Card Sharks with Bob Eubanks Episode Guide

This is the episode guide on the CBS version of Card Sharks.

About the Show
Card Sharks was hosted by Bob Eubanks from January 6, 1986 to March 31, 1989, where it aired on CBS. The show was a remake of the 1978 to 1981 version hosted by Jim Perry on NBC, and was created by Chester Feldman, who also created the popular game show Family Feud.

Ironically, Bob made an appearance on the original Card Sharks in 1979 to promote his then-show All Star Secrets.

Like Family Feud, Card Sharks involved the use of survey questions. A contestant was asked to predict how many people in a group of 100 people who share a specific role or occupation (i.e. bachelors, married women, firefighters, etc.), and the opponent must predict if the answer is higher or lower. Whoever gets the question right wins control of the cards. When adults are playing, questions involve adult-oriented topics (though not explicit), such as sex, marriage, work, family, politics, to name a few. During the Young People's Weeks throughout the series, questions are modified to more family-friendly questions.

The player who wins control of the cards has earned the right to change or play the card. Once the card is changed, the player is required to predict if the next card is higher or lower. If that player makes a mistake, the opponent gets a free play of the cards, but is required to play the base card (he or she cannot change it). If a player gets a card that doesn't appeal (usually between a five and a ten), the player would normally freeze and protect his or her position. If the contestant goes through all five cards (three in the tiebreaker) in the round, he or she wins the round and $100. If both players finish round two winning one round apiece, a tiebreaker game is played. The tiebreaker game has two versions, each with three cards dealt instead of five: Version 1.0 involves a maximum of three questions (later a maximum of two), and Version 2.0, launched in February 1988, involves only one question, played in sudden death mode. In Version 2.0 of the tiebreaker game, the player who wins the question gets to see his or her base card first, then the opponent's base card is revealed. The winner of the question may decide to play or change the card, or force the opponent to play from his or her base card. In the match, if a player wins two rounds, he or she becomes the champion, and plays the Money Cards, and at some point in the run, a brand new car.

Money Cards
The champion is given $200 to start the Money Cards. The player's base card is revealed, and he or she must bet some or all of his or her money higher or lower than the current card. During the first month of the run (January 1986), contestants could change a maximum of three cards anywhere on the board. Contestants may change the card in the same slot twice. In the wake of having given away over $90,000 during one week in January 1986, the producers realized that the original change card rules produced too many huge wins, and in an effort to control the prize budget, the change card rules were revised so that the champion can change one card per line only. Upon moving up to the second level, the player is given an additional $400 of betting money. Minimum bets are $50, except on the Big Bet row (which Bob Eubanks never did acknowledge during the series, though Bill Rafferty of the syndicated version did), where the champion must bet no less than half of his or her money. The largest amount of money ever won in the Money Cards in this version of the game show was achieved in late-March 1986 with a total of $29,000 (the largest Money Cards win in all versions of Card Sharks combined).

Bonus Games
Beginning on October 27, 1986, a new add-on bonus game was launched, where the champion would win a new car (or a trip to Hawaii during Young People's Weeks). There were two versions of the bonus game.

Version 1.0: Seven Numbered Cards
From October 27, 1986 until July 1, 1988, the champion was given one joker free of charge to start the Money Cards (two free jokers during the Young People's Weeks). Three more jokers were placed in the deck during the Money Cards during that period (two during Young People's Weeks). Each time a joker is revealed, it gives the champion an extra chance at the bonus prize. After the Money Cards, the contestant takes any jokers he or she has, and is shown seven numbered cards, where one of them says "CAR" (or "HAWAII", and later "WIN!") and the other says "NO" in a circle. Revealing the "CAR" card wins the car (or "HAWAII" or "WIN!" wins the trip to Hawaii). The winning card with the word "HAWAII" was used during December 1986 and at least the first few months of 1987.

During the last two weeks of 1987, which were both Young People's Weeks, a holiday prize package was offered during the bonus game, which included a VCR, a sailboat, his & hers bicycles, a computer, an electronic keyboard, a bumper pool table, and a trip to Hawaii (Gene Wood mentioned the holiday prize package was worth over $10,000, without mentioning that the actual price of the package was really $10,831). The "WIN!" card (supposedly with Christmas-themed stickers) was used during Young People's Week by that time.

Version 2.0: Range Board
From July 4, 1988 to the end of the series, winning players are now required to answer a poll question featuring ten members of the studio audience, all sharing the same occupation, lifestyle relationship, etc. Bob read a question concerning those people and then the champion went to the range board and placed a diamond on the number s/he thought is the actual number. An exact answer won the car, but if the answer was off by one, s/he still won $500 (though during the Young People's Weeks, the $500 bonus for missing by one was eliminated and the contestant could win the trip to Hawaii if s/he gets his/her answer exactly right, or off by one).

During the final playing of the car game on March 31, 1989, the $500 bonus for missing the right answer by one was eliminated, and the final champion could win the car if exactly right, or even off by one.

Possible or Confirmed Pre-emption Dates:
Card Sharks was pre-empted a total of 19 times during its entire 826-episode run. There are believed to be eight episodes pre-empted due to Iran-Contra Affair-related news through the course of 1987. Here is a list of possible and/or confirmed pre-emption dates:

7/4/1986: Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary coverage

11/27/1986 and 11/28/1986: Thanksgiving Weekend

1/1/1987: Tournament of Roses Parade

2/26/1987 (possible): Tower Commisson Report (Iran-Contra Affair-related, and may have resulted in 4-episode taping week which likely aired between March 10 to 13, 1987)

11/26/1987 and 11/27/1987: Thanksgiving Weekend

1/1/1988: Tournament of Roses Parade

11/24/1988 and 11/25/1988: Thanksgiving Weekend

1/2/1989: Tournament of Roses Parade (because January 1 was a Sunday that year)

1/20/1989: President George H.W. Bush's inauguration coverage

Episode Guides
January to June 1986

July to December 1986

January to December 1987

January to June 1988

July to December 1988

January to March 1989

Other Wiki Links
Card Sharks Bonus Game: Winning Card Frequencies