The Wild Card is one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune.
History[]
The Wild Card debuted on October 23, 2006. It offers an extra letter to be called on a spin for the same amount as the contestant is currently sitting on (including the face values of the Free Play and Mystery Wedges), plus $500 per consonant when it is picked up since the beginning of Season 30. Alternatively, it can be taken to the Bonus Round, where it allows for a fourth consonant.
The card was originally on the green $700, although it temporarily moved to the pink $900 for the week of April 11, 2011. It stayed on the pink $900 in Season 29, and moved again to the green $500 (formerly $600) next to top dollar in Season 30, at which point it also began offering $500 per consonant.
For its first season, Pat frequently forgot that the Wild Card is lost to Bankrupt, and would often forget to take it back until several turns later. This was most notable in a Teen Best Friends Week show in January 2007, where a team kept it into the Bonus Round despite having hit Bankrupt while holding it, although they did not solve the bonus puzzle.
In Seasons 24-25, the Wild Card was unique in that it was the only cardboard available after Round 3.
Originally, contestants tended to use the Wild Card on random dollar amounts as opposed to almost always using it on the top dollar value. If a contestant hits the top dollar amount while holding the card, Pat often prompts them to use it. He once prompted a contestant to use it on a Mystery Wedge at its face value of $1,000, and has occasionally prompted on $900 as well. Starting in Season 30, he occasionally prompts contestants to use it on random amounts in Round 4, most often if the contestants are trailing.
It seems that for most of the card's life, players could only use the Wild Card immediately after calling a consonant. However, a contestant in March 2007 landed on $3,500, bought a vowel, and then used the card successfully. Since Season 31, the rule for using it after buying a vowel (if such a rule ever existed at all) has been inconsistent at best, with Pat Sajak allowing or disallowing such use on a number of occasions.
In Season 40, if contestant lands on and claims the Wild Card, it now is shown on the contestant score display along with their score.
When the Wild Card used in the Bonus Round, the fourth letter provided by it is called after the "three more consonants and a vowel". On the chyron, the Wild Card letter is revealed by a graphic of the card turning.