1975 - 2007 (Retired)
The Poker Game is a pricing game played for four three-digit prizes. A contestant chooses two of the prizes and is shown the prices. The combination of the digits in the prizes become the contestant's hand in a poker game. For example, if s/he picked prizes worth $299 and $425, the contestant would have two pair--two 9's and two 2's. The contestant then has the choice of keeping this hand or passing the hand to the house and making a new hand from the other two prizes. In either case, the house receives the hand the contestant didn't want. If the contestant's hand beats that of the house, s/he wins all four prizes; if the hand loses, s/he loses everything. In case of a tie, zeroes are low and nines are high.
Three things make this game completely unenjoyable. One, the board is tacky and has not been updated since 1975. Two, winning four three-digit prizes is pretty cheap nowadays. Three, the game involves little to no skill about the pricing of products. The only strategy involved in the game relates to the poker aspect; the contestant chooses the prizes blindly. If the contestant is clueless about poker, s/he could make a bad decision.
Poker Game was retired in 2007 when Drew Carey took over as host. By 2007 the limit on three-digit prizes was beginning to seem cheap and contestants never did get the knack of the poker aspect of the game.
Set Changes: Although the board hasn't changed, a snazzy "$" graphic was added to the podium holding the prizes in the 1990s.
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| Here's the Poker Game board. Blecch! | These are the four prizes the contestant could win. Doesn't everyone need a C.B. radio? |
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| This prize should help--you get a pair of zeroes. | Tough choice here...you have three of a kind. Are you going to keep it or pass it to the house? |
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| We have a winner! Three of a kind beats two pair. | Here's a Poker Game loser...he only got one pair! And the house only had two pair! What a bad combo of prices. |