‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Loses $61,000 After Show Gives Her Second Chance

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A Wheel of Fortune contestant got another chance to play the game after a scoring error during her first appearance on the show five years ago. She wound up advancing to the Bonus Round where she missed out on taking home $61,000.

Debbie Jacobson, from West Hills, California, got a second chance at the game after a scoring error in 2021, according to Buzzer Blog. During her first game, she guessed the same letter in the Same Letter puzzle (S), but she did not receive the $1,000 bonus that goes along with guessing that letter. Even though the Gilmore Girls fans didn’t guess the puzzle, she was supposed to be awarded the bonus, but she had $0 at the end of the round. By the end of the game, Jacobson was in third place with $2,000.

On September 29, 2026, Jacobson played against Antonio Rozier, from Dallas, Texas, and Karima Wilson, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both Jacobson and Wilson, who is trying to win money for grad school, solved one Fortune Frenzy puzzle, giving them $1,000. Rozier, a doctor and DJ, solved two, putting him in the lead with $2,000.

Debbie got screwed by a scoring mistake on Monday’s episode (see comments)
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Rozier solved “You Have Your Work Cut Out for You” for $3,200. With only two letters left in the Crossword puzzle, in the category “Hats,” Jacobson solved “Hard,” “Panama,” “Cap,” and “Cowboy” for $2,050.

There was only one letter left in the Prize Puzzle when Jacobson solved “Off the Top of My Head.” She won a trip to Italy and took the lead with $12,162.

Jacobson solved one of the Triple Toss-ups while Rozier put $4,000 in his bank after solving two. Just as the buzzer sounded, Jacobson solved the final puzzle — “Raspberry Lollipop.” This gave her a final total of $21,662.

Rozier took home $7,200. Wilson was given $1,000 by Wheel of Fortune since she didn’t win any money during the game.

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Jacobson chose “Thing” for her Bonus Round category. The game show gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” She rounded out her puzzle with “B,D,M, and A.”

The puzzle then looked like “AN  _B_ _ _ _S  _ _ _NT.” As the clock counted down, she guessed “Splendid” and “Absurd,” but neither was right.

“You needed more time and more clues,” host Ryan Seacrest said. The puzzle was “An Obvious Point.” There was $40,000 in the envelope, which would have given her $61,662.

Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock