Trump Card

Infobox Television
show_name = Trump Card


caption =
format = Game show
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Terry Mardell
starring = Jimmy Cefalo - Host
Debi Massey - Hostess
country = USA
network = Syndication
first_aired = 1990
last_aired = 1991

"Trump Card" was an American syndicated game show that aired in the 1990-91 television season and was hosted by Jimmy Cefalo.

The show was filmed at the Trump Castle (now Trump Marina) casino hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and based on the British game show "Bob's Full House", which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15 square bingo board in front of them.

Front game

Three contestants played. Each Player had a 15-square bingo style card in front of them. Each Card had the word "Trump" on top of it. Player 1 had Numbers 1 through 15, Player 2 had Numbers 16 through 30, and Player 3 had Numbers 31 through 45.

Round one

In the first round, the object was to fill in the four corners of the board. The round was played with four categories, each containing four questions. If a player buzzed in first with the correct answer, one of the corners was filled in. However, a wrong answer locked them out of the next question (denoted by blanking all of the unfilled numbers on the player's card).

The first person to fill in the 4 corners would win $750, his/hers to keep regardless of the outcome of the game.

Not only do the Three Players have their Trump Card Boards, Members of the Audience also had their own Trump Cards. Everytime a Contestant answered a Question Correctly, the Audience Members also covered the Corresponding Number on their cards.

Round two

The second round was played similar to the first round, with two exceptions. First, to win the round, a player had to fill in the center line of the board (which required 5 answers to do). Second, before the round, each player was given a Trump Card. The card could be used at any point during the rest of the game by a player against another. When a Trump Card was in play, the player who was Trumped had their board blocked by a big T and was given a half-second buzzer delay. To get out of this, all a player had to do was buzz in and answer correctly. Each category in Round 2 had five questions.

$1,500 was awarded to the first player to complete the center line of his or her card, again his/hers to keep no matter how he/she finished in the game.

Round three

The third and final round was a rapid-fire round of general knowledge questions, with the object being to fill in all the remaining numbers on the card. (If a player won both of the first two rounds, they could do so with a total of six correct answers.) The first player to do this won the game, an additional $3,000 on top of whatever else they'd won up to that point, and a chance to win $10,000 in the bonus round.

Bonus round

The Trump Card bonus round was played very similar to the one that was employed by "Jeopardy!" during its 1978-79 revival. The winning contestant faced a 25 square board and had to make a line of five squares either across, up and down, or diagonally with his/her answers. Before the round, the contestant was given a free space, chosen by drawing a card. If the player had not used his/her Trump Card during the game, they drew a second card for a second free space.

Once the free space(s) were put on the board, the contestant would then have 45 seconds to make the line. The contestant would call off the numbers, and host Cefalo would read questions. Getting an answer right claimed the box. However, if a contestant passed or answered incorrectly, the number would be blacked out and the contestant would work their way around it. Completing the line before time ran out netted the contestant $10,000. A contestant winning all three rounds and the bonus would therefore win a total of $15,250.

$100,000 Tournament of Champions

Towards the end of Trump Card's run, the $10,000 bonus round winners were invited back to play for $100,000. The rules, however, were slightly different.

*Each game was played for $3,000. There were no bonuses awarded for the first two rounds. The endgame was still played for a $10,000 bonus.
*In the final, the two losing contestants were given $2,500. The winner of the tournament netted $10,000. To win the $100,000, s/he would have to face the bonus round one final time. If s/he was to win the bonus round, the $100,000 was theirs. If not, the contestant left with all winnings earned up to that point. The $100,000 bonus round wasn't won.

Episode Status

All episodes of Trump Card exist, but the show has not been seen in reruns since its last broadcast.

External links

* [http://www.classicgameshows.com/trump/index.html Classicgameshows.com:The Trump Card Fan Page]