Today in History - June 11 | The game show thought he had cheated. He had just discovered a trick to win big
An unemployed former ice cream van driver was accused of cheating after winning big on a game show that aired on June 11, 1984.
On the US show Press Your Luck, contestants hit their buzzers in the hopes of winning cash from a seemingly randomised game board.
But if the contestant landed on a "Whammy", their winnings would be reduced to zero.
Audiences and producers were perplexed when Larson managed the highly unlikely 45 consecutive spins without landing on a Whammy.
Larson was accused of cheating his way to $US110,237 in prize money ($522,000 in today's money).
But Larson had figured out something other audience members hadn't.
By watching the show frame by frame on a VCR, he spotted a pattern in the seemingly randomised pattern of the game board.
He painstakingly memorised the sequences of the game board.
After an investigation, the network concluded he had not cheated and allowed him to keep the money.
But by the end of the year, Larson had lost a large chunk of his winnings.
A local radio show held a contest for anyone who found one-dollar bills with matching serial numbers.
Larson withdrew $US50,000 in single bills to examine them.
But when he was out at a Christmas party later that night, burglars broke in and stole the money.
The burglary remains unsolved.
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