PLEASE NOTE: This site does not contain rules to any of the games mentioned here. It is assumed that the reader already has a basic knowledge of these games. Also, this website is a compilation of other first-hand resources, and all sources are given credit as needed.

Purpose of this Site

These pages serve as a reference to the board configurations used throughout the three years on Press Your Luck, as well as its prequel Second Chance, and its remake on GSN, Whammy! No other information is covered here, because there are many other excellent PYL websites that do a much better job than I could have! But the information that is on this site has been formatted for research, with as much detail as possible, while still being readable. All board configurations have been presented graphically with the appropriate background colors (when possible) and Whammy poses. A system of footnotes is used to indicate changes made to the board during the show's run. In addition, a statistical summary is included with each board, with the estimated value of the board along with a count of each kind of square on the board, and its probability of being hit.

How to Read a Board

Reading the squares: There are 3 stripes in each square, corresponding to the 3 values that can appear there. According to this chart, the upper-left corner contained an indigo $700, a blue $1400, and a Whammy standing as pictured. A large +S beside a value indicates an extra spin. Because prizes came in a few different colors, they are given a gray background here. Some of the values have footnotes beside them (see the lower-left corner for an example: the v+ is a footnote) and are dealt with separately. Please be aware of the numbering scheme used on this page: Square 1 is located in the upper-left corner of the board, and the square number increases going clockwise. (Whammy!, due to its oddly-shaped board, has a different numbering scheme.)

Reading the commentary: In the center of the board is commentary about the changes made. The upper-right corner shows the dates in which the given configuration was active (in this case, from December 5 to 9, 1983). Each board is given a title in an attempt to describe better what general change has occurred. Below the title is a list of changes to look for. Please be aware of the following abbreviations used here: [n] means "square n" (so [6] is shorthand for "square 6", [P] means "prize squares", etc.). Rn means "round n", so R1 stands for "round 1".

Reading the Statistics Panel: This is dealt with below.

Explanation of Footnotes

In order to easily track what changes occurred on the board and where, a system of footnotes was employed. Here is a corner taken from a sample board:

$1250	$750	$500
$1500	Prize	$1000
$2500		Prize
$500+S
$750+S
$1000+S

Let's suppose some changes were made...

$1400v+	$500(3	$750(2
$1500	$650v	$1000
$2250v-		Prize
$500+Sc
$750+S
$1000s

There are four kinds of footnotes used on these pages:

• Color changes are indicated with a c. See the bottom square for an example -- the chartreuse $500+S has become green, but its value stays the same.
• Value changes are indicated with a v. See square 1 for an example -- the $1250 has risen in value to become $1400 while the $2500 has dropped in value to become $2250. In both cases a sign is added to indicate whether the value has increased or decreased. Square 2 is a special case of a value change. Because a prize has changed into a cash square, it is nonsense to show its rise or fall; the value of the prize depends on what particular one was occupying the square at the moment. Here a simple v is used without a suffix. A value change implies a color change -- see how the color has changed (subtly) in the first square, but the c indicator is not used.
• Spin status changes (that is, when an extra spin has been added or dropped from a slide) are indicated with an s. No plus/minus suffix is used (nor is it necessary as it can be inferred from the context). See the bottom square for an example -- the $1000+S has lost its extra spin to become an ordinary $1000. This footnote may appear with the c or the v.
• Slide swaps are indicated as (n, where n is the square number in which the slide was previously used. See squares 2 and 3 for an example -- the $500 had previously been in square 3 while the $750 was in square 2. This footnote always appears by itself.

Asterisks are also used to indicate additional information exists in the comment section for that board.

Explanation of the Statistics Pane
(or: Why? Why on earth?)

In addition to showing what the board would have looked like, some may like to also know what the "value" of the board would have been. The host would often say at the beginning of round two that there was "over $100,000 up on the board," although there was never any mention on how that value was calculated; the assumption is that one takes all the cash slides and all the prize slides and adds them together to reach the value of the board. But, as you will see, there are quite a few difficulties in reaching a figure.

This also raises another question: Why bother? This "value" of the board appears to be nothing more than an statistical abstraction -- this value certainly is no jackpot that any player can walk away with, and it is theoretically possible for a player to earn more than the "value" of the board in a single game (imagine if Michael Larson, who had already earned the value of the board, had the ability to take another 5 or more spins, putting his total at around $150,000). So this information doesn't appear to have any practical significance, for now.

My answer is this: throughout the course of the show's run, one can see how lower amounts on the board get replaced by higher ones, or higher amounts get replaced by lower ones (some speak of how the board "went cheap" during the third season of PYL). How are we to know how significant each change is? The only satisfactory way to measure the "value" of the board each time, and note the changes from one configuration to the next.

As mentioned above, there are inherent difficulties in determining the board's value -- in fact, as noted below, it is impossible to reach an exact figure. The calculated totals are nothing more than estimates. Here is how the figures are calculated and the difficulties found in the process:

Cash: This is the easiest figure to come up with. I took each cash slide on the board and added them together to come up with the Cash Value of the board.

Prizes: This is where the first difficulty sets in. The total Prize Value of the board changes from episode to episode -- and even within the same episode! Suppose a $1200 Trip to Mexico was just hit, and the prize that replaces it is a $6500+ Mediterranean Cruise! The board has just increased in value by at least $5300, and it will likely drop when the cruise is hit. The only way that one can come up with a reasonably accurate value for the board is if one lists what the board value was for every prize configuration that ever existed. This information wouldn't be useful for this page; we only want to know how certain board changes effected the general value of the board.

Therefore, the Prize Value is determined by finding the average cash value and multiplying it by the number of prize squares on the board (total Cash Value * number of prize squares / number of cash squares, or PrEst = [P] * (Cash / [$T]), see below for an explanation of the abbreviations used). The assumption made is that the average value of a prize is equal to the average value of a cash square.

Directional Squares: This entry may also cause a bit of controversy. I never intended to give value to directional squares (such as "Move One Space" or "Big Bucks") until I was calculating the board value when Pick-A-Corner first made an appearance. As you can see, the value dropped dramatically -- $6500 in cash. But it seemed that the Pick-A-Corner square added some value to the board; that is, it didn't seem to have a value of $0, because when one hit Pick-A-Corner, they still got some kind of reward. Suppose that a $500 slide was replaced by a second Big Bucks slide in round two. My calculations would have to show that the board value dropped $500, but if one hits the new Big Bucks square, wouldn't the contestant receive $3000-$5000 instead of the previous $500? This ought to be included in the calculations somehow.

The value for directional squares is determined by finding the average value of all the possible outcomes. For example, refer to this early board from round two. If one hit the Move One Space slide in square 1, the possible outcomes would be: $500, $650, Prize, $100, $200, and $300 (extra spins being ignored). The total value of these outcomes is $2170 (the prize is estimated to be worth $420, see above). The sum is divided by 6 (the total number of outcomes) and the result is about $362. Therefore the estimated value of Move One Space is $362. Each directional square is calculated in the same way, and the sum of all these squares determine the total Directional Value of the board.

Here is a sample Statistics Pane, and how to interpret it:

PLEASE NOTE: These panes were never intended to be read straight through like a book! Rather, if you are curious about, say, how many extra spins were on the board at a particular point (the number tended to go up during the show's run), you can just glance over to [$+] and see for yourself without having to count them up. I certainly don't discourage reading every single detail, but please don't feel that you must.