A famous competitor on the American gameshow Press Your Luck. Michael had spent a long time studying previous contestants on the show and had noticed that the game could be manipulated to win repeatedly. One of the rounds required contestants to press a button to stop a light on a randomised space on a board, but the sequence the light took around the board was actually predetermined. By memorising the sequence, Michael was able to stop the light on money winning squares every time. The rules of the game allowed further attempts after a successful stop, so Michael continued winning until he had accrued over $110,000 in prizes, 3 times more than any other gameshow contestant had ever won at that point in time.

As he had not broken any rules, he was allowed to keep the prize money, although he ended up losing significant amounts of it in a burglary, failed investments and legally dubious get-rich-quick schemes. Michael died in 1999 of throat cancer aged 49.