'Wheel of Fortune' player gets rare second shot at big win after producers realized their mistake
The player also posted on Instagram to express gratitude for the opportunity.
July 20 2025, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans are often outraged about players losing out on big prizes due to blunders by the host. But very rarely does it happen that a contestant gets another shot at the prize after the show's producers realize their mistake. A player named David Avelsgard came in second and walked away with $14,000 cash and a luxurious trip to Mexico during his appearance on the show. However, he was later told that he was entitled to a more expensive trip to Antigua. The show's producers had goofed up, and since the episode was already taped, they couldn't make the changes.
According to Newsweek, a former player named Rob (@WheelRob10) explained what exactly transpired on X. "From what I have heard, the 'scoring error' on David's first episode was that he was accidentally awarded the wrong Prize Puzzle trip, and the value of the trip he should have won might have been enough for him to win, since he had placed a close second. The trip he was awarded on screen was a $7,350 trip to Mexico, which was the exact same trip that was awarded on the very next episode. This wasn't realized until after the episode had already taped," he revealed in a series of tweets.
Rob further added, "Note that Prize Puzzle trips start at $7,000, so it's very likely the intended trip, whatever it was, was worth more. Half the time, they're over $10K now. I heard that the trip he was awarded in the studio was Antigua, 'An-Tee-Gah,' north of 9k, and they edited in the Mexico trip in post production when they realized the error. I believe they dubbed in "Mexico" as they panned away from Pat, the camera was on David. So, I think they credited David the Mexico trip money of just over 7k, but they read Antigua in the studio, and stated it was approx $9400."
Avelsgard missed the Bonus Round by $550 due to the mixup. A Reddit user @RAS310 further claimed that, "I've been exchanging DM's with David himself on Instagram. On his first episode (which, coincidentally, reran just nine days ago), they did say he won a trip to Mexico worth $7,350, and it was added to his score correctly. The show found out about the mistake about a month after the episode was taped, but still before it aired. They called him, explained the mistake (they did say how much the Antigua trip was worth, but he forgot how much), and told him they would give him a choice of taking the Mexico trip or Antigua trip (he chose Mexico) and that he would be invited back in the future."
During his second chance, the contestant took home $7,650, and he later posted a message of gratitude on Instagram, thanking the game show and the hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White for making his childhood dream come true. "I’m very fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to experience something like this twice!"
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