Bartender on 'Wheel of Fortune' wins $72,000 and reveals the wholesome way he's gonna spend it

People are known to win big in cash, holidays, and cars on “Wheel of Fortune,” but few of them ever reveal their plans for making the most of these rewards. But according to a report in TV Insider, one contestant named Mike Gaethke from Milwaukee, who worked as a bartender, shared how he was playing to make dreams come true for his daughters.

Gaethke, who was also a guitarist in a band called Tallboy, first won a toss-up, which gave him $2000, even before playing the first puzzle of the show, which he solved to win a Disney Princess Experience. This also increased the value of his prizes to $14,700, however, luck was not always on his side over the course of the episode.

Gaethke picked up the Mystery Wedge in the second puzzle and could have won $10,000. However, his competitor Tiara Reed got that puzzle right. But after that, his gameplay got stronger, and Gaethke solved the Prize Puzzle correctly to win a trip to the Disney Aulani Resort, increasing his purse value to $29,298. The bartender also solved two of the three Triple Toss-Up puzzles correctly, earning an additional $4000. At the end of it all, Gaethke walked away as the night’s big winner with $32,298 in cash and prizes. He had the chance to increase his earnings by more than double in the Bonus Round. He picked the What Are You Doing category and seemed like a confident man.

The contestant was first given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. After these letters were revealed, the puzzle read, “__R__N_ _N _ __R_.” Gaethke then had to pick three consonants and one vowel. He decided to choose the letters C, M, P, and A. These were decent choices, and after they were revealed, the puzzle read, “_ _ R_ _N_   _N  A  _ARM.”

The contestant looked at host Ryan Seacrest once before answering, “Working on a farm.” That was the correct answer, and he had won an additional $40,000. “Let’s go!” he screamed as the host said, “You like to celebrate?” You should after all of that.” His total in winnings came up to a whopping $72,298. As for what he intended to do with the prizes, the father had mentioned before the Bonus Round that his daughters would be going on the Disney trips.

The rest of the money he won was to be spent on a shopping spree for his kids and a new guitar for himself. “It was crazy, I didn’t expect it to happen, I was just happy going and having the experience, and the money was just a bonus. I was pleased with my performance, I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much,” Gaethke added.