Figured it was about time I joined

Hey there, Eugene! Glad to see you join the boards at last, and looking forward to hearing from you more in the future!

Welcome to the boards, Eugene!

Sorry to hear that you didn't do so well on your episode. But I'm glad that you still had fun. In my opinion, I think that's what is most important. You seemed to be quite a character, too!

If you're interested, you should definitely give our Daily Puzzle Game a try. Also, once we relaunch our "Game On!" section, you should check out some of our mock Wheel of Fortune games there.

Oh, by the way, I'm from the Houston area too!

And there's BAV contestant #100.

Welcone aboard, Eugene! I remember watching you on TPIR recently (was it last year?) and thinking, "This guy's fun to watch." Remind us what you won there again?

Welcome to the boards, Eugene! You sure showed a lot of enthusiasm on the show, even though you ended up with nothing. At least you had a great time on the show. Did you leave with some "lovely parting gifts"?

Lemme tell you something. Back in September of 2003, I went to see a taping of The Price is Right TWICE, in attempt to being called on down to contestants' row. Sadly, no luck. At least I got to meet Bob Barker, and get his autograph on the back of my T-shirt. In fact, I still have it at home someplace, along with my nametag. At least it was a fun experience seeing the show in person.

Still, you were lucky to be on two great game shows, and spin two famous wheels. Wheel of Fortune in 1998, and The Price is Right in 2014. Wow. 16 years apart. Being on national TV was the very fun part for you, I'm sure. You had one heck of an experience on TPIR, although you lost on Squeeze Play, and the Showcase Showdown. At least you won something in contestants' row. That's better than nothing.

wheelgenius and genius2751 thx for your kind words! I occasionally wonder how I would've faired if I played the modern version of the game with elements that favor good puzzle solvers, such as Tossups, Prize Puzzle, Express. I aced the written test at my audition and I believe I knew the solutions to all the puzzles in my game before the other players did except for the last one where it was a tie between me and the winner. I'm not the best puzzle solver by any means, but good enough such that I probably would've solved at least one puzzle had I played the game today. Unless of course I played against two members of the Epic Solvers Club and hit LAT or Bankrupt on every spin!

I dream about being given a second chance during a special Redemption Week of shows, even if only for charity, but at the same time I realize that so many people want to play the game and thus it's selfish of me to want another crack at it. And this is why I enjoy every chance I get to help others in their quests to get on the show and play the game well in whatever way I can.

In case you've never seen these, here's a video clip about my Wheelmobile experience in 1998:

youtu.be/qjmDCKSe1vI

And my subsequent audition:

youtu.be/Gz1jaESw1po

I was in shock when the story aired. Had no idea they were going to do that! Was a HUGE confidence booster in getting selected as a contestant. How could they turn me down after our local Wheel affiliate said I should get picked?

Yeah, the Wheelmobile was very different back then. For the Houston auditions, you had to be one of the first 200 in line at designated locations around the city to have a chance to be selected for an audition. There was no stage show whatsoever. Each of the first 200 got to spin the prize wheel and submit an index card application. From the thousands of applicants, they picked several hundred for auditions at a hotel ballroom like the ones they do today. We were told they picked at random, but I suspect some who were noticed by Wheelmobile staff may have gotten specially selected.