Copyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
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By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun Times
Chicago firefighter Thorpe Schoenle is relishing his role as a celebrity — even if it means his less fortunate colleagues have been hitting him up for money.
“It’s a blast,” the game show winner said Tuesday. “I come in and everybody screams, ‘Deal or No Deal!’ Everybody wants a loan.”
Schoenle won $464,000 on NBC’s wildly popular “Deal or No Deal.” It’s the largest amount any contestant has won since the Howie Mandel-hosted surprise hit aired in December.
“It’s awesome. You can hang your hat on something like that. It rocks. I played it about as perfectly as you can play that game,” the 36-year-old Bridgeport native said.
“Deal or No Deal” is based on probability, guess work and elimination as contestants choose from 26 sealed briefcases that contain between a penny and one million dollars. Players can stick with the earnings in one of the model-toted briefcases or keep pressing their luck.
Schoenle, who was selected in a casting call, started off using a strategy by keeping his hands off of suitcases with the numbers relating to his children’s ages, wife Kara’s birthday and their anniversary date. But he had to abandon that plan and resort to his instincts as “things changed really fast.”
It was hard to keep last month’s taping secret, Schoenle admitted. But when his game-winning shows aired last week, he could finally gloat to his hometown pals. “It’s going to be very hard to beat me. I think I’ll be on top of the world for awhile,” said Schoenle, a resident of the Southwest Side Garfield Ridge community.
GOVERNMENT SHARE ‘KIND OF BRUTAL’
Schoenle isn’t planning on doing anything too wild with the money. He’s thinking some wise investments and a family trip to Disney World will suffice for now. And he has yet to figure out when he has to pay taxes on his prize money, which will run about 40 percent. “The government definitely gets its share,” Schoenle laughed. “It’s kind of brutal.”
Still, the Chicago Fire Academy instructor and 10-year department vet thought the entire game show experience was a good one and even a bit like fighting a fire.
“The adrenaline rush in both situations is very comparable, though they’re different. At a fire, you’re in control. You know the scene. But with this, there’s some luck involved and you’re taking a chance. But at the end of both, you’re left with an incredible feeling,” he said.