Gambit


Aired
CBS Daytime, September 4, 1972-December 10, 1976
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Wink Martindale
Dealer
Elaine Stewart
Announcer
Kenny Williams
Origination
Studio 31, 33, 41, 43, CBS Television City, Los Angeles, California

Gambit was a game show based on blackjack.

Game Format[]

The object of the game was that of blackjack: come as close to 21 as possible without going over (or "busting"). As in blackjack, the cards 2 through 10 were worth their face value; face cards (Kings, Queens and Jacks) counted as 10 and an Ace could count as either 1 or 11.

Martindale asked a series of questions, usually multiple-choice or true-false, to two married couples. The couple who buzzed in and answered the question correctly won control of the next card from the top of a deck of 52 over-sized (but otherwise regulation) playing cards. If a couple buzzed in and missed the question, then the other couple got control of the next card. The first card was shown before the first question, but cards thereafter were presented face down.

Once a couple gained control of a card they had the option of adding it to their own hand or passing it to their opponents. After a couple received any card (whether by choosing to take it themselves or by having a card passed to them from their opponents) they could elect to "freeze" if they were in the lead (neither team was permitted to freeze when the two were tied), preventing them from receiving any additional cards. This rule prevented their opponents from passing cards to them in order to strategically force them to bust.

Once this happened, the other couple answered questions and received a card after each correct answer.

Conditions for winning[]

A game could be won in one of four ways:

Reaching 21 in any combination, which not only won the game, but also broke the Gambit Jackpot, which started at $500 and went up $500 at the start of each day, except that if it was won with the last card of the day, it started the next day at $500.
Having their opponents exceed 21 ("bust"), even if the winners had no cards.
Freezing, and then having the opponents miss a question before getting a higher score without going over 21.
Having the opponents freeze, and then getting a higher score without going over 21.

Each game won was worth $100, and the first couple to win two games won the match and advanced to the bonus round.

Bonus Round (Gambit Board)[]

The winning couple faced a large board with 21 numbered cards. Each card concealed a prize; along with each prize the couple chose, they received a card added to their hand from the deck.

The game ended in one of three ways:

The couple elected to stop before reaching 21 (especially if they feared the next card would push them over 21 or in some instances, if they won a desirable prize they wanted to keep) and keep all the prizes they had chosen to that point.
Going over 21, at which point they lost everything from the board.
Reaching 21 exactly, wherein they won a new car as well as the Gambit Jackpot and the prizes selected.

Special Prizes (CBS Version)[]

There were a number of recurring prizes including:

"Anniversary Dinner" – The couple would be flown to a city on their next anniversary and treated to dinner; there were three of these on the board when this was played, each with a different city (usually two in Europe, but the third was always Burbank).
"Suit" Cards – One card of each of the four suits of cards; each was worth $500, plus $500 for each card the couple got in that bonus round of that suit as long as they did not go over 21.
"Football Games" – During December, trips to various football bowl games including the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl, were offered. A couple winning more than one of these trips would not be able to take all of them as they all occur around New Year's Day, and like most trips given away on game shows had to be taken within a year of winning them and could not be transferred.
"Half-Checks" – The majority of the boxes on the board hide half checks. Left halves consisted of numbers 5 through 100 and the right halves consisted of two zeroes each. When a couple found a right half check full of zeroes and match it up with a left half, they would receive that money as long as they stayed under 21. Hitting 21 also kept it. If a couple found either half and not the other, but did not go over, they carried that half over to the next session of the Gambit Board if and when they made it there. The potential maximum was $10,000.
"Top or Bottom" – Around the same time as the "Half-Checks", this prize offered contestants a choice between the top or the bottom. One choice had an expensive and desirable option, and the other had an inexpensive and perhaps not so desirable option. (For example, a Top or Bottom card reading "Cruise" might offer a cruise to the Caribbean or to Catalina Island.)
"Hot Card" – If this card is hit, the value was set at an initial $100. It increased to $1,000 if the couple did not go over 21 and the hidden rank behind it matched one of the ranks the couple had on the board.
"Swap" – This card allowed couples to switch any prizes won on the board (assuming they didn't go over 21) for another pick from the board.
"Christmas Tree" – A graphic of a Christmas tree representing $1,000 and a Happy Holidays greeting from Wink.
"Beat the House" – Contestants winning this prize would have the opportunity to play one hand of blackjack "against the house" for $2,500 using standard single-deck rules, with the possible exception being that there did not appear to be any cases in which contestants could "split" a pair (play each card of the pair as the basis of its own hand) or "double down" (draw a single additional card for twice the stakes) on a wager.

Returning champions continued until winning a grand total of $25,000, relinquishing any winnings over that amount.

From 1972 to 1975, the show featured an annual promotion where the first couple to get a two-card 21 (an Ace and a face card/10) in the bonus round won either $200 a week for a year (totaling $10,400) or a flat $10,000, depending on the year.

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Trivia[]

This historically premiered on the same day as The Joker's Wild (hosted by Jack Barry) and The Price is Right (Originally known as The New Price is Right in order to avoid confusion with the original Bill Cullen version from 1956) hosted by the late Bob Barker (now with Drew Carey) on CBS in 1972.

International Versions[]

Main Article: Gambit/International

Cancelled Merchandise[]

The first attempt at doing a board game version of the show was made by Milton Bradley in 1973, but it ended up getting cancelled before it was manufactured despite the high ratings of the CBS version.