<P> Most daytime game show top prizes were limited to $25,000 during the 1960s and 1970s, a restriction made for both budgetary concerns and to assuage criticism from scandals that arose surrounding prime - time game shows in the 1950s . The single day record for shows in daytime television was set by Michael Larson in 1984, who won $110,237 (equivalent to $260,000 in 2017) on Press Your Luck . Larson achieved his record by memorizing the show's board patterns . He repeatedly hit the board's squares that awarded contestants money and an additional spin . That spin would in turn replace the spin he had just used, effectively allowing him to spin the board in the second round as long as wanted . Because of this, his game had to be split into two episodes (which aired June 8 and June 11, 1984), as his turn caused the game to go well over the show's half - hour allotted time . At the time of the show's airing, CBS only allowed contestants to win up to $50,000 on a game show (contestants would retire after winning $25,000); the winnings limit increased to $75,000 in November of that year, and would increase to $100,000 (and later $125,000) before being eliminated in 2006 . In 2003, Game Show Network produced a documentary about the event . </P> <P> In 2006, Larson was succeeded by Vickyann Chrobak - Sadowski, who set the record by winning $147,517 (equivalent to $179,000 in 2017) on the 35th season premiere of The Price Is Right in 2006 . Chrobak - Sadowski's record was later broken by Sheree Heil from her appearance on The Price Is Right in 2013 . She won $170,345 in cash and prizes on the episode that aired December 30, 2013, including an Audi R8 won in the pricing game "Gas Money", $10,000 cash, and Prada shoes . </P> <P> On the October 28, 2016 episode of The Price Is Right, which aired during Big Money Week, Christen Freeman won $210,000 in cash during a playing of Cliff Hangers . During the episode, game rules were modified to offer a top prize of $250,000, which was reduced by $10,000 for every step the mountain climber took . In addition to her One Bid prize and an additional $1,000 won during the Showcase Showdown, Freeman's grand total was $212,879, setting a new daytime record . </P> <P> While the 1950s had multiple big winners (Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren of Twenty One being two of the most notable), Teddy Nadler set the overall record during the 1956--57 television season, who set a record that would stand for the next two decades by winning $264,000 (equivalent to $2,376,000 in 2017) on The $64,000 Challenge . The quiz show scandals of 1958 and 1959 prompted the cancellation of most of the big - budget game shows and the imposition of strict limits on prize amounts, which meant that through the 1960s and 1970s, game show contestants could not match their 1950s counterparts . </P>

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