Game Show Commits $800,000 Goof
Couple loses $800,000 in winnings when game show wrongly eliminates them.
Dec. 23, 2010 — -- Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayti were just three questions from walking away with nearly a million dollars on the game show "Million Dollar Money Drop" when disaster hit.
"We went all the way and had close to a million dollars left," Okoye said.
The couple had $880,000 dollars when they were asked the fifth question in the seven-question game.
Host Kevin Pollak asked the young couple from Los Angeles: "Which of these was sold in stores first?"
The choices: the Macintosh Computer, Sony Walkman or the Post-it note.
Each team on the Fox show is given a million dollars at the start of the high-stakes game. They answer seven questions, each time deciding how much they want to wager on three possible answers. Whatever they wager on the right answer is what they get to keep. Wager nothing on the right answer and they're out of the game.
The couple agonized over how to gamble the $880,000 they'd earned to that point.
"When you get that much [money], even if it's just for a little bit, you make plans and dreams," Mayti said.
The couple planned to use the money for their wedding.
Mayti thought the Walkman was the correct answer. Okoye was convinced that the Post-it note was the correct answer. The two argued for their choices, all while piling heaps of cash on the blocks representing the answers.
Mayti caved and decided to go with her boyfriend and wager more on the Post-it.
"I really went with Gabe's instinct because he's so passionate," she said.
As the clock wound down, the couple bet $80,000 on the Walkman and $800,000 on the Post-it.
They fell to their knees when they heard the answer: the Walkman.
After missing the question and losing nearly a million dollars in a matter of seconds, they blew the rest of the game.
"We walked away with nothing," Mayti said.
"We were running on all cylinders," Okoye said. "After question five, we weren't really focused."
The blogging world is abuzz that Fox stiffed the couple, arguing that the Post-it is the correct answer.
