In April 1993, a then 23-year-old office supply salesman was plucked form the audience at halftime of a Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls game and given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he could make a 75-foot basket from across the court he could win $1 million dollars. So, from the foul line at the opposite end of the court Don Calhoun took the ball, loaded up, and took his shot.
Nothing but net.
“The Calhoun Shot”, as it’s now known, was, essentially, a million-dollar freeroll. No harm if he missed, an “overnight millionaire” if he hit – and Don cashed in.
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This December, the World Poker Tour is bringing that same energy to the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in the form of the largest freeroll in poker history – a $5,000,000 freeroll to kick-off and help promote WPT’s latest online poker offering: ClubWPT Gold.
Two thousand poker players are going to win a seat into this massive giveaway, and like Don Calhoun, one of them will walk away with a first-place prize of $1,000,000.
“These couples have all become instant millionaires on the richest game in television…”
That was the intro on the 1986 game show ‘The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime’, the first game show credited with offering a million-dollar top prize. The little-known, short-lived show pitted couples against each other in a series of reverse Wheel of Fortune word puzzles where if they won three episodes in a row, including tougher bonus rounds, they took home $1 million. ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ didn’t last long, just two seasons where nine couples walked with a million.
More than a decade later, in August of 1999, ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ aired in the United States every day for two weeks. The allure of regular people answering trivia questions in an effort to climb the money ladder to reach the million-dollar question drew roughly 30 million viewers a night. It was 25 years ago that John Carpenter, a 31-year-old IRS agent, was the first to win the show becoming “the biggest money winner in television history” famously using his “phone-a-friend” lifeline to call his parents and telling them live on-air that he was about to win the million.
Despite it being “a hell of a lot of money”, Carpenter kept his job but admitted to People Magazine that the money “makes it easier” to focus on family.
Right on the heels of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, reality TV royalty ‘Survivor’ premiered in May of 2000. The first reality show to offer a one million dollar first-place prize has become not just a cultural touchstone but helped usher in a new era where both game and reality competitions would separate themselves as high-stakes by offering the $1,000,000 top prize.
‘Survivor’ pushed the boundaries for what contestants would be willing to go through to win a million. More than word puzzles or trivia, these players were given the Castaway treatment seemingly left to fend for themselves on an island.
What was true then, remains true – people will do a lot to get a shot at a million. Cite inflation all you’d like, becoming a millionaire still means something and it’s a figure that, for many, remains life-changing. At the very least, it’s financial security and for poker players specifically – an incredible bankroll boost.
Case in point is ‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ winner, and frequent poker player, Tyson Apostol who in his third attempt on the show outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted the competition to score his found million-dollar payday.
“I will probably try to wisely invest it and make it last as long as possible so that I can kick back at bit,” Apostol told Entertainment Weekly after his win. “I don;t care about fancy cars, maybe a bicycle. I’m more of a bicycle guy than a car guy. The only reason I would buy a car is to make my car guy friends jealous.”
Whether it’s spending more than a month on an island in the Philippines or having an endless well of trivia knowledge to call upon, winning a million rarely comes easy. Mark Pate took on a challenge from YouTuber Jimmy ‘Mr. Beast’ Donaldson in which he stood for nearly 48 hours with his hand on a glass cube filled with cash, outlasting three other competitors in the video entitled “Last To Take Hand Off $1,000,000 Keeps It.” Shortly thereafter, Pate was charged by Mr. Beast to spend as much of it as he could in 24 hours.
“I’m very grateful,” Pate said on camera. “Like highly humble and grateful about this whole entire thing. I have never experienced anything like this in my life.”
In the subsequent video Pate could be seen splurging on electronics for himself and his extended family, buying a new ring for his wife, getting two new cars, and even a new house.
Today, even though those million-dollar prizes are more common on TV, they remain the gold standard figure for generating eye-popping excitement over a project even as reality competitions like ‘Deal or No Deal Island’ and game shows like ‘The Wall’ are pushing prizes to new heights.
In a sense, setting a new bar is also what is taking place in poker at the WPT World Championship at the Wynn this December. It’s a record-setting, poker-history-making $5 million freeroll where the winner will take home seven figures. Add to that 100 seats to the $10K buy-in WPT World Championship are scheduled to be given away, offering those who land a seat a second shot at a seven-figure payday.
Chances like this don’t come around very often and it’ll likely be the closest chance any of those who win a Golden Passport will come to having a “Calhoun Shot” of their own and a chance at becoming an overnight millionaire.