‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Debate ‘Maddening’ Mistake Players Make

Spinning is the name of the game. Wheel of Fortune fans are torn between a common error that contestants make that costs them money.

A Reddit user asked, “Why do contestants spin once then solve (especially when it’s obvious with only a letter or 2 left)?”

If a contestant solves the puzzle and doesn’t guess any letters, they get $1,000 for solving, but if they know it and guess a letter, they get $1,000, plus whatever they spin on the wheel in their bank.

“If the puzzle is known, why not solve and take the $1000. Spinning once, more than likely, won’t get you more than that. Maybe 2 or 3 spots will,” they added. “I say if you spin once when you know the puzzle, you might as well do it twice to get over $1000.”

This happened on the February 17 episode during the Prize Puzzle round. Hope Kurtz spun once, guessed an “S,” then spun again and got two “N’s.” When the puzzle looked like “REST _N_ RE_ _ _ _ T_ _N,” Kurtz solved “Rest and Relaxation” instead of trying to go for more letters. However, the game show contestant might have been afraid to spin anymore, as she and her fellow players all landed on Bankrupt multiple times in the previous round.

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Reddit users debated if it was a smart move or not. “I screamed so loudly at the tv last night that my mom thought something was wrong with me. She was so worried The puzzles were so obvious and yet they took FOREVER to solve,” one said.

“I would say the biggest reason would be they might not know it yet. I don’t like people needlessly buying vowels when the solution is obvious. But yeah, spinning once when you have no money and the solution is obvious doesn’t make much sense,” another reasoned.

“Yet another maddening consistency among many, many Wheel players,” a third added.

“Right there with you on your thoughts! I ‘talked’ to the TV way more than usual at tonight’s episode,” another said.

What do you think of this mistake? Let us know in the comments.

Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock

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