[keville]

Wheel of Fortune is just as much about your luck on the wheel as your skill with the phrases, so practice doesn't guarantee victory. WoF's final puzzle awards contestants the "RSTLNE" letters now because nearly _everybody_ came in to the final prepared, knowing the most commonly-occurring English letters.

[jerf]

You are right. I know there's no way to guarantee victory. But there's still a lot of basic errors, if you pay attention carefully to the contestants (rather than the more-fun trying to solve the puzzle before them). My favorite is actually when you get towards the end and they are calling out letters that couldn't possibly make any words with the 2-5 blanks left over, for instance. Saying a vowel after a spin also happens much more often than it should.

I don't watch WoF a lot but you can also tell they're playing games with the most common letters after RSTLNE too... simply picking the next three consonants and the next vowel is a great way to lose.

And, I mean, yes, very stressful. But you might also be a bit less stressed if you prepared a bit more. Not relaxed, of course, but less stressed.