1974 - Present
Card Game is a relatively simple game played for a car. The contestant starts by drawing a card from a special deck which determines how close the contestant's bid must be to the ARP of the car without going over. Then the contestant begins drawing cards from a standard deck of playing cards to make a bid at the car. The cards from 2-9 are equal to the card multiplied by 100 (for example, a 3 is worth $300), 10's and face cards are worth $1,000, and aces are wild. Originally, aces could be any value from $1 - $1,000; starting in 1983, aces could be made ANY value whatsoever. A contestant who chooses an ace can make that card any value on the spot, or s/he can save it and play it later. Each time a contestant draws a card, the dollar amount related to that card is added to the bid of the car. When the contestant believes his or her bid is close enough to the ARP of the car to satisfy the range chosen at the beginning of the game, s/he stops. If the contestant's bid is indeed within that range, the car is won. If the contestant's bid is too low to satisfy the range or is $1 or more higher than the ARP of the car, the game is lost.
At the beginning of the game's play, the contestants started with a bid of $0 on the car. In order to speed up the game as cars became more expensive, the contestant began with a starting bid of $2,000, later upped to $8,000, then $10,000, and finally the $12,000 starting bid used today. The special deck that determines how close the contestant must be to the ARP of the car first had ranges from $300 - $1,000. To allow a little more room for error, the card ranges were then increased from $500 -$2,000.
In the 2000s, Card Game was being lost at an alarming rate, with many contestants stopping thousands of dollars earlier than they should have. To rectify that, the special deck's ranges were increased to $1,000 - $5,000 in May, 2005.
Receiving an ace in this game is the best thing a contestant can have happen. Without drawing an ace, a contestant must hope his/her cards are lucky, and zeroing in on the contestant's desired bid is more difficult. The best play of an ace is for the contestant to stop the game and tell Bob exactly how much s/he would like the ace to be worth as to reach a final bid on the car. In fact, Bob gladly allows contestants who pick aces to simply tell him his/her final bid for the car without having to figure out exactly how much the ace should be worth. Making a random value choice for the ace and continuing to play makes absolutely no sense. Saving the ace for later is an equally unintelligent move.
Set Changes: In 1983, the Card Game table was thankfully updated from the awful red "hot tub" motif. However, for a brief period it became "The New" Card Game (this is when the $2000 starting bid and the "any value" ace rule began) with an unprecedented purple and orange motif. That was quickly changed to the green table we know and love today. The update included a change in the Card Game sign and a feature that increased the size of the bid window to accommodate five digits. In late 2004 or early 2005, the Card Game logo on the board was modernized and a paint touch up was given to the setup as well.
|
|
| It's the original Card Game table...kill it! Kill it! | She can be no more than $900 away from the price of the car without going over. Woman, look at the camera! |
 |
 |
| Ooh! An ace! That's good news! Unfortunately, back then, she could only make it worth up to $1,000, which she did. | Your final bid is $5,200. You must be within $900 without going over. The ARP of the car is... |
 |
 |
| ...$4,820! You're over! Shouldn't have picked that last card...tsk tsk... | Well ooh la la! It's the NEW Card Game from 1983. |
 |
 |
| Here's our new starting bid... | ...and another loss. |
 |
 |
| Hooray! The normal table! | This is MUCH better. Don't you just feel like you're in Vegas? |
 |
 |
| You bid $6400 on that car...you must be within $900 without going over to win it. The ARP of the car is... | ...$6,834! You win with a difference of $434! Not too bad! |
 |
|
| Looking spiffy in 2005. |