Gambit (game show)
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''Gambit'' is an American television game show based on the card game
blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...
, created by
Heatter-Quigley Productions Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. After Quigley's retirement, the company became Merrill Heatter Productions. H ...
. The show originally ran on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
from September 4, 1972, to December 10, 1976, and was recorded at
CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...
in Studios 31, 33, 41, and 43. On October 27, 1980,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
revived the show as ''Las Vegas Gambit'', as a replacement for ''
The David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Back ...
'', and kept it on its schedule until November 27, 1981. As the title implied, this edition of ''Gambit'' was recorded in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
at the
Tropicana Las Vegas The Tropicana Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Bally's Corporation, on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties. It offers 1,467 rooms, a gaming floor, and of convention ...
. Both versions were hosted by
Wink Martindale Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (born December 4, 1933) is an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host, and television producer. In his six-decade career, he is best known for hosting ''Gambit'' from 1972 to 1976 (and again from ...
and announced by Kenny Williams.
Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart (born Elsy Henrietta Maria Steinberg; May 31, 1930 – June 27, 2011) was an American actress and model. Life Stewart was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the daughter of Hedwig (Haenssler) and Ulrich E. Steinberg. She was one of ...
was the card dealer for the CBS version, while Beverly Malden filled this role for the first half of ''Las Vegas Gambit'', and was later replaced by Lee Menning. Another Merrill Heatter-produced, blackjack-based quiz show, ''
Catch 21 ''Catch 21'' is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). Created by Merrill Heatter (who also produced the show's predecessor ''Gambit''), the series follows three contestants as they play a card game centered on blackjack and ...
'', began airing on GSN in 2008.


Gameplay


Main game

The object of the main game was similar to
blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...
, with two married couples attempting to build a hand as close to 21 as possible without going over (''busting''). Number cards (2 through 10) were worth their face value, face cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks) counted as 10, and Aces counted as either 1 or 11. Martindale asked a series of toss-up questions, usually multiple-choice or true-false. The first couple who buzzed-in and correctly answered the question won control of the top card from a deck of oversized playing cards. An incorrect answer awarded control of the card to the couple's opponents. Once a couple gained control of a card, they had the option of adding it to their own hand or passing it to their opponents. The first card of the game was revealed before the question was asked. Each subsequent card was presented face-down and was turned up once the couple in control decided who should receive it. After a couple received any card (either by choice or by having it passed to them) and could potentially bust with another card, they could elect to ''freeze'', preventing them from receiving any more cards. Freezing was not permitted when the two couples were tied. If one couple froze, the other continued answering questions and received a card after each one. A couple could win the game in one of four ways: * If they reached a total of 21. Doing so also won the Gambit Jackpot, a cash bonus that reset to $500 after it was claimed. On the original series, the Gambit Jackpot increased by $500 at the start of each program if it had not been won on the previous show. On ''Las Vegas Gambit'', the Gambit Jackpot increased for each match it went unclaimed. * If their opponents busted. * If they froze and their opponents missed a subsequent question. * If they exceeded their frozen opponents' total without busting. Each game was worth $100. The first team to win two out of three games won the match and advanced to the bonus round.


Bonus round


Gambit Board

For the entire original series and the first half of ''Las Vegas Gambit'', the winning couple played the Gambit Bonus Board. They faced a large game board with 21 numbered cards (18 numbered video screens on ''Las Vegas Gambit''), each concealing a prize. After selecting a number, the couple received the prize behind it and a card was added to their hand from the top of the deck. The couple could end the bonus game by doing any of the following: * Choosing to stop before reaching 21, which allowed them to keep all the prizes they had uncovered. Couples could do this if they feared the next card might cause them to bust, or if they had won a desirable prize that they did not want to risk losing. In early episodes of ''Las Vegas Gambit'', a couple could elect to stop only when their hand totaled 17 or more. * Busting, at which point they lost everything they found on the board. * Reaching 21 exactly, which awarded a new car (original series) or $5,000 cash (''Las Vegas Gambit''), the Gambit Jackpot, and all prizes uncovered during the bonus game. Throughout the CBS run, champions remained on the show until they either lost in the main game or reached/exceeded the $25,000 winnings limit that the network had in place for its game shows at the time. From 1972 to 1975, the show featured an annual promotion in which the first couple to get a two-card 21 (an Ace and a face card/10) in the bonus round won either $200 a week for a year (totaling $10,400) or a flat $10,000, depending on the year. Special awards were occasionally hidden among the numbers, including: * Half-Checks: Showed cash amounts from $500 to $10,000 that had been split down the middle. Each right half showed two zeroes, while each left half showed the first digit(s) of the amount (for example, "$2,5" left and "00" right awarded $2,500). Any left and right halves could be matched together, crediting the couple with that amount of money. If a couple ended a bonus game without busting and had an unmatched half-check, they held onto it and would try to find its opposite half if they won their next match. * Suit Cards: Displayed one of the four playing card suits. The couple won $500 immediately, plus an additional $500 for each card in the indicated suit that they had in their hand when the round ended. * Hot Card: A card whose rank was kept hidden until the round was over. The couple won $1,000 if they had a card of this rank in their hand, or $100 otherwise. * Swap: Allowed the couple to trade in one of their prizes for another pick from the board after the round ended, if they chose to do so. This award did not add a card to the couple's hand. * Take Two: Allowed the couple to choose two more numbers before being dealt the next card. * 100/200/500 Times: After the round ended, one card was dealt from the deck and its value was multiplied by the indicated number in dollars. Aces always counted as 11 in this respect, for a maximum of $1,100, $2,200, or $5,500. * Top or Bottom: A blind choice between two prizes of a similar type, one of which was considerably more expensive than the other. "Cruise," for example, could award a cruise to either the Caribbean or Catalina Island. * Stop or Go: After the round ended, cards were dealt out one at a time, each worth $100 times its value (with aces counted as 11). The couple could stop at any time, but if a card came up that matched the suit of the first one dealt, the game ended and they lost the accumulated money. * Beat the House (original series) / Beat the Dealer (''Las Vegas Gambit''): After the round ended, the couple played a hand of traditional blackjack against Martindale, who acted as the house and had to follow standard rules (hit on 16 or lower, stand on 17 or higher). If the couple won, they received an additional $2,500 (original series) or $1,000 (''Las Vegas Gambit'').


Gambit Galaxy

For the second half of the NBC version, the Gambit Board was replaced by a renamed Big Numbers bonus round from the Heatter-Quigley show ''
High Rollers ''High Rollers'' is an American television game show that involved contestants trying to win prizes by rolling dice. The format was based on the dice game shut the box. ''High Rollers'' debuted on July 1, 1974, as part of NBC's daytime lineup. ...
''. In this round, called the Gambit Galaxy, the couple was presented with a pair of dice and was required to remove the numbers 1 through 9 from a board in front of them. On each turn, the couple rolled the dice and chose numbers to remove that added up to the total shown. (For example, if they rolled an 8, they could remove the 8 alone; 1 and 7; 2 and 6; 3 and 5; 1, 2, and 5; or 1, 3, and 4.) They won $100 for each number removed, while removing all nine numbers awarded $5,000 in cash and a prize package, which usually included at least $5,000 and grew in value after every failed attempt. The round ended if the couple made a "bad roll" – a total that could not be achieved using the remaining numbers – or if they removed every number except 1. Rolling doubles awarded an insurance marker; if a bad roll came up, the couple could turn in the marker and continue playing.


Broadcast history


CBS, 1972–76

CBS originally aired ''Gambit'' at 11 a.m/10 Central, where it defeated NBC's ''
Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...
''. It also easily beat
Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...
's American debut program, ''
The Wizard of Odds ''The Wizard of Odds'' is an American television game show hosted by Alex Trebek that aired on NBC from July 16, 1973, to June 28, 1974, in which people from the studio audience vied in a number of rounds, primarily games revolving around statistic ...
'', which NBC began in July 1973. On April 1, 1974 (the same day ''Now You See It'' with Jack Narz premiered), CBS moved the show back a half-hour to 10:30/9:30, where it faced NBC's aging quiz ''
Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'' with Art Fleming, just over a full decade before Trebek would host a revival of that show himself. NBC moved ''Jeopardy!'' to the afternoons on July 1 and placed one of the many Bill Cullen-Bob Stewart collaborations, ''
Winning Streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...
'' in the slot. That show's weakness made late 1974 the high point of ''Gambit''s original daytime run at least in the Nielsen ratings. On January 6, 1975, NBC replaced ''Winning Streak'' with ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...
'', which took a chunk out of ''Gambit''s audience. On the same day, NBC expanded the soap opera '' Another World'' to sixty minutes and the impact it had on the ratings of ''
The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'', which aired at 3:00 pm, forced CBS to shuffle its schedule again on August 18, 1975, and move ''Price'' back to the morning schedule, which it had left in 1973. ''Gambit'' moved back to 11:00 am, bumping ''
Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several a ...
'' back to the afternoon after two months and remained there until late 1977, when it returned to the morning until its March 1978 cancellation. At that slot, ''Gambit'' initially had to go against its sister Heatter-Quigley show ''
High Rollers ''High Rollers'' is an American television game show that involved contestants trying to win prizes by rolling dice. The format was based on the dice game shut the box. ''High Rollers'' debuted on July 1, 1974, as part of NBC's daytime lineup. ...
'', also hosted by Alex Trebek. However, NBC decided to air a sixty-minute edition of ''Wheel'' beginning on December 1 with the second half competing with ''Gambit''. Furthermore, NBC left ''Wheel'' at 11:00 am when the experiment ended seven weeks later in January 1976 and it continued to eat away at ''Gambit'' in the ratings. The network canceled the four-year-old game two weeks before Christmas 1976 and replaced it with Goodson-Todman's '' Double Dare'' with Trebek taking the hosting position after ''High Rollers'' came to an end on June 11, 1976. After its cancellation, repeats of ''Gambit'' were later seen on KHJ-TV Channel 9 (now
KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...
) in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, starting in fall 1977 and running until spring 1978.


NBC, 1980–81 (''Las Vegas Gambit'')

Along with Goodson-Todman's '' Blockbusters'' (which aired immediately after), the retitled ''Las Vegas Gambit'' returned on October 27, 1980, as one of two replacements for the short-lived ''
The David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Back ...
'' (Letterman did a tribute/parody of ''Gambit'' to conclude his last program). Stan Worth composed the theme for this version, with Beverly Malden serving as card dealer before she was replaced by Lee Menning. Producer Robert Noah, director Jerome Shaw, and announcer Kenny Williams all carried over from the original. Despite limited competition (reruns of ''
The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...
'' on CBS, and local or syndicated programming on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliates), the revival failed to draw the ratings of its predecessor and was cancelled after just over a year, ending on November 27, 1981.


Personnel

Both the original version and ''Las Vegas Gambit'' were hosted by
Wink Martindale Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (born December 4, 1933) is an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host, and television producer. In his six-decade career, he is best known for hosting ''Gambit'' from 1972 to 1976 (and again from ...
, with Kenny Williams, announcer of many other Heatter-Quigley shows, as announcer. Jerome Shaw was the
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
of both versions, and Robert Noah the producer.
Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart (born Elsy Henrietta Maria Steinberg; May 31, 1930 – June 27, 2011) was an American actress and model. Life Stewart was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the daughter of Hedwig (Haenssler) and Ulrich E. Steinberg. She was one of ...
was the card dealer on the original version, while Beverly Malden served in this role on early episodes of ''Las Vegas Gambit'' before being replaced by Lee Menning.
Mort Garson Morton Sanford Garson (20 July 1924 – 4 January 2008) was a Canadian composer, arranger, songwriter, and pioneer of electronic music. He is best known for his albums in the 1960s and 1970s, such as '' Mother Earth's Plantasia'' (1976), He also ...
composed the original version's theme, and Stan Worth composed the theme to ''Las Vegas Gambit''.


''Catch 21''

''Gambit'' creator
Merrill Heatter Merrill Gabriel Heatter (December 16, 1925 – October 8, 2017) was an American television producer and writer. He was best known for his collaboration with writer Bob Quigley for over 20 years and the formation of their production company Heat ...
developed a similar show, ''Catch 21'', which premiered on GSN July 21, 2008 with
Alfonso Ribeiro Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles as Alfonso Spears on the sitcom ''Silver Spoons'', Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...
as host and
Mikki Padilla Mikki Padilla (born May 27, 1974) is an American actress, model, writer and author. She grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She modelled for Avon. She has since filmed several projects, commercials, and her book, ''Been There, Done That... now do ...
as dealer.


Episode status

Five episodes of the CBS version from 1973 are held by the
UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...
. The pilot for an unsold 1990 revival, hosted by
Bob Eubanks Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show ''The Newlywed Game'' on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version of ...
, is also present within the same collection. Several episodes including the CBS finale exist on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and Dailymotion.


References

{{Reflist 1972 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings 1970s American game shows 1980s American game shows American game shows Blackjack television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Heatter-Quigley Productions Television series by MGM Television American television series revived after cancellation Tropicana Las Vegas