Poker Game

Poker Game
Premiere Date	September 9, 1975 (#1582D, aired out of order on September 12, 1975)
Pricing Game Location	Center Stage
Previous Premiered Pricing Game	Golden Road
Next Premiered Pricing Game	One Right Price
Finale Date	May 10, 2007 (#3984K)

Poker Game was a pricing game played for four prizes with three-digit prices; despite its name, the digits from the prices were used instead of cards.

Gameplay

• The object of Poker Game was to create a better poker hand than the house, a nominal player representing the show itself. The game did not use playing cards, but digits found in the prices of four prizes, with zero low and nine high; this game is based upon the five-card stud variant of the game.
• The contestant selected two of the four prizes and was shown their prices. The six digits in the two prices were used to make up the contestant's five-digit poker hand (with the worst digit discarded). The contestant then decided whether to keep the hand or pass it to the house. The prices of the remaining two prizes were then revealed to make up the other poker hand. If the contestant finished with a better hand than the house, they win the four prizes.
• While based on poker, only hands based on matching digits were used in ranking. And because the game only uses numbers and not suits, there are no flushes, and straights did not count. The hands were ranked in the following order:
  • Five of a kind
  • Four of a kind
  • Full house (three of a kind and a pair)
  • Three of a kind
  • Two pair
  • One pair
  • High card
• The best possible hand was five 9's (99999), and the worst possible hand was 54321 (with a discarded 0 and straights don't count as a winning combination). Should the player choose a prize worth $999 and then a prize with a pair of nines in its price, it's an automatic winner.
  • The five 9's "automatic win" has happened several times, including playings on episodes #4311D (December 14, 1981), #9402D (January 3, 1995), #9614D (June 1, 1995) and #2085K (March 1, 2002).

History

• The game lasted from September 9, 1975 (#1582D, aired out of order on September 12, 1975) to May 10, 2007 (#3984K).
• The game was not played again until October 14, 1975 (#1632D), when it entered the rotation permanently.
• On September 29, 1982 (#4603D), a contestant whose first name is Susan won the game, but was forced to give up her trash compactor, grandfather clock, baker’s rack and wood stove due to ineligibility.
• The first time Poker Game was played, the player was allowed to form his hand from any five of the six digits in the prices he had selected, and he did not have the option of passing his hand to the house; this format proved confusing for the game's first contestant and was immediately discarded in favor of the more familiar rules.
• A red prop with a gold dollar sign was added to the prize display in 1989.

Trivia

• The most number of times this game was played in any season was 49 (season 5), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 2 (season 31).
• Poker Game was one of two games that were planned to be played when Drew took over as host, but never made it to air. The other game was Joker.

Gallery

To view the gallery, click here.

Retirement

• The primary reason given for Poker Game's retirement is because of its confusing rules and low value of prizes offered; it never, by design, offered prizes more than $999. Having been played for 32 years, it is by far the longest-lived pricing game to be retired.