Freehold Man Wins Record $262K On 'The Price Is Right'

FREEHOLD, NJ — A Freehold man has become the biggest winner in the daytime history of The Price is Right, taking home more than $262,000 in cash and prizes.

Michael Stouber was the big winner on Monday's episode of the long-running CBS game show, News 12 New Jersey reported.

Wearing a T-shirt that said "Plinko is my cardio," Stouber was the fourth of the first four contestants called from the audience, and won his way on stage by bidding the closest on the first prize of the day, a $1,475 diamond tennis bracelet.

That earned him the chance to play Plinko. The show's theme is "Big Money Week," so the Plinko game this week was worth $1 million. Stouber guessed right on three of the four prizes, winning three chips to go along with the one host Drew Carey handed him to start the game. And when Stouber reached the top and released his first chip, it landed right in the $200,000 spot in the middle of the board. He ended up winning $202,000 on the game.

Stouber advanced through the Showcase Showdown, spinning 85 cents on the wheel to move on.

During the Showcase round, the final big-prize portion of the show, Stouber had the option of choosing to bid on the first prize package, which included a trip to China and a Toyota, but passed.

Instead he bid on the second package, which included a trip to Fiji and a Nissan Sentra. When Carey announced the totals, Stouber's bid of $27,200 was $2,246 below the value of his prize package, putting him closer to its price than his competitor, who bid $26,500 on the car and China package that was worth more than $38,000.

In addition to winning the Showcase package, Stouber received a bonus prize of $29,657, which represented the total value of other prizes given away during the show, for a grand total of $262,743, according to CBS.

Carey said the prize total was the biggest in the history of the show, which started in 1956 and was revamped in 1974. Carey took over for longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.

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