$100,000 in $1 bills withdrawn
After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five different banks to search for matching serial numbers in a radio station contest.
Where this was said
The Money Disappears: The Radio Contest, the Robbery, and the End of the Marriage
At 38:10 · chapter starts 37:50
Whatever post-win serenity Michael Larson might have enjoyed was short-lived. A Dayton, Ohio radio station was running a serial-number contest: if the serial number on your dollar bill matched the one the DJ read on air, you won $30,000. Larson's response was characteristic: go big or don't bother [1] — Host "After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five banks to hunt for a winning radio serial number. It didn't work. While he and…" 38:00 . He withdrew $100,000 in singles — requiring five separate bank visits to accumulate that many small bills — and he and Teresa spent weeks sifting through the cash looking for the magic serial number. They didn't find it. Eventually they returned half to the bank. The remaining $50,000 in loose bills was still scattered around the house when, one night, they left for a Christmas party. When they returned, the back door had been kicked in and the money was gone. The robbery was never solved. Larson's response to the theft was revealing: he became deeply paranoid, accusing Teresa of orchestrating or enabling the burglary. He began standing at the foot of the bed at night, staring at her while she slept. Teresa, fearing for her safety, left him. He was, she later reflected, out of her life forever.
The $100,000 in Singles: A Robbery, Paranoia, and the End of a Marriage
After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five banks to hunt for a winning radio serial number. It didn't work. While he and Teresa were at a Christmas party, burglars broke in and stole $50,000 in loose bills. The theft destroyed the marriage — Larson accused Teresa of stealing it, and she feared for her life.
$50,000 stolen from Larson's home
Approximately $50,000 in loose cash was stolen from Larson's home while he and his wife Teresa were at a Christmas party.
6 months to memorize all board patterns
In a 1994 Good Morning America interview, Larson claimed it took him 6 months to fully memorize all the Press Your Luck prize board patterns.
From Game Show Winner to Pioneer of Internet Fraud
Larson's post-win life was a spiral of increasingly bold fraud. He ran a multi-level marketing shell company called Pleasure Time Incorporated with bogus Native American lottery investments that allegedly defrauded 20,000 people of $3 million. When the SEC finally caught up with the scheme in 1995, it was the agency's first ever serious internet fraud case.
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