'Price is Right' contestant makes history with $262,000 prize money — but there was a catch involved

Contestants at gameshows use a mix of luck, knowledge, and skills to win cash among other prizes that they only dream of bagging at once in everyday life. "The Price is Right" is one of the most loved shows on TV, and this is evident from its 60-year-long run. While there's no limit to how much one can dream of winning there, Mike Stouber earned the highest ever reward on "The Price is Right," which was $263,000 in cash and prizes according to NJ.com. But there was a catch: he told the outlet that he was forced to keep his historic win a secret, which wasn't easy at all. 

Back in 2019, Stouber was sitting in the audience, wearing a T-shirt that said "Plinko is my cardio," when he was called to participate in the game. He was the fourth person to be called from the audience and won his way onto the stage with the closest bid for a $1,475 diamond tennis bracelet. He then earned the chance to play his favorite game 'Plinko,' in which contestants must guess the prices of small prizes to earn Plinko chips. Since the show's theme was "Big Money Week," the prizes in the game were worth $1 million.

Stouber nailed the guesses for three out of the four prizes to win three chips and went on to play the game with Drew Carey. As he released his first chip, it landed in the $200,000 at the center of the board, winning him $202,000.

He then moved on to the Showcase Showdown, the final big-prize segment of the show. Stouber had the option of bidding on either a trip to China and a Toyota, or a trip to Fiji and a Nissan Sentra. He chose the latter and his bid of $27,200 was closest to the actual price of the package.

Along with the Showcase package, Stouber received a bonus prize of $29,657, netting him a total of $262,743 in prizes, according to CBS. Carey confirmed that the prize total was the biggest in the 63 years of the show. 

A Task More Challenging Than Winning

For the Freehold resident, winning the largest prize in the show's history was easier than keeping it a secret. As per NJ.com, while the taping of Stouber's win took place in September, the show was scheduled to be aired in October. Hence, he was told that he wouldn't get the money until the episode was broadcast and he couldn't tell people about it either.

“It was the hardest secret I’ve ever had to keep,” Stouber told NJ Advance Media. Stouber and his wife, ultimately organized a viewing party of 20 or so friends and family members at their Freehold home, on the day that the episode was aired. Stouber told the publication that he gathered everyone in the room and said “something amazing happened” on his California trip, without giving away any details until they watched the episode. 

After the episode was over, Stouber revealed that the winnings were on the way and they’ll plan the trip to Fiji soon. Stouber said while they planned to invest most of the money, he would have preferred to have a Ferrari in his garage. He also planned to splurge a little on a screening room for his basement, but securing his family’s future was the priority.