History Series / CardSharks

*** Not to be confused with the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} game in which one could play TabletopGame/{{poker}}, hearts, or TabletopGame/{{blackjack}} against UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev, or UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.

** Kevin [=DeVizia=] wrote and distributed a shareware ''Card Sharks'' game for [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Mac OS 8 and 9]], with general knowledge questions similar to Eubanks' Educated Guess questions.

If neither player has won after three questions, the fourth question, called SuddenDeath, changes the rules: Whoever wins the question can choose who plays, for whoever fails on predicting automatically loses, and freezing is disallowed.

* SuddenDeath:
** If neither contestant finished their row of cards before the last question, whoever got that last question right could either choose to play (and can change his/her card) or pass (the opponent must play and can't change cards); whoever plays must complete their row and one mis-guess means the opponent automatically wins.
** The later part of the Eubanks era had it if both contestants won one game each, the "tiebreaker round" went from three questions to just one Sudden Death one; both contestants then got to see their base card, but only the one who won the question got to determine who would play. The same above rules applied.

* BonusRound: The Money Cards takes the same premise as the card portion of the main game, but adds an element of gambling. Starting with $200, the player faces three rows of cards, three on the bottom and middle, one on the top. They must wager at least $50 per card until either the final bet, the Big Bet, is played (the player must wager at least half of their total), or the contestant loses all of their money. The Perry run had $200 on each row for a maximum of $28,800, and the player could only change the first card in each row. The Eubanks/Rafferty run doubled the middle row for a maximum of $32,000. Originally, the player could change any card they wanted, later changed to once per row; in either case, three spare cards were provided. In the 2001 version, the middle row only had two cards (turning it into a pyramid), and each row had $700 tagged to it; the Big Bet was also renamed the Major Wager for this version. The 2019 revival instead has the Money Cards as a single row of seven cards, allowing one card change, with no additional money added. The player bets using the $10,000 they won in the main game, and once they reach the final card, they can either walk away with their winnings or go for the Big Bet.

** "It's nice to see you, to see you... ''nice''!"

** The 2019 revival saw the debut of the first ever male dealer, Jerry Wolf (a Native American actor, son of actor Creator/LarrySellers) along with Alexis Gaube (who later debuted as part of the 50th anniversary specials of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''.)

->"Ace is high, deuce is low, call it right, and win the dough, on...''Card Sharks''!"

*** Not to be confused with the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} game in which one could play poker, hearts, or blackjack against UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev, or UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.

** The 2019 revival saw the debut of the first ever male dealer, Jerry Wolf (a Native American actor, son of actor Creator/LarrySellers) along with Alexis Gaube (who later debuted as part of the 50th anniversary specials of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''.

** The 2019 revival saw the debut of the first ever male dealer, Jerry Wolf (a Native American actor, son of actor Creator/LarrySellers) along with Alexis Gaube (who later debuted as part of the 50th anniversary specials of Series/ThePriceIsRight.

Popular GameShow from the 1970s and 1980s ([[FanonDiscontinuity just don't talk about the 2001 version]]), ''Card Sharks'', yet another game from the minds of Creator/MarkGoodson and Bill Todman, was played with two contestants and two decks of cards.

The first version ran from 1978 to 1981 on Creator/{{NBC}} hosted by [[Series/SaleOfTheCentury Jim Perry]] and directed by Creator/PaulAlter, followed by a Creator/{{CBS}} revival from 1986 to 1989 hosted by [[Series/TheNewlywedGame Bob Eubanks]] (with a syndicated nighttime version running concurrently in the 1986-87 season, hosted by [[Series/{{Blockbusters}} Bill Rafferty]]). [[Series/LoveConnection Pat Bullard]] helmed a 2001 revival which lasted only 13 weeks — and given the rule changes, it's easy to see why.

* CardGames: It's basically Acey-Deucey; each player has his or her own deck to use. Except in the 2001 revival.

* ColorCodedMultiplayer: The champion played the red cards while his/her challenger played the blue cards.
** The 2019 version which doesn't have returning champions seems to subtly play this trope in a different way. Players seem to get matched with the deck of cards that better resembles the color of the top of their outfit.

* CouchGag: The random two-liner poems which make up the OpeningNarration, which are sent in by viewers.

** The ABC version has a limit of $640,000, with no returning champions.

** Endless Games produced a board game in 2002 which, despite using the logo of the 2001 revival, had the CBS-era rules. A new edition, based on the current revival, was released in 2020.

Served as the fifth episode, and the first part of the semifinals, on ''Game$how Marathon'' in 2006, hosted by Ricki Lake. Though the series aired on CBS (where Bob Eubanks' version had aired 20 years prior), the focus was on the 1978-81 NBC edition. Creator/{{ABC}} premiered a higher-stakes primetime revival in 2019, with Joel [=McHale=] as host. It is modeled primarily upon the original Jim Perry version in terms of format.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The short-lived games ''Series/PlayThePercentages'' (1980) and ''Power of 10'' (2007/08) were basically this minus the cards.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CardSharksLogo.png]]

** Three were taped in 1978, with a few differences from the series (different contestant podium, Johnny Olson announcing, etc.); the third was allegedly shot as a normal episode. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yAiHamteXE NBC actually used a shot from the second pilot as the show's tel-op slide]] (which would show up during technical issues). The Bullard version also had one, which still had the Chip Clips, but had two different rounds prior to the third round, which was the NBC/CBS main game (though it still used the same Clip Chip-esque "dilemmas" in lieu of survey questions).

*** For Young Peoples' Weeks, the car game instead offered a trip to Hawaii (or for the '87 Christmas week a prize package including a trip to Hawaii), and players were given two Jokers; when it switched to the 10-person poll, being one one away from the number selected also won.

* {{Crossover}}: Ray Combs [[https://youtu.be/xKcD7AJflzA appeared]] on a 1988 Eubanks episode to promote his then-upcoming revival of ''Series/FamilyFeud''.

* {{Crossover}}: Ray Combs appeared on a 1988 Eubanks episode to promote his then-upcoming revival of ''Series/FamilyFeud''.

* ObviousRulePatch: The "push" rule in Money Cards, as noted above. The 2001 version reverted to having a push be a loss and they've gone back-and-forth on this rule since.[[note]](The ''Game$how Marathon'' version the push rule, the first season of the [=McHale=] revival didn't, while the second season reinstated it.)[[/note]]

* ObviousRulePatch: The "push" rule in Money Cards, as noted above. The 2001 version reverted to having a push be a loss, and aside from the ''Game$how Marathon'' version, it's stayed put since.

* CouchGag: The random two-liner poems which make up the OpeningNarration, which are sent in by viewers.

* TheAnnouncer: Gene Wood, mostly. Johnny Olson (who announced the pilots) filled in at times on the Perry version, as did Jay Stewart (which was his only work for Goodson-Todman); Bob Hilton was the main sub on the Eubanks and Rafferty versions (and also filled in near the end of the Perry version), and Gary Kroeger handled announcing duties on the 2001 version. The ''Game$how Marathon'' edition was voiced by Rich Fields. Donna Jay Fulks announces the ABC revival.

** Endless Games produced a board game in 2002 which, despite using the logo of the 2001 revival, had the CBS-era rules.

** Also, during the Eubanks/Rafferty versions when Gene Wood says "If you [[TransatlanticEquivalent play your cards right]], you could win a new car!

** Prize cards on the Rafferty version; .