Card Sharks

packagers: Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions ('78-'81), Mark Goodson Productions ('86-'01)
air dates: 4/24/78-10/23/81 on NBC daytime, 1/6/86-3/31/89 on CBS daytime, syndicated 9/86-9/87 by Television Program Source & 9/17/01-12/01 by Pearson Television
hosts: Jim Perry (NBC), Bob Eubanks (CBS), Bill Rafferty (syn. '86-'87), Pat Bullard ('01)
announcers: Gene Wood ('78-'89), Gary Kroeger ('01)
sub-announcers: [Jay Stewart, Jack Narz, Johnny Olson ('78-'81)], Bob Hilton, Charlie O'Donnell

HOW TO PLAY:
Two players competed on this show based on the card game "Acey Deucey". They were each dealt 5 cards face-down, with each player playing from their own deck. The champ played the red deck while the challenger played the blue deck. They were read a question which had been posed to 100 people, usually with a common bond. One player must guess how many people gave a certain answer. On the '86-'89 version, some questions involved a group of 10 people in the audience who shared a common bond, and others were "educated guess" questions where the answer was numerical and not always <100. Then the other player had to guess whether the correct # was higher or lower. If the second player's guess was right, (s)he played his/her cards. Otherwise, the opponent played his/her cards. The first card on that player's row was turned up and the player guessed whether the next card in line was higher or lower. However, (s)he could change the base card if (s)he wished. If a card was called right, (s)he could either freeze or guess the next card. If not, (s)he went all the way back to the base card or the last card frozen on. Two cards of the same value back-to-back had that same effect. If the winner of the question screwed up, the other player played his/her cards but could not change the base card. If both players goofed or if one player froze, another question was played. If a player froze, all cards revealed up to that point remained intact, but the player must win another question in order to resume from the last frozen card. The first player to call their fifth card right won the game and $100. The fourth question of each of the first two games was the sudden death question, the winner of which would be given the option to either play their cards (and maybe change the base card) or force their opponent to play. One mistake along the way and the other player won the game. In the third game, if needed, each player played a line of 3 (4 on the pilot for the NBC run) cards and there was a three-question limit (one question from '86-'89). The first player to win 2 games became the champ and played the Money Cards before facing a new challenger. Starting in '80, and on the late-'80s run, guessing the exact # on a high-low question won a $500 bonus. The same could be won from '80-'81 by running the board in one play of the cards w/out freezing. From '86-'89, guessing a 10-person answer on the nose won a $100 bonus. On Raff's version, starting in the fourth week, prize cards and cash cards would be mixed into each deck. If one of those cards turned up, it was replaced by another card. A player had to win the match (2 games) in order to keep any cash and prizes turned up from their own deck.

In the Money Cards, the player was given a base card on the bottom of three levels and was given $200. The first two levels each had three cards to bet on, while the top level had only one card for the Big Bet. After completing that level, the last card on that level became the base card on the next level. The player was given another $200 ($400 from '86-'89) with three more cards to bet on. On those first two levels, the minimum bet on each card was $50. After completing the second level, the last card on that row was moved up to the top row for the Big Bet, where the player had to bet at least half the money on that one last card. If the player went broke on the first level, the last card turned up became the base card for the middle row. If (s)he busted on the middle or top level, the game was over. Until '80, two cards of the same value back-to-back lost the bet. It was then changed to a "push" (no win, no loss). The most that could be won on the NBC run was $28,800, but from '86-'89, it was $32k.
On NBC, champs retired after playing the Money Cards 7 times. From ''86-'89, champs could play the Money Cards up to 5 times. During the early months on CBS, champs retired after winning $50,000+. That threshold was upped to $75,000+ in the fall of '86.
At first on the NBC run, only the base card on the first level could be changed. This was later changed to allowing a base card change on each level. For the first month or so in '86, the player was allowed to change any three cards by choosing one of the three cards off the side of the board. For the rest of that run, only one card could be changed on each level.
During Kids' Weeks, each kid player who played the Money Cards would be accompanied by a parent.

Also from 9/86 to '88, in the Money Cards, the player was given a free Joker and there were others were hidden in the deck. Each time a Joker was turned up, it was given to the player and replaced by another card. After the Money Cards, the player was shown a row of seven cards. One of them hid CAR, while the other six each hid NO. The player placed a Joker on each card (s)he believed hid CAR. If one of the cards with a Joker on it had the word CAR behind it, you know what happened! On Kids' Weeks, it was a trip to Hawaii. In '88, this was replaced by having the champ answering a 10-person question. If the player guessed the exact #, (s)he won the car. If (s)he was off by one, (s)he pocketed $500.

On the 2001 version, which absolutely SUCKED(!), two matches were played. In each game, both players played the same row of seven cards. One player kept calling higher/lower and kept control as long as (s)he kept calling correctly. One mistake along the way and the other player called the next card. The seventh card decided which player won the game. Each player was also given two "clip chips". If the player in control wanted to change a card, (s)he coughed up a "clip chip" and had to predict the outcome of a video. If the player was right, the card was changed. If not, the chip was considered wasted. The first player to win two games won the match. The third game, if needed, was played with three cards. After the second match was played with two new players, the winners of each match played one more game with seven cards in play. The winner took $2,100 to the Money Cards while the other player won a vacation at the Stratosphere in Vegas.
In the Money Cards, the player was dealt three cards to bet on at the bottom level, two on the middle level, and one at the top for the Major Wager. The player was given $700 on the first level. Moving to the next level netted another $700. The minimum bets on the first two levels were $100 and two of the same card back-to-back lost the bet. At the Major Wager, another $700 was given and the player had to bet at least half his/her dough. The most cash that could be won here was $51,800! If a player busted on the top level, (s)he would be given $700 as a consolation. When this version aired, they just destroyed a classic like they did with Match Game '98!

OTHER TIDBITS:
Jim Perry later returned to NBC in '83 to host $ale of the Century for 6 1/2 awesome years!

The NBC version featured several various card dealers during that run, but only two per show, including future actress Markie Post (The Fall Guy, Night Court) and Ann Pennington, whose sister Janice is best remembered from The Price Is Right. On the '86-'89 run, one of the dealers, former Super Password contestant Susannah Williams, appeared on every show. After her colleague Lacey Pemberton took a brief maternity leave in '88, one of the dealers who took her place was actress Lee Meriwether's daughter Kyle Aletter. Tami Anderson dealt the cards on the 2001 version.

Norma Brown was the only champ who ever went for broke on every card in the Money Cards and didn't foul up once! The result: TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND & EIGHT HUNDRED SIMOLEONS!!! Yup, she really cleaned 'em out, didn't she? It happened on the NBC run. This was also achieved on the pilot for that run.

Future actress Kellie Martin (Life Goes On, ER) won $2,600 during Kids Week in '87. Another Kids Week player, Kelly Packard later became a co-star on Baywatch as well as a co-host on Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Gary Kroeger also announced on GSN's Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. He also hosted the first season of the late-'90s revival of The Newlywed Game as well as the 2002 version of Beat the Clock on PAX.

Comic Pat Bullard replaced Chuck Woolery in the mid-'90s as the host of Love Connection.

Back to my game show joint or my homepage.