Press Your Luck fans floored by 'most painful moment ever' as contestant loses $500K in an instant
A PRESS Your Luck contestant went from nearly $500K, which he could have walked away with, to $0 in just seconds during a recent episode that's floored fans.
Some called it one of the most painful moments on a game show ever.
Press Your Luck - which first premiered in 1983 - was revived in 2019 and is now hosted by Hunger Games star Elizabeth Banks.
Each week, three contestants compete by answering trivia questions to try to win cash and prizes, a grand prize of $1M up for grabs.
During Thursday, July 28th's episode, Zachary Flax got closer than most before he pressed his luck too far.
Instead of walking away with his $433K, he chose to spin one more time.
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Zachary was in the final round of the game show, the Big Bucks Bonanza, and his family urged him to try for it all from the audience (no one has won the lump sum yet).
The curly-haired hopeful forged on, as any single spin at that point would have brought him to his $500K target.
If a player wins $500K or more they are bumped up to the elusive $1M prize.
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'ANYTHING BUT THIS'
On his risky second spin of the special bonus round, Zach yelled: "Big money! Anything but a Whammy!"
The dreaded "Whammy," is an animated figure that literally drives across the screen and fiendishly hauls the players' earnings away.
Zach hit the big red game button and the gamble didn't pay off - that's exactly what happened.
He landed on the devilish Whammy and fell behind his podium in shock - Elizabeth held her hands to her face.
After the animated smoke cleared and the creature on screen laughed, Zach was left with $0.
Elizabeth asked for a round of applause from the gasping audience.
"Nobody becomes a millionaire if they don't stay and you stayed to play," she said, comforting Zach with a hand on his shoulder.
'HE FUMBLED $433K'
Fans were absolutely stunned - technically Zach ended up with $27K but could have had half a million dollars if he had quit while he was ahead.
One wrote on YouTube: "That whammy loss was DEFINITELY one for the history books."
Another wrote: "If his wife and family didn't tell him to Press His Luck, he would've walked away with 2 electric cars and a trip to the North & South pole."
And a third: "Saying Zach earned y’all respect has me befuddled. The man fumbled [almost] $500k for 27k?! Make it make sense."
A fourth wondered: "Why in the blue hell didn't you just say 'thank you and goodnight!' Greed destroys the soul!"
The gameshow blog BuzzerBlog called the tragic turn: "one of the most exciting and painful moments in recent game show memory."
GAME TO WIN?
On Press Your Luck, contestants answer general knowledge trivia questions to earn spins on the board.
For each question, the first to buzz in has a chance to reply.
A correct buzz-in is worth three spins while getting a multiple choice correct afterward is worth one.
After four questions, the game moves over to the Big Board, and eventually an even bigger bonus round for the winner.
Cash and prizes ensue - but as does the aforementioned dreaded Whammy, which takes all earnings away and is to be avoided at all costs, as Zach and many learn the hard way in the feverishly fun game show.
LUCK BE A LADY!
The show airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC and was a hit in the 1980s, ending its run after three seasons in 1986.
It infamously resulted in a scandal in 1984 when an unemployed ice cream truck driver named Michael Larson won big by memorizing the board's patterns.
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Fans are generally thrilled the show is back and is now hosted by Elizabeth - who is a huge fan and used to watch the show growing up per ET.
According to the outlet, she cried tears of joy when she scored the revival gig because it meant so much to her.
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