larson's run was originally broadcast as a two-part special. The host, Peter Tomarken, was visibly dumbfounded, running out of things to say, watching in something between awe and fear.
After weeks of studying VHS recordings frame by frame, Larson cracked the key vulnerability: two specific squares on the board — at roughly 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock — never held whammies. Only cash and extra spins. He aimed for those two squares on every turn.
Larson identified two specific squares on the Press Your Luck board — positioned at roughly 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock — that never held whammies, only cash and extra spins.
As Larson's streak extended past 15 spins and through the allotted episode time, the CBS control room descended into chaos. They couldn't spot obvious cheating, so the show went on. The taping ran so long it had to be broadcast as a two-part special — a first in the show's history.
