CBS capped winnings at $75,000
After Larson's win, CBS instituted a $75,000 cap on contestant winnings to prevent a repeat of his $110,000-plus haul.
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The Aftermath: CBS Investigates, Then Quietly Fixes the Show
At 37:00 · chapter starts 36:05
In the immediate aftermath of the taping, CBS executives were torn between embarrassment, admiration, and legal anxiety. The network seriously considered not airing Larson's run, fearing the appearance of a cheating scandal [1] — Host "What he did was legitimate. It was like being a card counter at blackjack. After all, nowhere in the rules did it say that you couldn't pay…" 36:35 . But the investigation that followed was swift and unambiguous: Larson had done nothing prohibited by the rules. He had simply paid very close attention. One game show executive later articulated the consensus clearly: 'What he did was legitimate. It was like being a card counter at blackjack. After all, nowhere in the rules did it say that you couldn't pay attention.' Quietly, CBS moved to close the vulnerability. The prize board's patterns were increased from 5 to 32. A $75,000 contestant winnings cap was instituted. In June 1984, the network reluctantly broadcast Larson's episode as a two-part special — it was, after all, too spectacular to suppress entirely — then immediately stashed it away, refusing to rerun it. Press Your Luck ran for three more seasons. Despite rumors, the show's eventual cancellation was not caused by Larson's win; his episode actually caused ratings to spike. The uncut footage didn't officially resurface until 2003, when the Game Show Network aired the documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, narrated by Peter Tomarken.
Patterns increased to 32 after win
After Larson's win, CBS quietly increased the number of prize board patterns from 5 to 32 to prevent anyone from replicating his strategy.
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