Valley native hits the jackpot on TV game show in California

By ELISE FRANCO

The former Austintowner said he never expected to win $25,000 on ‘Catch 21.’

When Tony Tringhese moved from Ohio to California two years ago, the last place he thought he’d end up was on a television game show with the chance to win more than $25,000.

That’s what happened after Bev Pomerantz, casting director for the Game Show Network’s “Catch 21,” walked through the doors of Wells Fargo Bank, where he was working.

“He was personable. He was cute,” Pomerantz said of why she approached Tringhese about the show. “He had energy, and he seemed really excited.”

Tringhese, 24, of Los Angeles, said Pomerantz was a customer at the bank, and he was surprised when she asked him to audition for “Catch 21.”

“I tried out for ‘Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?’ before that, but I didn’t get the call back,” he said. “When she approached me, she asked me if I was going to have a lot of energy if I was on the show, and I told her I would. She really hooked me up.”

Tringhese lived in Austintown until age 18, when he went to Tulane University to major in business and history.

He said his friends and family teased him — saying, “Don’t look like an idiot on TV,” after they found out he’d been cast on the show.

“It was a lot of joking around between everyone,” he said. “No one really expected that I was going to win.”

He did win — big.

Tringhese, who works for Western Asset Management, an institutional investment company, said he only had a basic understanding of the show going into the taping.

“Catch 21” is a card game. The objective is to try to build the closest hand to 21. After a hand is dealt, contestants are able to make their opponent’s hand worse by passing their card. The last player standing after three rounds wins $1,000, and goes on to compete for an additional $1,000, $5,000 or $25,000.

“I went in, and they explained the game to the contestants,” Tringhese said. “I was the third show out of four to be taped, so I had an hour or two to practice my strategy.”

He decided his best chance for success would be to build two of his three hands to 21, and put the cards he didn’t want into the third hand.

“I basically went in thinking it was impossible to win the $25,000,” Tringhese said. “They give you three hands ... if you hit on all three, you win $25,000, so I was just hoping to get two of three, and win the $5,000.”

Nervous but ready to play, he said he began working his strategy, and it turned out better than he’d imagined.

“As time went on I was a lot more excited, less nervous and was focusing on my strategy,” he said. “Before I knew it I had 21 on that ‘bad’ hand, and that’s when I started thinking I might actually win it all.”

When Tringhese’s other two hands made 21, he said he couldn’t believe it.

“I just got really lucky,” he said, laughing.

His lucky streak continued in the weeks after the show’s June taping.

“I made a trip to Vegas a few weeks after that, and I won $1,000,” Tringhese said. “I had a little run of good luck.”

The episode Tringhese appeared on aired Aug. 28. He said in the days after, he received a flood of phone calls.

“I was receiving calls for days once it aired. It’s like having a birthday,” he said. “Everyone is giving you calls to tell you congratulations and that they saw you on the show — people you haven’t seen for a long time.”

Pomerantz, who also casts for “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” said contestants such as Tringhese are the reason she does what she does.

“These are people who wouldn’t normally audition for a game show because they wouldn’t know how to go about it,” she said.

Tringhese, who said he doesn’t always get to live a typical Hollywood lifestyle, agreed.

He said although he won’t get the money for several more weeks, he’s already made a few lavish purchases.

“I bought new furniture for my apartment, and I have to keep up with trends out here, so I bought some clothes, too,” Tringhese said.

He said he was careful not to spend too much, however, and plans to invest most of the money once it arrives.

Pomerantz said from the beginning, she thought Tringhese was a good candidate for the show and was glad she wasn’t wrong.

“He was just really nice and warm and appreciative,” she said. “I think it kind of changed his life.”

efranco@vindy.com