He broke the record of the first game show millionaire. He returned to the game and surprised with something else

One of the first television record holders was born in Texas to a German father and a Pakistani mother, and raised in Maine. In 2000’s Twenty One, which revived the 1950s format, he won exactly $1.2 million. However, he did not adhere to the principle according to which it is better to know when the undefeated will leave the stage. When, years later, he decided to return to television, he was immersed in his favorite discipline.

He started off with spectacular success

As part of “Twenty One”, Rahim won four games and an additional 120k. the “Perfect 21” round provided it. The two contestants, usually the returning champion and the challenger, entered separate, soundproofed booths and put on a pair of headphones. This procedure prevented the contestants from seeing and hearing each other and the audience. sounds of laughter and applause were played to prevent the outcome of the opponent’s turn from being known The game was played in rounds, with the leader in each round announcing one of 100 categories The contestant could choose a point value from 1 to 11 depending on the difficulty of the question. depending on the answers, they were added or subtracted, but the score could never fall below 0. The goal was to score a total of 21. If the opponent failed to achieve this score, the other automatically won.

Today, those who remember Rahim’s feat point out that his extraordinary result was mainly due to… mistakes of his opponents. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in this, because his next attempt to take part in a game show ended in a severe failure.

He wanted to test himself on another game show. Mathematics engulfed him

Rahim’s passion was exact sciences, and although many attribute the successes of the participant in “Twenty One” to them, it was them, and more precisely – mathematics, that sank his hopes when seven years later he decided to participate in the then popular “Grand Slam”. Contestants faced each other in a series of quick questions. There were four rounds: general knowledge, numbers and logic, words and letters, and a mixed round. In each of them, the players had a minute at their disposal, counted down on a chess-like clock. When the contestant answered correctly, their clock stopped and the opponent’s clock started counting down. The round was over when one of them ran out of time. The saved seconds were added to each subsequent round of the winner of a particular category. There was also the possibility of changing the question three times – shifting the burden of answer to the competitor.

Rahim took on another game show veteran, Phyllis Harris. His defeat was due to the time lost in the math round, which, due to his interests, should cause him the least problems. He had trouble solving the simplest equations and logical puzzles. The lecturers asked, among others, what will be the sum of the expression D+A+D+A, if each letter of the alphabet is assigned an increasing value (A=1, Z=26) and what is hidden under the letter y in the equation 18 x 3y = 216. The participant managed to survived only three stages of the competition before dropping out of the program, coming back with nothing.

Currently, Oberholtzer ranks eleventh on the all-time winning list for American game shows. The record belongs to Brad Rutter – a participant of “Jeopardy!”, known in Poland as “Va banque”, who did not lose a game and won a total of over $4 million.