Wheel of Fortune fans think that one aspect of the game show maybe should be changed as can drastically impact who wins.
“I don’t think prizes should be added towards contestants’ score totals,” a Reddit user posted. Typically, when a WOF contestant solves a prize puzzle, the amount of the prize, usually a trip, is added to the amount the contestant earned from the letters by solving. This usually puts contestants far in the lead and almost always guarantees them the win.
“It seems unfair to me that whenever someone wins a vacation or something, it frequently puts them instantly into first place. It also removes some of the ‘strategy’ of the wheel. For instance, if scores were closer, someone may risk spinning more rather than solving in order to have enough cash to make the final round. As it stands now, everyone is usually almost overly eager to solve…” the Reddit user continued.
Many fans agreed with the original poster in the comments. “I totally agree,” a fan said.
“I f**king agree,” another wrote.
“They probably have to add it for legal reasons. Taxes on winnings, etc.,” a fan said.
“The inflation economy has kinda broken the prize element. If the wheel numbers don’t inflate, but the value of the trips do, the game is broken,” a fan pointed out.
“When they try to maximize the cash before solving a prize puzzle, it sends me into a rage. Take the damn solve as quickly as possible! I root for Bankrupt at that point,” another commented.
“It does change one thing, though–if someone wins the prize puzzle, the triple toss-up is your last chance to snag the $10k–and the win. You have to stay completely focused and maybe take the risk of a mis-solve. I say this as someone who did it and succeeded,” a fan said.
However, some fans said that they think it’s a good idea, but don’t think the Wheel of Fortune would ever implement the change. “As an alternative, they can start by being more consistent with keeping the prize puzzles to a lower dollar value. This happened a lot in the last couple of weeks of the season, where the prize puzzles were mostly in the $7-8k range, which made it so that the winner didn’t always have a runaway game,” they said.
Another fan said the game show would need to increase the values on the wheel, “otherwise half the time people will be going to the Bonus Round with $8,000 and leave with that if they lose it. That does not look good for this show.”
What do you think of this aspect of the game? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, stream on Hulu and Peacock, Season 44, September 2026