Monday, May 6, 2024
I don’t consider myself to be a particularly lucky person. If you knew my extensive history of failed relationships before randomly finding JP on Facebook dating, you would understand.
But I digress.
Two weeks ago, I found myself surrounded by a surprising burst of sheer luck when my dad happened to win four tickets to Wheel of Fortune LIVE.
In Wheel of Fortune LIVE, America’s Game travels all over the United States to various venues where contestants are randomly selected from the audience to spin a replica of the iconic Wheel, solve puzzles and win incredible prizes, like trips to Paris and Hawaii or big money — up to $10,000 in cash. Audience members can also join in on the fun with interactive games and puzzles, according to wheeloffortunelive.com.
My mom randomly woke up one morning at 3 a.m., turned on the news, and saw a segment detailing how five people would win four tickets to see Wheel of Fortune LIVE in Grand Prairie at the Texas Trust CU Theatre Saturday, Dec. 16.
I didn’t think much of it at the time. I entered mine and JP’s name and my mom entered her and my dad’s name, and I basically forgot about the entire ordeal — until my dad texted me Thursday, Dec. 7, revealing he was one of the ticket winners!
After some disbelief, with me thinking my dad was hardcore pranking me, we realized the tickets were real.
So, the four of us traveled to Grand Prairie — with no idea of the adventures that awaited us.
Wheel of Fortune LIVE is almost exactly like the real game show that airs on TV — except it isn’t televised, it doesn’t take place in California, the contestants solve puzzles to win points instead of cash, and Pat Sajak and Vanna White are not present during the competition. But other than that, it’s really close to the real thing!
Hosted by Mark L. Wahlberg — no, not that one — audience members are randomly called onstage to compete against two other contestants in a total of three rounds.
Before the show, attendees were given the option to sign up to participate as a contestant. Although my mom wasn’t interested in going onstage, JP, my dad, and I happily threw our hats in the ring.
Once we found our seats and looked onstage, we realized the setup was made to look like the actual Wheel of Fortune set, complete with a virtual puzzle and a gigantic wheel — which we learned later is almost an exact replica of the 2,400-pound wheel on the show.
The announcer began by picking three random contestants out of the audience who participated in the first round.
As the first round began, we realized the concept was almost the same as the game show itself, with contestants spinning the wheel and calling consonants or vowels. But instead of the contestants winning the dollar amount following a successful solving of the puzzle, they were instead awarded points, and the points would help determine the winner following the end of each round.
After the first and second rounds ended with none of our names being called to participate, we started to feel a little bummed out. But then we realized we were in a venue of at least 1,000 people, so the odds that one of us would be called up onstage were extremely slim.
During the final round, we were informed the winners of the first and second rounds would be competing to see who would participate in the bonus round.
But they were still in need of one more contestant. JP, disappointed that three more audience members wouldn’t be called, turned to me and said, “Well, I guess we won’t be called this time.” I sadly agreed and sat back to see the name pop up of the lucky son-of-a-gun who would get a chance to spin the wheel.
Imagine my shock and disbelief when I saw “Ashley Terry” flash across the screen!
As JP and I gasped, my mom was still confused — until she remembered I had gotten married in September and my last name is no longer “Inge.”
I was so shocked and nervous I didn’t even stop to take off my coat before making the trek onstage — something the host, Mark L. Wahlberg, mentioned, suggesting I “stay awhile.”
One of the production assistants started to explain the rules to me, but my heart was beating so quickly, and my mind was racing like a speed horse; I wasn’t paying any attention to what she was saying. Luckily though, I had been watching Wheel of Fortune since I was about 5 years old, so I knew the lay of the game.
The first puzzle I attempted to solve was a Sports Crossword. The announcement elicited groans from my parents and husband as they frankly did not have any faith in me to solve a sports-related puzzle.
But as luck would have it, the puzzle didn’t have anything to do with an athlete or the rules of football. It was a crossword, so I knew the words “uniform,” “ball,” and “scoreboard” already. It was the last word I didn’t know.
As I continued to spin the wheel and rack up points, I apparently landed on a Las Vegas, Nevada trip wedge. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize each contestant essentially had their own pointer they needed to watch when the wheel spun, so I was really confused when the audience started to cheer as I was looking at another contestant’s arrow. The host chuckled and quickly clarified the “correct” pointer to look at, and I realized, “Shoot. I need to solve this.”
When I called out the letter “T,” I finally had that “lightbulb” moment and realized the last word was “team,” leading me to solve the puzzle and win the Las Vegas trip!
I could have solved another puzzle early on, as it was “chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream,” but as the game relied on points instead of money to win, I tried to spin the wheel to at least rack up a few more points. Unfortunately, I landed on “Lose a Turn,” and another contestant ended up solving the puzzle.
The last puzzle in the round was something I wouldn’t have solved in a million years: “professional poker players.” I don’t know squat about poker, but I know JP and my dad were trying to telepathically send me the answer during that puzzle.
I didn’t get the chance to head to the bonus round, but honestly, it didn't matter. Out of every contestant who participated, I was the one who earned the most. Even the gentleman who went to the bonus round only won about $400.
But as for me, I won a four-day, three-night trip to Las Vegas for two, and an additional $200 for playing in the final round.
My total winnings added up to $1,356 and I will be receiving a Delta voucher in the mail sometime in the next few months.
To make matters even more interesting, the production assistant told me I don’t have to travel to Las Vegas if I don’t want to. I can use the voucher and the money for the hotel chain to travel anywhere, as long as it is around the same price.
I’m still reeling from the experience and I’m not sure where my sudden burst of luck came from, but I will say one thing: I won’t be writing about our future trip to Las Vegas anytime soon, because as they say — whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
