History Series / CardSharks

** TheAnnouncer: Gene Wood, mostly. Bob Hilton and Johnny Olson filled in at times, and Gary Kroger handled announcing duties on the 2001 version.

* BonusSpace: Prize cards, used only on the Rafferty version. Beginning in the later days of the NBC run, a $500 bonus was added for an exact guess on any question and/or running the board. The CBS version kept the $500 bonus for an exact guess on a normal or educated guess question, though eliminated the bonus for running the board. An exact guess on an audience poll group question was worth $100 to the player and the group of 10 shared $100.

* GameShowWinningsCap: The NBC version had a limit of seven matches with no cap on winnings, for a theoretical maximum of $203,000. The CBS version originally had a limit of five matches and $50,000, but the latter increased to $75,000 in Fall 1986.

* HomeGame: Several.

* LosingHorns: Mock fanfare, recycled from ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''. Truncated in the 1970s, but played in full in the 1980s.

* SuddenDeath: If nobody 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.

* EpicFail: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKc6IzLZCFQ This poor contestant]] uncovered four Jacks, all of which went against the odds: The first was followed by a King, the second by an Ace, and the third by the fourth. She took the fourth Jack to the Big Bet and, now considering the Jacks bad luck, swapped it for a 9. It was followed by ''another'' King, so she still would've lost money on it even if she hadn't swapped it out.

* GrandFinale: The last Rafferty episode gave the final champion all four Jokers at the start of the Money Cards. After he placed the cards, Bill stated that he would reveal them right-to-left, noting he had never done this before and if production didn't like that, "It's the last show; fire me." [[note]](Throughout the episode, they had almost constantly called it the last of the ''season''. Although Rafferty slipped up near the start of the Money Cards, he evidently decided to go, "Ah, screw it.")[[/note]] [[spoiler:The car was won, hence why Bill went right to left.]]

* MythologyGag: The audience would usually yell "higher" and "freeze" during game play. The audiences on the Bill Cullen edition of ''ThePriceIsRight'' (a Goodson-Todman show) did this as well. The ding used during survey answers and card reveals on the NBC show was the same low "E" used on Cullen's ''Price.''
* ObviousRulePatch: The Money Cards in the 1980s, as shown under LuckBasedMission.

* RecycledSoundtrack: From the 1976 quiz show ''[[Series/DoubleDare1976 Double Dare]]'' (no relation to the kids' game show).

* TakeThat: On one episode, Bob Eubanks asked a contestant how many Catholics have gained sainthood and added, "Everyone should know this." The contestant said "Everyone but me", and Bob added "...and everyone at Goodson-Todman."

** Also, on the CBS show when Gene Wood says "If you [[Transatlantic Equivalent play your cards right]], you could win a new car."

* TitleDrop: "Let's meet today's card sharks!"

* MythologyGag: The audience would usually yell "higher" and "freeze" during game play. The audiences on the Bill Cullen edition of ''ThePriceIsRight'' (a Goodson-Todman show) did this as well.

*** Not to be confused with the [[{{Commodore64}} Commodore 64]] game in which one could play poker, hearts, or blackjack against RonaldReagan, MikhailGorbachev, or MargaretThatcher.

** "What do points make? ''Prizes!''

* ObviousRulePatch: The Money Cards in the 1980s, as shown above.

* StockFootage: The opening titles for the NBC run, showing a different tiebreaker board and Money Cards logo, was lifted directly from the two March 17, 1978, pilots.

* BigWinSirens: The Eubanks and Rafferty versions used the ones from ''ThePriceIsRight'' whenever a car was won...sped up to about twice as fast.

* LosingHorns: Mock fanfare, recycled from ''ThePriceIsRight''. Truncated in the 1970s, but played in full in the 1980s.

** Getting the same card value on predicting means a loss. In the Money Cards, this was particularly painful when you got two deuces or two Aces in a row. One contestant during the NBC run got [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KPu2RLL-TQ all four treys in succession.]] This eventually led to a "push" rule where getting the same card twice in a row in Money Cards resulted in no loss or gain.

* VivaLasVegas: The 2001 revival copied the "Welcome to Las Vegas" logo for its own logo.

The first version ran from 1978 to 1981 on Creator/{{NBC}}, followed by a Creator/{{CBS}} revival from 1986 to 1989 (with a syndicated nighttime version running in 1986/87). There was also a 2001 revival which lasted only 13 weeks — and given the rule changes, it's easy to see why.

* FanRemake: A [=YouTube=] user by the name of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]][[Series/PressYourLuck Whammy]] does one that he takes to various anime conventions. And he has [[http://youtu.be/LhdLkrA0-zE?t=34s three decks of custom physical cards for the game itself]] (no, sadly, you can't buy your own.)
* GrandFinale: The last Rafferty episode gave the final champion all four Jokers at the start of the Money Cards. After he placed the cards, Bill stated that he would reveal them right-to-left, noting he had never done this before and if production didn't like that, "It's the last show; fire me." [[note]](Throughout the episode, they had almost constantly called it the last of the ''season''. Although Rafferty slipped up near the start of the Money Cards, he evidently decided to go "Ah, screw it.")[[/note]] [[spoiler:The car was won, hence why Bill went right to left.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** '''NBC version''': Jim Perry explaining that the champion played "the top cards, the red cards," and the challenger played "the lower cards, the blue cards." It wasn't until almost the end of 1978 that this was dropped, and Perry would only use it again when two new players (following the retirement of an undefeated champion) played or it was a celebrity or Teen Week (when new players played each game). Additionally, the opening spiel was standard ("Ace is high/deuce is low/play them right/and win the dough"), but before long viewers were invited to send in their own poems (for which Perry would acknowledge in the opening).
** '''CBS version''': For the earliest weeks in 1986, Gene Wood's introduction was very simple: "From CBS Television City in Hollywood, it's CAAARRRDDD SHARKS!!!" right before introducing the host. Also, the absence of the car game and the "10 studio audience members"/educated guess questions. Indeed, during the very earliest weeks, questions were very much along the same lines of the NBC version.

The first version ran from 1978-81 on Creator/{{NBC}}, followed by a Creator/{{CBS}} revival from 1986-89 (with a syndicated nighttime version running for a year from 1986-87). There was also a 2001 revival which lasted only 13 weeks — and given the rule changes, it's easy to see why.

* GoldenSnitch: The 2001 revival used a single row of cards for both players; as such, it was possible to dump victory in the lap of an opponent who had been sitting on his hands all game, all off ''one'' bad card call.

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

* CatchPhrase: From the British version, with the standard BruceForsyth call and response:

* EpicFail: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKc6IzLZCFQ This poor contestant]] uncovered four Jacks, all of which went against the odds: the first was followed by a King, the second by an Ace, and the third by the fourth. She took the fourth Jack to the Big Bet and, now considering the Jacks bad luck, swapped it for a 9. It was followed by ''another'' King, so she still would've lost money on it even if she hadn't swapped it out.

* FanRemake: A YouTube user by the name of [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]][[PressYourLuck Whammy]] does one that he takes to various anime conventions. And he has [[http://youtu.be/LhdLkrA0-zE?t=34s three decks of custom physical cards for the game itself]] (no, sadly, you can't buy your own.)
* GrandFinale: The last Rafferty episode gave the final champion all four Jokers at the start of the Money Cards. After he placed the cards, Bill stated that he would reveal them right-to-left, noting he had never done this before and if production didn't like that "It's the last show; fire me." [[note]](Throughout the episode, they had almost constantly called it the last of the ''season''. Although Rafferty slipped up near the start of the Money Cards, he evidently decided to go "Ah, screw it.")[[/note]] [[spoiler:The car was won, hence why Bill went right-to-left.]]

* RecycledSoundtrack: From the 1976 quiz show ''[[DoubleDare1976 Double Dare]]'' (no relation to the kids' game show).
* SpiritualSuccessor: The short-lived games ''PlayThePercentages'' (1980) and ''Power of 10'' (2007-08) were basically this minus the cards.
* StockFootage: The opening titles for the NBC run, showing a different tiebreaker board and Money Cards logo, was lifted directly from the two March 17, 1978 pilots.
* TakeThat: On one episode, Bob asked a contestant how many Catholics have gained sainthood and added, "Everyone should know this." The contestant said "Everyone but me", and Bob added "...and everyone at Goodson-Todman."

* EpicFail: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKc6IzLZCFQ This poor contestant]] uncovered four Jacks, all of which went against the odds: the first was followed by a King, the second by an Ace, and the third by the fourth. She took the fourth Jack to the Big Bet and, now considering the Jack's bad luck, swapped it for a 9. It was followed by ''another'' King, so she still would've lost money on it even if she hadn't swapped it out.

** Softie and [=GameTek=] produced ''Card Sharks'' computer games in the late 1980s. The MS-DOS version used the same contestant sprites as ''Classic {{Concentration}}''.

* CompanionCube: The sliding holder that held the question cards on the Perry version was often called "[=G2-T2=]", as a double ShoutOut to '''G'''oodson-'''T'''odman and [[StarWars R2-D2]]. It was actually ''called'' R2-D2 in the first few episodes before Perry decided to change its name.

Brits got several years' worth of a TransatlanticEquivalent titled ''Play Your Cards Right'', which had BruceForsyth at the helm. Among other changes, this edition saw couples playing against each other.

* DownerEnding: Any time a contestant goes all-in on the second row or the Big Bet, and loses. Even worse during the "doubles lose" era.

!!GameShow Tropes in use:

* GameShowWinningsCap: The NBC version had a limit of seven matches with no cap on winnings, for a theoretical maximum of $203,000. The CBS version originally had a limit of five matches and $50,000, but the latter increased to $75,000 in autumn 1986.
* {{Home Game}}s:

** Endless Games produced one in 2002. Despite using the logo of the 2001 revival, the rules are those of the CBS version.

** The later part of the Eubanks era had it if both contestants won one game each, the "tiebreaker round" went from 3 questions to just 1 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.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Terry, a male contestant on Eubanks' version, fell into this watching the hostesses deal the cards just before a tie-breaker.

* EpicFail: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKc6IzLZCFQ This poor contestant]] uncovered four Jacks, all of which went against the odds: the first was followed by a King, the second by an Ace, and the third by the fourth. She took the fourth Jack to the Big Bet and, now considering the Jacks bad luck, swapped it for a 9. It was followed by ''another'' King, so she still would've lost money on it even if she hadn't swapped it out.
* GoldenSnitch: The 2001 revival used a single row of cards for both players; as such, it was possible to dump victory in the lap of an opponent who had been sitting on his hands all game, all off ''one'' bad card call.

** Getting the same card value on predicting means a loss. In the Money Cards, this was particularly painful when you got two deuces or two aces in a row. One contestant on the Perry version got [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KPu2RLL-TQ all four treys in succession.]] This eventually led to a "push" rule where getting the same card twice in a row in Money Cards resulted in no loss or gain.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The short-lived games ''PlayThePercentages'' (1980) and ''Power Of 10'' (2007-08) were basically this minus the cards.
* StockFootage: The opening titles from the Jim Perry era of the show, complete with a different Tie-breaker board and Money Cards board, was lifted directly from the two March 17, 1978 pilots.
* TakeThat: On one episode, Bob asked a contestant how many Catholics have gained sainthood and added, "Everyone should know this." The contestant said, "Everyone but me", and Bob added, "...and everyone at Goodson-Todman."