# Why do "Wheel of Fortune" contestants waste money on vowels? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 11, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972 "2008-03-11T15:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squarebubble1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Squarebubble1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squarebubble1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/1 "2008-03-11T15:24:57Z")
This pretty much speaks for itself…with each vowel costing $250.00 a piece, it seems foolish to waste money picking them, since the winner is chosen by the highest cash amount at the end. Is America such a country of lousy spellers that they can’t figure out easy puzzles with just consonants? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/2 "2008-03-11T15:31:33Z")
Sometimes knowing the vowels will help you guess the consonants if you don’t know the puzzle. Or you might just want to make Vanna walk back and forth some more. Either way, games are rarely decided by margins where buying vowels makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/3 "2008-03-11T15:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=Squarebubble1] This pretty much speaks for itself…with each vowel costing $250.00 a piece, it seems foolish to waste money picking them, since the winner is chosen by the highest cash amount at the end. Is America such a country of lousy spellers that they can’t figure out easy puzzles with just consonants? [/QUOTE] Because sometimes they need them? There have been puzzles where you can’t really know what it is unless you get a vowel. Off the top of my head, let’s say you have p\*sh. Is it “posh” or “push”? If there’s an obvious “u” somewhere else in the puzzle, buy a “u” so you can avoid losing because you made the wrong 50/50 guess. I agree overall that you’ve got lots of fools wasting all sorts of money on unnecessary vowel-buying. However, buying vowels isn’t necessarily a waste. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/4 "2008-03-11T15:34:17Z")
Say you have a 6 word phrase and only know that one of the words is “The” because you have the T and H showing. It makes sense to buy the “E” because that E and every other E in the phrase will show up and it costs a total of $250. Then you have a little guidance in what the rest of the words might be. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/5 "2008-03-11T15:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Say you have a 6 word phrase and only know that one of the words is “The” because you have the T and H showing. It makes sense to buy the “E” because that E and every other E in the phrase will show up and it costs a total of $250. Then you have a little guidance in what the rest of the words might be. [/QUOTE] Is it $250 for an “E” or is it $250 per “E”? I thought in the olden days it was per vowel…you know, back when they occasionally showed the damned puzzle. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Squarebubble1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Squarebubble1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squarebubble1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/6 "2008-03-11T15:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Is it $250 for an “E” or is it $250 per “E”? I thought in the olden days it was per vowel…you know, back when they occasionally showed the damned puzzle. -Joe [/QUOTE] I think it’s still $250.00 per vowel, not $250.00 for each time it appears… ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/7 "2008-03-11T15:53:53Z")
According to a “behind the scenes” show my wife saw, there is a light board that lights up on occasion throughout the show. When it lights up, the contestant in control of the wheel MUST buy a vowel. Wish **Welfy** were around still. She was on the show as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/8 "2008-03-11T15:55:44Z")
Buying a vowel may waste money, but it leaves you in control of the board, and does not create any risk of bankruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![Squarebubble1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Squarebubble1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squarebubble1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/9 "2008-03-11T15:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Because sometimes they need them? There have been puzzles where you can’t really know what it is unless you get a vowel. Off the top of my head, let’s say you have p\*sh. Is it “posh” or “push”? If there’s an obvious “u” somewhere else in the puzzle, buy a “u” so you can avoid losing because you made the wrong 50/50 guess. I agree overall that you’ve got lots of fools wasting all sorts of money on unnecessary vowel-buying. However, buying vowels isn’t necessarily a waste. -Joe [/QUOTE] I’ve seen games recently where contestants lost by $100.00 or even less - the same fools who feel that they had to buy all 5 vowels…overkill, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Squarebubble1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Squarebubble1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squarebubble1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/10 "2008-03-11T15:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] According to a “behind the scenes” show my wife saw, there is a light board that lights up on occasion throughout the show. When it lights up, the contestant in control of the wheel MUST buy a vowel. Wish **Welfy** were around still. She was on the show as a child. [/QUOTE] Oh, really? Does anybody have any corraborating proof of this? Why would the producers do this, if true? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/11 "2008-03-11T16:02:36Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] According to a “behind the scenes” show my wife saw, there is a light board that lights up on occasion throughout the show. When it lights up, the contestant in control of the wheel MUST buy a vowel. Wish **Welfy** were around still. She was on the show as a child. [/QUOTE] That’s not true, or at least it wasn’t when I was on the show in 1993. You certainly don’t _have_ to buy vowels. But every time you spin the wheel, you’re risking landing on bankrupt or lose a turn. Buying a vowel is a way to buy yourself more time to figure out the puzzle without risking a negative outcome from spinning. And it’s only $250, no matter how many times the letter shows up. Another strategy is when you are fairly certain that you know the puzzle, but you don’t want to give any hints away to your competition by asking for the “Q” that will make it obvious to everyone what the puzzle is. You buy a vowel to confirm, take that last spin, and go for the big consonant payday. Not to mention you have Pat telling you you have to spin or buy a vowel. Sometimes his advice can be pretty convincing, with the pressure, bright lights, and all. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/12 "2008-03-11T16:03:01Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] According to a “behind the scenes” show my wife saw, there is a light board that lights up on occasion throughout the show. When it lights up, the contestant in control of the wheel MUST buy a vowel. [/QUOTE] I’m fairly sure that this isn’t true, and contestants are never forced to buy a vowel. There is the case where the puzzle has no consonants left. In that case, the players are notified and they may not spin, but they can choose to buy a vowel or solve. In general, I think the basic strategy is to avoid losing your turn, so in a case where you’re sure of a vowel but not of a consonant, buying a vowel is a good play. Also, if you’ve already built up a large amount of money in a round, then your goal is to figure out the puzzle quickly and with little risk. In that case, $250 is not a large amount, and buying a vowel also avoids the chance of hitting a bad space on the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/13 "2008-03-11T17:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Squarebubble1] I’ve seen games recently where contestants lost by $100.00 or even less - the same fools who feel that they had to buy all 5 vowels…overkill, anyone? [/QUOTE] Some players spin when the answer should be obvious. Some players aren’t very clever. That doesn’t mean buying 1 or maybe two vowels isn’t a good idea. $250 is a small price to pay for a better crack at thousands of dollars. I haven’t been on Wheel, but I’ve been on Jeopardy next door, and I believe **Hippy Hollow**. The producers are so paranoid about cheating and collusion (maybe rightfully so) that I can’t imagine any kind of signal from the show staff to a contestant. ---
**Author:** ![BrainFireBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@BrainFireBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainFireBob)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/14 "2008-03-11T19:04:11Z")
As I recall, the three most commonly used letters in English are E, T, and A- and you’ll notice that two of the three are vowels. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/15 "2008-03-11T19:31:12Z")
[QUOTE=Pat Sajak] As I said earlier, buying vowels is especially critical when you’re faced with a lengthy puzzle. As soon as you have enough money, you should start buying. There is nothing more frustrating than watching players lose their turns by blindly calling a consonant (or by hitting a “Bankrupt”) when they could have bought a vowel. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen players fill in the first two letters in the word “THE” and then spin instead of buying the “E”, only to lose their turns and never get them back. Why buy the “E”? Because it is virtually risk free, and $250 is a small price to pay to get more information, since there could, after all, be several more “E’s” is the puzzle. [/QUOTE] [http://www.tommcmahon.net/2006/06/the\_importance\_.html](http://www.tommcmahon.net/2006/06/the_importance_.html) I was looking for a cite I read in the past that said contestants who buy vowels win a greater percentage of puzzles than those who don’t, but the above quote is all I turned up. And, yes, buying all 5 vowels can be stupid, but so can not buying any. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/16 "2008-03-11T20:04:37Z")
[Mod\_r\_tor H\_t ON] This thr\_\_d s\_\_ms p\_rf\_ctly suit\_d for th\_ G\_m\_ Room. [Mod\_r\_tor H\_t OFF] ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/17 "2008-03-11T20:17:17Z")
[QUOTE=Gaudere] [Mod\_r\_tor H\_t ON] This thr\_\_d s\_\_ms p\_rf\_ctly suit\_d for th\_ G\_m\_ Room. [Mod\_r\_tor H\_t OFF] [/QUOTE] I’d like to buy a vowel; an ‘A’? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/18 "2008-03-11T20:22:59Z")
[QUOTE=BrainFireBob] As I recall, the three most commonly used letters in English are E, T, and A- and you’ll notice that two of the three are vowels. [/QUOTE] The [most commonly used letters in the English lang,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETAOIN_SHRDLU) in order, although the exact sequence is sometimes disputed: ETAOIN SHRDLU Most vowels are right up front. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/19 "2008-03-11T20:42:11Z")
[QUOTE=Gaudere] [Mod\_r\_tor H\_t ON] This thr\_\_d s\_\_ms p\_rf\_ctly suit\_d for th\_ G\_m\_ Room. [Mod\_r\_tor H\_t OFF] [/QUOTE] Uh, I’d like to solve the puzzle, Pat… “This thread swims perfectly suited for thy Gomo Room.” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972/20 "2008-03-11T21:01:28Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] Some players spin when the answer should be obvious. Some players aren’t very clever. [/QUOTE] Those sentences aren’t related though. Sometimes the answer is obvious, but it makes sense to keep on spinning since the object of the game is to win money, not to solve puzzles. If you know the answer, but only have $900, and there are 3 b’s and 2 f’s left up there, it’s definitely worth spinning again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wheel-of-fortune-contestants-waste-money-on-vowels/440972.md?page=2)