Biggest Winner Record Holders Daytime

[tpiradam]

Christmas Eve has had two DSWs in recent records: $72,750 and $101,244. Neither were record winnings.

[ThatDonGuy]

Wasn't there a Christmas Eve showcase one year that included an $80,000 car - I want to say a Lexus - and had a DSW (and a 6-digit total as a result)? I thought it was before 2006.

Turns out that it was Vicky Ann's win that I was thinking of, and (a) it was a season premiere, not Christmas Eve, and (b) it was a Viper, not a Lexus.

[mellongraig]

Seeing this gets me wondering... Scott, if you see this, would you know what the biggest winning total was for the 1972-1980 nighttime run?


It can't compete with a nighttime special. However...

Unsurprisingly, the "highest winnings" record was set eight different times during the first syndicated season as the show learned how to use its prize budget. After that, the record would go to a new contestant somewhere between zero and two times each season.

The biggest winner of the original syndicated series was crowned during the show's final season, when a single contestant won $35,142 in prizes.

Was there a winnings limit on that version, or did the winnings limit rule not apply even though the show was now on CBS O&Os in the final season? I know by this point CBS did have a $25,000 winnings limit but contestants could keep up to $10,000 more over the limit (up to $35,000 total).

[ThatDonGuy]

Was there a winnings limit on that version, or did the winnings limit rule not apply even though the show was now on CBS O&Os in the final season? I know by this point CBS did have a $25,000 winnings limit but contestants could keep up to $10,000 more over the limit (up to $35,000 total).

Was it a "hard limit"? I thought CBS had switched to a "soft limit" (you were retired if you won more than $25,000, but you could keep everything you won) by then - Whew! and Beat the Clock had contestants with announced winnings of over $25,000.

[FPGWillyT]

Wasn’t there a showcase North of $90,000 on Bob’s last show?  Pretty sure I’m right…

[DylanBe]

Wasn’t there a showcase North of $90,000 on Bob’s last show?  Pretty sure I’m right…

You're right. Denise's winning showcase was $90,761, with her bid being $84,823, with a difference of $5,938. Her final total ended up being $140,235.

[tpcrotty2]

Update:

Daytime:
Paul, 9/4/1972, $4,328
Terry, 9/15/1972, $6,094
Kimiline, 8/28/1975, $13,810
Christy, 11/3/1975, $15,157
John, 5/8/1984, $39,518
Diana, 12/5/1984, $41,571
Pamela, 2/17/1986, $54,772
Douglas, 2/4/1988, $58,523
Laura, 1/4/1990, $65,272
Susan, 2/12/1990, ~$76,000
Danielle, 1/13/1992, $88,865
Amy, 3/1/2004, $97,130
Vicky-Ann, 9/18/2006, $147,517

Primetime:
Robert, 8/14/1986, $27,737
Joseph, 8/21/1986, $61,289
Angela, 8/23/1996, $121,608
Thomas, 7/12/2002, $127,660
Derone, 5/3/2003, $160,118
Daniel, 12/13/2003, $178,999
Sheena, 4/16/2005, $183,684

Any video out there of Douglas?

[TheVNTPIRFan]

I am fully aware this is a 6-month bump, but I have just found some stuff to add to the discussion here.

I've been curious about this myself. I remember seeing a WinTV episode from 1977 or 78 on YouTube a while back where Bob mentions at the top of the show that a contestant broke the record the previous day, but I can't find it or remember what that total was.

It was the February 3, 1977 episode where Bob mentioned the contestant who broke the record with $23,457 the day before.

In addition, here are some more record holders that I found:

Dee, September 11, 1972, $4,442
Doug, September 13, 1972, $5,060
Pam, October 23, 1972, $6,623
Barbara, December 20, 1972, $7,446
N/A, February 2, 1977, $23,457
N/A, November 5, 1980, $27,395

The four from 1972 were checked manually through tpirepguide. The one from November 5, 1980 was confirmed by Bob at the beginning of the following episode.

Here's three from the Carey era:

Sheree, December 30, 2013, $170,345
Christen, October 28, 2016, $213,876
Michael, October 14, 2019, $262,743

And lastly, for primetime, one from one of Drew's Million Dollar Spectaculars:

Adam, February 22, 2008, $1,153,908