UI Engineering Student Becomes Big Wheel On TV, Wins $13,000

University of Idaho engineering student Ben Martin says some things are not what they seem on the “Wheel of Fortune” game show.

But he came away from his television experience with $13,000 and a trip to a dude ranch in upstate New York, which he declined.

Martin, 25, said his fiancee showed him a newspaper ad for Seattle auditions for the show.

Out of 210,000 postcards sent, Martin was chosen to show off his problem-solving skills and enthusiasm.

“You just tried to be your cool self,” Martin said. It paid off and he was destined to meet the mighty wheel on April 19 in Los Angeles.

He said in one day’s work at the studio, five shows are taped.

Martin won the first game and came back the “next night” as the returning champion. Actually, he just changed his clothes, as did Pat Sajak and Vanna White.

“They want the TV audience to think that it’s a big wheel, so they want you to reach as far as you can over to one side so it looks like you’re stretching out and releasing far across,” Martin said.

For his “lovely parting gifts,” Martin said he received the official Wheel of Fortune board game, a plastic watch, breath tablets, stress medication, aspirin, goat’s milk and denture cleaner.

As for the money, after the government takes its 37 percent, Martin plans to invest some and use the rest for his wedding. And he will watch himself on Thursday and Friday evenings.