Winning and Losing Big on Wheel of Fortune

I’m a perfectionist. 

Going to tape what would be Season 39, Episode 123 of the iconic game show Wheel of Fortune, I was laser focused. 

About a month prior to that Dec. 15, 2021 day, I got rid of any nerves I had as a stand-by contestant on the show — getting to spin the wheel and sit in the crowd in case someone couldn’t play. 

As someone who deals with a decent amount of anxiety, I didn’t feel any with Wheel. I was ready. I’d watched the word-puzzle-solving show since I was a little kid with my grandma, mom and uncle, and in recent years got back into it from the mobile app, and also started watching again on Netflix. 

After I submitted a video to be on the show (May 2021), auditioned via Zoom (October 2021) and was selected a couple weeks later, I binged every recent episode of the show on YouTube and was absolutely crushing it from my bed.

I was ready.

Two weeks before my official tape day, I shared with friends on Facebook: “Air date will be in February, March or April 2022. I can’t legally tell anyone what I’ve won until then, so just assume it’s the million dollars.”

I was uncharacteristically confident, though for good measure, added, “Wish me luck, good puzzles and calm nerves!”

I think I got two of the three, but the puzzles were simply not in my favor. 

I later realized that if I played the game 100 different times, there’d be 100 different results. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to get every puzzle. You’re playing against good competitors, and sometimes, you just don’t know the answer. 

My prize puzzle, for instance, was “Blooming Bird-of-Paradise.” Luck was on my side, as I had control of the wheel and even got to get on the game’s express train as I wanted. I just didn’t know it… that is, a bird-of-paradise being a flower. Of course, after I learned — and lost out on a trip to Hawaii — I saw them everywhere I walked in L.A. 

Meanwhile, my co-contestants Jorriel and Kelly had dastardly luck with the wheel. Bankrupts and Lose-A-Turns mostly avoided me and went after them throughout the game.

Luck was on my side once again with the triple toss-up category as Food & Drink, each of which ended up being a candy. After getting “chocolate candy,” I was sure my sweet tooth and puzzle-solving skills would get me the $10,000 for cracking all three. Alas, I was slow on the second puzzle and didn’t know the final one in time, so we each ended up with $2,000 apiece. 

There I go again focusing on the negative. I forgot to mention I solved the game’s very first toss-up puzzle “Fun-Loving Folks” and nabbed the first wheel-spinning Same Name puzzle “Slot & Bread Machine” (easy for someone who’s spent a decent amount of time in Vegas). I was on a roll and got the next puzzle, too, before that flower stumped me.

Following my bungled triple toss-up, it was down to the final regular round puzzle. I was nervous because it was really anyone’s game at that point. The scores were too close for me to declare victory. I knew I had to get the puzzle. The pressure was on.

With a photo in my pocket of my grandma and uncle, I could feel the lump in my throat when I solved the phrase: THE END OF A PERFECT DAY.

It sent me to the bonus round and couldn’t have been more fitting. They would have been so proud. I was so proud. My mom was so proud. My dad was so proud.

And so I went. Over to the legendary Pat Sajak, who assured me as he has thousands of contestants before me… “The worst you can do is go home with $17,500.” It was a respectable total, though a bit lighter than I’d expected. (Along with puzzles that fit you, the wheel must cooperate as well.)

With the final category “what are you doing,” I saw the board in front of me read:

_ E _ _ _ N _
_ _ T _ / _ _ _

Uh oh. RSTLNE won’t save you there. I always wanted to be one of those contestants who already knew it and simply plugged in the correct letters. Clearly, I needed some help. 

I went with P, the obvious G, M for my name and A because that’s the vowel I always said I’d go with.

WITH!

That left me with a very respectable:

_ E A M _ N G 
_ _ T _ / _ _ _

I said “Beaming With…” out loud as the 10-second timer counted down. In my head, I was saying “pride.” Even though I knew it couldn’t possibly be up there. Then it's 10 seconds of... OK, it's obviously not that... what about a B for that third word... Beaming With Bob? No, 100% not... and there's your 10 seconds.

Gone. Done. A Wheel of Fortune loser. I melted.

Then Pat looked into the envelope… and I knew it was the $100,000 as soon as he did.

The whole show was like an out of body experience but that last few minutes was next level. Pat and the marvelous Vanna White couldn’t have been nicer and really helped me through the immediacy of what this perfectionist considered a loss. As I walked off, a crew member said something along the lines of, “Boy, we really thought you had that.” Me too.

Though the pain of that non-solve lasted for a little while, it was hard to be upset as everyone's coming up and congratulating you.

I may not have been perfect, but I achieved my goal of not only making it on the show but also winning the game. $100,000 would have been amazing, but like everything, it comes and goes.

I waited three months to see that episode, going over it again and again in my head before the airdate. Did I panic? Maybe I was nervous after all. But then I watched that puzzle that sent me to the bonus round. It was not a given and I had every right to be flustered. But I wasn’t. I got it.

I just didn’t know that final puzzle.

I don’t know if things happen for a reason, but I do know I try to live each day Beaming With Joy. (That’s what it was, by the way.) I’ve got an awful lot to be happy about, even if I am the contestant who broke the historic $100,000 winning streak in Season 39 of Wheel.

Season 40 begins next Monday, Sept. 12. I’d like to offer an early congratulations to all of the contestants who made it on the show. Something like a million people submit a video each year and you’re one of the 20,000-ish contestants there have been over 40 years. Whether you’ve already taped or are anxiously awaiting your date, enjoy it!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank the contestant supervisors Jackie Lamatis (who I auditioned with) and Alex Reeves (who ran the episode I was on). Because of them, all of the players are informed and at ease throughout the whole experience.

There’s still a part of me that thinks I let that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip — mainly when I look at my bank account — and a part of me that thinks I lost on Wheel of Fortune.

The real loss was the many years prior that “I should” submit a video someday (see Facebook post from 2018 below). You should do that now.

Marry the Night and then Beam with Joy. Not bad advice from Gaga or that magical, unexpectedly heavy wheel of fortune.