Trump Card
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Trump Card was an American syndicated game show that aired in the 1990-91 television season and was hosted by Jimmy Cefalo.
The show was filmed at the Trump Castle casino hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and based on the British game show Bob's Full House, which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15 square bingo board in front of them.
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[edit] Front game
Three contestants played. Each Player had a 15-square bingo style card in front of them. Each Card had the word "Trump" on top of it. Player 1 had Numbers 1 through 15, Player 2 had Numbers 16 through 30, and Player 3 had Numbers 31 through 45. The format of the game was similar to that of The Big Showdown.
[edit] Round one
In the first round, the object was to fill in the four corners of the board. The round was played with four categories, each containing four questions. If a player Buzzed in First with the correct answer, one of the corners was filled in. However, a wrong answer locked them out of the next question.
The first person to fill in the 4 corners would win $750, his/hers to keep regardless of the outcome of the game.
[edit] Round two
The second round was played similar to the first round, with two exceptions. First, to win the round, a player had to fill in the center line of the board (which required 5 answers to do). Second, before the round, each player was given a Trump Card. The card could be used at any point during the rest of the game by a player against another. When a Trump Card was in play, the player who was Trumped had their board blocked by a big T and was given a half-second buzzer delay. To get out of this, all a player had to do was buzz in and answer correctly. Each Category in Round 2 had Five Questions.
$1,500 was awarded to the first player to complete the center line of his or her card, again his/hers to keep no matter how he/she finished in the game.
[edit] Round three
The third and final round was a Rapid Fire round of General Knowledge questions, similar to Sale of the Century. The object was to fill in All the Remaining Numbers of your Card. The First player to do this won the game, an additional $3000 on top of whatever else they've won up to that point, and a chance to win $10,000 in the bonus round.
[edit] Bonus round
The Trump Card bonus round was played very similar to the one that was employed by Jeopardy! during its 1978-79 revival. The winning contestant faced a 25 square board and had to make a line of five squares either across, up and down, or diagonally with his/her answers. Before the round, the contestant was given a free space, chosen by drawing a card. If the player had not used his/her Trump Card during the game, they drew a second card for a second free space.
Once the free space(s) were put on the board, the contestant would then have 45 seconds to make the line. The contestant would call off the numbers, and host Cefalo would read questions. Getting an answer right claimed the box. However, if a contestant passed or answered incorrectly, the number would be blacked out and the contestant would work their way around it (ala the Gold Run in Blockbusters). Completing the line before time ran out netted the contestant $10,000.
[edit] $100,000 Tournament of Champions
Towards the end of Trump Card's run, the $10,000 bonus round winners were invited back to play for $100,000. The rules, however, were slightly different.
- Each game was played for $3000. There were no bonuses awarded for the first two rounds. The endgame was still played for a $10,000 bonus.
- In the final, the two losing contestants were given $2500. The winner of the tournament netted $10,000. To win the $100,000, s/he would have to face the bonus round one final time. If s/he was to win the bonus round, the $100,000 was theirs. If not, the contestant left with all winnings earned up to that point. As it turned out, the $100,000 grand prize was never won.
[edit] Episode Status
All episodes of Trump Card exists, but this show has not been seen in reruns since it's last broadcast.
