Illinois' Luckiest

A revival of Illinois Instant Riches with bigger payoffs and different formats. Most of the minigames from its predecessor were used on the show, with a few other games added. Contestant selection was different too. It was in two formats during the show's run

Survey

Six people are chosen and a basket with six envelopes containing a survey answer were presented. Each player would take one envelope. A survey would be read and each player would then open their envelope revealing an answer. The players holding the top three survey answers would then be chosen.

Pinball

The Pinball game from the first season's bonus round would be used to selet contestants later in the run. 15 contestants are placed so that three are in each of the 5 slots and a ball is released. The three players chosen would be in the slot the ball lands in.

The winners would then proceed to the minigames. The different part of the show is that three people are selected to play a game and are given a small amount of money to begin with. They then have to wager an amount to risk. The winner of each round not only advanced to the bonus round, but also earned a $10,000 bonus as well.

The bonus round had two formats as well

Pinball

A gigantic CGI pinball table would appear on the screen and all the players would choose which slot they think the ball would land in. The first table had 3 slots, the second four and the third had five. Each round, wherever the ball landed, if anyone was in the slot where the ball landed, they would continue on where everyone else was eliminated. They then chose a different slot for the second and third times. The player(s) win the game if they can make it through all three passes by picking the correct slot the ball lands in.

The table was a computer graphic superimposed over a blue field, a common special effect for those times.

Format 2

Played similarly to the "Pot of Gold" from Illinois Instant Riches except that all the players were playing with the highest winner of them all being the one laying the traps. This time, two traps were laid out and anyone who fell for them were eliminated immedately. If somebody made it to "Big Money" without getting trapped, they would have a chance to win an additional $40,000-$200,000 dollars. If all the challengers are eliminated, then the highest winner gets to try their luck at the "Big Money" space.

Broadcast
Like Illinois Instnt Riches, this show was also was available nationally as well as in Illinois.

(Illinois Area) WGN 9/Syndicated 1998-2000

(National) Superstation WGN 1998-2000

Hosts
Mark Goodman & Linda Kollmeyer