Card Sharks
Card Sharks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Contestants alternate responding to questions to gain control of the cards. Then predict whether the next card is higher or lower than the previous to advance to the Money Card Round and WIN BIG!
Contents
- 1 RED deck of 52 playing cards (plus 2 Joker cards)
- 1 BLUE deck of 52 playing cards (plus 2 Joker cards)
- 70 HOST cards with 5 polling questions per card
- 1 Double-sided Game board
- 32 Money Card Round betting chips in the following denominations: 2 Black $500; 5 White $1000; 5 Red $5000; 6 Blue $10,000; 10 Green $25,000 chips; and 4 gold $100,000 chips
- 1 Instructions sheet
Set Up
First, choose who will be the emcee or "Host" for the game, and who the two contestants will be. In the event you have more than three people, you may play in teams.
Remove the Jokers and shuffle both the red and blue decks of cards. Players then draw from the red deck to see who will go first. Highest card wins the Red deck and the right to answer first in the Main Round. The other player will control the Blue deck. Each player may then cut their deck to begin the round.
Once the cards are cut, the host deals out seven cards from each deck – FACE DOWN – and places them on the designated spaces on the Main Round side of the game board (the side featuring both red and blue spaces).
Now you're ready to play Card Sharks!
Instructions
Main Round
To begin the Main Round, the host draws a card from the host cards and reads the first question aloud. The questions will normally involve how 100 people will respond/answer to a particular situation or question:
For example: "We asked 100 ten-year-old boys: 'When you grow up, would you like to be just like your father?' How many said yes?"
The Red player then has the opportunity to guess the number that answers the question. Once the Red player gives their answer, the Blue player must respond whether they think the actual answer is "Higher" or "Lower" than the answer given by the Red player.
For example: The Red player might say that 58 out of 100 ten-year-old boys will say that they'd like to grow up to be just like their father. The Blue player may then say "higher" because he thinks the actual answer is higher than 58.
The host will then reveal the answer.
In the example, the actual answer is 66, so the Blue player would earn control of the cards. Had the answer been 58 or lower, the Red player would play the cards.
(NOTE: should a player get an exact match (ie, if the Red player would have said "66"), they take control of the cards, but no monetary reward is given as was done on classic TV versions of the game.)
Playing the Cards
The contestant who wins the question is shown the first card in their row of seven cards on the game board. They can either keep it or replace it with the next card off the top of their individual deck, which they are then required to play.
The contestant then guesses whether the next card in the row is higher or lower, and continues to do so as long as they guess correctly.
If the next card is the same rank as the previous, or if the contestant makes an incorrect guess, that contestant loses control and whatever cards they have played are discarded and replaced.
The opposing contestant then has a chance to play from their base card, without the opportunity to exchange first. Either contestant can also elect to "freeze" their position if they are unsure of the next card. This prevents the opponent from playing and resets the contestant's base card to the frozen card, and whatever cards that were turned in that instance are not discarded.
The contestant may change the new frozen Base card should they win another polling question and regain control.
If neither contestant has guessed all the cards in their row correctly, or if one has frozen their position, play continues with another toss-up question, with the opposing contestant providing the initial numerical guess.
Play continues in this way until a contestant reaches the end of their row of cards successfully and wins the Main Round.
If the contestants still have not cleared their row of cards prior to the fifth question of the round, that question is played as "sudden death". The winner of the sudden death question can either play their cards—and change their base card if they desire—or pass to their opponent, who has to play without the option to change the base card. If either contestant guesses incorrectly, their opponent automatically wins the game.
The main round winner receives $10,000 to use as a starting stake in the Money Card Round.
Money Card Round
Setup
Clear the game board and turn over to the Bonus Round side.
Shuffle one deck of cards and place seven cards FACE DOWN on the designated spots on the board.
The Money Card Round contestant is given $10,000 in chips as follows: 2 Black $500; 4 White $1000; and 1 Red $5000. The chips are placed on the board space marked BANK. The object is to wager any or ALL of the chips on every turn of the card to win the maximum prize of $640,000.
Playing the Money Card Round
Once the first card is revealed, every next turn of the card will be wagered upon. The player is given the chance to change any one card during the round. The player is required to physically place chips equal to their bet on the table in front of them on sections labeled "HIGHER" or "LOWER". Prior to the last card, the player must bet at least $1,000 on each card.
If the player reaches the last card without busting, they are given the option to "cash out" and quit with their current winnings rather than play the final card.
If they elect to play, they must gamble at least half their bank on the last card. The maximum possible winnings is $640,000.
Thanks For Playing Card Sharks!