Vanessa from Virginia walked away with a staggering $240,150 in cash and prizes after a wild game of Lion’s Share.

Price Is Right contestant wins largest single-game prize in show’s 54-year history

Vanessa from Virginia walked away with a staggering $240,150 in cash and prizes after a wild game of Lion's Share.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on May 8, 2026 6:49 p.m. ET

Vanessa from Virginia wins big on 'The Price Is Right'. Credit:

- A contestant on Friday's episode of *The Price Is Right* set a new all-time high in winnings from a single pricing game.

- Vanessa from Virginia walked away with $240,150 in cash and prizes after playing Lion's Share.

- This new record surpasses the last, set in 2010, by more than $30,000.

After more than five decades on the air, *The Price Is Right* is still breaking records.

A contestant on Friday's episode of the long-running game show set a new all-time high in winnings from a single pricing game. After several wild rounds of the game Lion's Share, Vanessa from Virginia walked away with $240,150 in cash and prizes— the largest one-game haul a contestant has ever won in the CBS daytime show's 54-year history.

The retired veteran made her mark in a special Mother's Day-themed episode, with her daughter cheering her on from the sidelines.

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Lion's Share, an MGM-branded game that premiered last year as a replacement for Pay the Rent, revolves around grocery price guessing.

In the game, each contestant is able to win up to five balls depending on their number of correct guesses. Balls are then dropped into a wind tunnel, which reveal hidden prize amounts. But that's not all: Host Drew Carey then commands contestants to choose between walking away with the dollar value displayed on the screen or risking it all to grow their earnings further.

That's exactly what Vanessa did, and after very little deliberation. Continued correct guesses yielded more prize balls, which revealed more earnings, eventually loading her up with $227,500 in cash. A luxury trip to Morocco valued at $12,650 ultimately brought her total up to $240,150.

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Vanessa's win clears the previous record by a wide margin. In 2016, contestant Christen Freeman won $210,000 in the game Cliffhangers, and also walked away with a steam iron, portable heater, and drink mixer.

Vanessa may be the biggest winner when it comes to earnings from a single game, but her $240,150 total is no match for the overall killing that one contestant made in a 2019 episode.

Drew Carey and Vanessa from Virginia on 'The Price Is Right'.

Michael Stouber left the roller coaster ride of an episode with a grand total of $262,743 in cash and prizes. That included $202,000 from a game of Plinko, a nearly $30,000 Showcase win, an equivalent value Nissan Sentra S, a $1,475 diamond bracelet, and more.

*The Price Is Right* airs weekdays on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Check your local cable provider for exact airtimes.

Watch Vanessa win big in the video above.

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