Michael Larson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Michael Larson

Press Your Luck contestant

Date of Birth: 10-May-1949

Place of Birth: Lebanon, Ohio, United States

Date of Death: 16-Feb-1999

Profession: game show contestant

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Paul Michael Larson (May 10, 1949 – February 16, 1999) was an American contestant on the television game show Press Your Luck in 1984.
Larson is notable for winning $110,237 (equivalent to $266,000 in 2018) in cash and prizes, at the time the largest one-day total ever won on a game show.
He was able to win by memorizing the patterns used on the Press Your Luck game board. Originally from southwestern Ohio, Larson used his cash winnings for taxes and real estate investments.
However, he also had problems with the law and was involved in illegal schemes.
As a result, Larson lost all of his winnings within two years of the show's taping and moved to Florida, where he later died of throat cancer at the age of 49.
Since his death in 1999, Larson's game has re-aired on TV at various times and inspired two Game Show Network documentaries: Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal in 2003 and Cover Story: The Press Your Luck Scandal in 2018.