Pay Cards!

This was a game show structured around five-card poker hands. Two contestants plus a celebrity playing for a charity competed against each other to build the best five-card hand from a stripped deck of cards (most often 20; occasionally 16). Three games would be played during the course of one show with the second game having different themes (strategy (similar to five-card stud), wild cards, etc.). In a standard game, players would choose three cards initially, and if there was a pair among them, they would keep those cards. If there was no pair, play would pass to the next player. If there was at least a pair, that player's turn continued. One card would be chosen and the player could either keep it or turn it down. Play continued until time was called, at which point all hands needed to be completed. If two players completed their hands before time was called, the third player had to do so immediately. Payoffs were $10 for one pair; $30 for three-of-a-kind; $50 for a full house; $100 for four-of-a-kind; and $150 for five-of-a-kind during wild card games. (Flushes didn't count.) At the end of the show, the player with the highest cash winnings played a bonus round in which they had to pick out one card chosen by spinning a wheel out of a 12-card deck. All cards were shown for 12 seconds to allow the player to memorize their positions. If the card was found, a bonus prize would be awarded. Contestants kept their cash winnings. If the celebrity wound up with the most cash, a name from the studio audience was drawn and that person played in the bonus round.