Cash wedges are one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune. They are the main focus of the show's titular Wheel.
Content[]
The vast majority of the spaces on the show's Wheel have always been varying dollar amounts. This serves as the primary function of the game; after spinning the Wheel and landing on one, the contestant calls a consonant. If it is in the puzzle, the contestant is awarded that amount multiplied by the number of times the letter appears in the puzzle.
History[]
The minimum amount was $0 in the Shopper's Bazaar pilot and $25 in the 1974 pilots, which was quickly increased to $100 sometime in 1975 (before July 15), followed by $150 (late 1984-96), and $200 (in the final rounds until 1996), $250 (1996-99), $300 (1999-2014), and $500 (2014-present). $50 was the minimum from July-September 1989 on the daytime show.
On the daytime show, the top amounts were originally $450/$500/$500/$1,000/$1,000 on Bazaar and $350/$500/$750/$1,000 in 1974. When the series debuted, the top amounts became $500 in Round 1, $750 in Round 2, and $1,000 in Round 3, which were altered to $500/$1,000/$1,000 by July 15, 1975 and $500/$1,000/$1,500 by January 19, 1976. Sometime between September 5 and November 13, 1979, it was altered for the remainder of the original NBC run to $750/$1,000/$2,000; when it moved to CBS in July 1989, the amounts were lowered to $500/$500/$1,000/$1,250, although for some episodes after Wheel returned to NBC in 1991 the format was $500/$1,000/$1,250 due to time constraints.
Nighttime top values were originally $750/$1,000/$5,000 on the premiere, with Round 1 quickly increased to $1,000 after at least five episodes (likely on the second taping day). When the show began playing for cash in October 1987, the sequence went $1,000/$2,500/$3,500/$5,000; in 2000, the configuration changed to its current $2,500/$3,500/$3,500/$5,000.
Between 1987 and 1992, if time permitted, some games played Rounds 3 and 4 in the same segment (both with $3,500 as the top value and still introducing the Round 4 Prize) and introduced $5,000 in Round 5. Conversely, some shows in Season 13 played only one round in the first segment, with Round 2 (in its own segment) introducing $3,500, Round 3 introducing $5,000, and with an occasional second Wheel prize. This pacing was also used on early 1996 episodes during and preceding sweepstakes, to allocate time for Pat to explain them and to promote the 1996 Olympic games. It also led to two games in 1997 where, due to time constraints, $3,500 remained the top value for Round 3; one of these games also had Round 3 begin as a Speed-Up, also meaning that the Jackpot was not used, while the other game had Pat's Final Spin land on $3,500 for the only time.
During the Cash and Splash/Cruise and Cash Splash Sweepstakes in Season 8, Round 2 had both $2,500 and $3,500 (although only $3,500 was shown on-camera when Pat announced the two spaces being on the Wheel in said round). The former was on the purple $150 near Lose a Turn.
$10,000 is the first 5-digit cash wedge to debut on November 28, 1994 on the $10,000 Wedge, however it was treated like a Prize Wedge and cannot be spent on vowels. The $10,000 Mystery Wedge that was first offered on the Wheel on April 13, 2004 in the Mystery Round also has the same effect.
The current Wheel values are $500, $550, $600, $650, $700, $800, $850, $900, $950 (only on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune), $1,000 (through the Mystery and Express Wedges, as well as duplicate Million-Dollar Wedges on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune), $2,500, $3,500, and $5,000.
During the weeks of October 15 and 22 plus November 5 and 12, 2007, the $2,500 space was double-sized, extending counterclockwise over the purple $600. It had a Sony Card logo on it for the first week, Dawn for the second, Febreze for the third, and Maxwell House for the fourth. This was likely in honor of the show's 25th Anniversary.
$850 likely holds the record for longest time between appearances in gameplay: prior to its first nighttime appearance in Season 39, it had not been used in gameplay since 1979 (or circa early 1998 if the Wheel 2000 Bravo Card tour is counted). Prior to this, $650, then retired at the same time, likely held this record before returning in Season 30. $850 is the only current value that is exclusive to the syndicated version; Season 2 of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has a $950 wedge in its spot due to being taped before Season 39 of the syndicated version.
From September 21, 2015 to April 1, 2019 (barring October 5-9, November 23, and December 28, 2015), the only non-top-dollar cash wedge that changed values as rounds progressed was the yellow $600 between green $500 and red $700; it increased to $900 in Round 3 only and back to $600 in Round 4. On April 1, 2019, it was increased to $900 for the whole game save for the week of April 8.
Until the late 2000s, contestants who accidentally called a vowel after spinning lost their turn. Since at least Season 28, the vowel is now disregarded, and the contestant is prompted for a consonant.
$950 is the only multiple of $50 that had never been used in a regular layout until the debut of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune in 2021.
Retired amounts[]
Many values have been used by the show, then dropped: $0, $25, $50 and $50♦, $75 and $75♦, $100, $125, $150, $175, $200, $225, $250, $275, $300, $325, $350, $375, $400, $425, $450, $750, $1,250, $1,500, $2,000, $6,000, and $8,000.
$0 was only present in the Shopper's Bazaar pilot, while $225, $325, and $425 were only used in the 1974 pilots. $25, $50, and $75 were the first three values dropped after Wheel went to series (and were gone by no later than July 15, 1975), and the Round 1 layout on a 1975 Belgian episode heavily suggests that $25 was the first casualty.
$375, which had been used in the 1974 pilots, was added sometime in 1977 (before July 5), then removed by January 18, 1978.
$125, $275, $650, and $850 were removed sometime between September 5 and November 13, 1979, when the top values became $750/$1,000/$2,000; this also resulted in the return of $550, which had previously been used in the 1974 pilots. The resulting layouts remained, barring a few moves and increases/decreases, until $175 left in September 1986.
$175 was the only value seen on the nighttime show that was not a multiple of $50. $100 was the smallest value the nighttime show ever used, with its last known appearance as an in-game value being May 5, 1986.
$2,000 was retired when Bob Goen became host of the daytime show (July 17, 1989), with $50, $75, $125, and $175 returning and $1,250 added as top dollar in Round 4. The two-digit values were given diamonds on July 18, but the minimum was re-increased to $100 sometime between August 24 and September 18; $100, $125, $175, and $1,250 were retired following the 1991 finale.
$1,250, which existed only during the Bob Goen era on the daytime show, holds the distinction of being the only four-digit cash wedge to have ended in something other than -00 as well as the only one to have had its hundreds digit be something other than a zero or five.
September 16, 1996 debuted the show's current single-template layout, removing $150, $200, $750, and $1,500. $250 remained until October 4, 1999.
Wheel 2000 returned 100, 150, 200, 650, 750, and 2,000 to the Wheel as point values, with 2,000 being top value for Round 2. 850 returned only for the Bravo Card tour.
$1,000 remained through June 2, 2000, then returned on September 6, 2004 as the increased face value for the Mystery Wedges, although it has yet to return as a regular wedge.
$1,500 and $2,000 also appeared in the Season 22 opening animation, marking the latter's only nighttime appearance, not counting the possibility of using Double Play on a $1,000 spin.
The Big Money Wedge introduced $7,500 and $25,000 (the first 5-digit cash value on the Wheel other than $10,000 for Wheel of Fortune's 25th anniversary) that was randomized along with $5,000, Lose a Turn, and Bankrupt. Calling a correct letter on it only awarded a flat rate. Since Season 26, the only 5-digit value, $10,000, can only be seen on the back of one of the Mystery Wedges.
$700 was retired at the beginning of Season 29, but returned in Season 30. Also returning in Season 30 was $650, in its first nighttime appearance (not counting rug and turntable layouts).
$550 was retired in Season 31, but returned in Season 32.
For only the week of April 28, 2014, in honor of the show's 6,000th nighttime episode (which actually occurred on April 11), a $6,000 wedge replaced $5,000 in Rounds 4+. The $6,000 wedge had "WHEEL $6000" in two rows written horizontally on the top and colored dots on the rest, similar to the 25 Wedge, meaning the maximum Speed-Up value for that week was $7,000. It was never hit, with three of the five shows that week having Round 4 begin as a Speed-Up.
$950 was a unique example as it had never been used regularly on the Wheel itself until Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, but appeared from 1987-94 on rug and turntable layouts along with the 1989-92 opening animation.
$850 returned in Season 39 after a 42-year absence from the show proper, in the spot previously occupied by Free Play.
Though not done on the show proper, $750, $1,000 (as a normal wedge), $1,500, and $2,000 made one-time returns on a special Wheel layout made specifically for the 2012 "Lottery Experience" sweepstakes, matching the format of the layout used on the current show, but lacking penalty wedges. This layout also featured $1,750, a never-used value, as well as a permanent variation of the $10,000 Wedge with the Bankrupts replaced with skinny green $500 wedges.
$300 is the only value that had always been on the Wheel until 2014, when it along with $350, $400, and $450 were retired in that year.
1,500 returned in 2022 as a point value on Wheel of Fortune Live. In addition, this version uses two 1,500-point spaces, with one being bronze and the other being pink.
For only the week of May 20, 2024, in honor of the show's 8,000th nighttime episode similar to the 6,000th (which actually will occur in Season 42), a $8,000 wedge replaced $5,000 in Rounds 4+, and the $5,000 wedge moved to Round 3, resulting in the first time since the introduction of the play-for-cash format apart from some three-round structured games during the 1990s and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, that $5,000 is available in Round 3. The $8,000 wedge was in gold. This resulted in the maximum Speed-Up value for that week being $9,000. It was hit once, however a wrong letter was called on it.
A letter being called for $10,000 apiece has happened three known times: February 6, 1996, May 10, 1996, and January 9, 1997. The former two instances was due to the short-lived Double Play being used on $5,000, while the latter was due to the $10,000 Wedge accidentally being placed reverse-up (removing its skinny Bankrupts) and being landed on. Although the letter chosen only appeared once, the contestant received $10,000 in spendable cash and was not instructed to pick up the wedge. Pat's acknowledgement of the error implied that the $10,000 would not have been multiplied if the player had called a multiple (similar to the Big Money Wedge).