I’ve been a TV game show fan my entire life. I’ve been able to meet some of the most popular game show hosts on TV, and if an opportunity were to come along in the future, I would love to host one myself. Being an avid watcher, I’ve picked-up on some things and developed some opinions and strategies. Here’s some important (and possibly controversial) advice for you if you ever become for a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune” (which I attended a taping of in 2009):
After years of intense study and research, I believe that contestants should avoid solving the first toss-up puzzle. And here are my five reasons:
1. You only win $1000. The second toss-up is worth $2k and the third an even better $3k, so there’s no reason to peak early.
2. Even if you lose every puzzle and keep hitting Bankrupt the entire show and end up with nothing you’re guaranteed to win $1000. So winning the first toss-up actually gets you nothing.
3. If you do buzz-in but guess incorrectly, that failure could cause you to lose your focus kill your momentum for the rest of the game.
4. Unlike when you correctly solve the second and third toss-ups, you don’t get to spin the wheel first when you get the first toss-up right.
5. What you do get to do is be the first contestant to talk with host Pat Sajak, sharing details of your life with Pat and the world. If you’re not prepared for this (and who is), it could be nerve-wracking and hurt your performance on the rest of the show. It’s much better to have some more time to think about what you’re going to say while Pat’s talking to the other contestants.
So, here’s one case with a game show when winning could really be losing.