Card Sharks (2001)

Revamped version of the classic game show, which mixed in elements of "Candid Camera" and "People are Funny" with the familiar high-low card game based on the rules of Acey-Deucy. Four contestants, two at a time, competed in two separate best-of-three High-Low challenges. In the High-Low challenge, the contestant chosen to go first was shown the base card (in a block of seven) and had to guess whether the next card was higher or lower than the one just shown. An incorrect guess passed control of the block to his/her opponent. At any time, the contestant in control of the cards could use a "Clip Chip" to change the card currently in play. However, to change the card, he/she had to correctly guess the outcome of a "Video Dilemma;" these hidden-camera vignettes depicted moral situations (e.g., a pretty woman asking a passerby whether she should leave a note on the windshield of a car she just dented), behavioral questions (e.g., whether a college football quarterback would choose a sexy female college student wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans or the girl's twin sister wearing a sexy evening gown) or a man-on-the-street interview (e.g., guessing which of two cars a man owns, either a sports car or a sports-utility vehicle). Each High-Low playoff was worth $500, with the winner of two facing the next best-of-three "High-Low" challenge winner one-game High-Low challenge. The winner of that playoff won an additional $1,100, was the day's champion and played the Money Cards. The rules were largely identical to those from the classic show, with the following changes: Only six cars were played, the contestant's current $2,100 cash winnings were turned into betting money and divided evenly on the three-tiered board (i.e., $700 for each row), and the contestant always played the Big Bet (even if they "Busted" on the second row, if they had nothing when they reached this point, they were given $700). As before, minimum bets were $50 except for the Big Bet card, where they had to risk at least half; the contestant was allowed to change the first card on each line (without having to answer a Video Dilemma); the maximum take was $51,800.