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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: beatlefreak84 on July 12, 2003, 08:57:57 PM

Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: beatlefreak84 on July 12, 2003, 08:57:57 PM
Hello there,

I'd like to make a page devoted to the great lottery game for my website, and, in order to do that, I would like a list of the games with rules that were on the show \"Instant Riches,\" NOT \"Illinois' Luckiest.\"  Any help would be appreciated!

Here are the ones I know already how to play:

Force Field
Home Run/Touchdown
Double Dollars
Knockout (first incarnation)

Here are the other ones I know about but can't recall how they worked:

Mismatch
Knockout (second incarnation)
Thunderball
Pot of Gold

I think there was maybe one or two that I'm missing in either of the two lists; can anybody do me the service of filling in these blanks!

Many thanks in advance,

Anthony
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Brandon Brooks on July 12, 2003, 09:17:27 PM
[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Jul 12 2003, 07:57 PM\'] Pot of Gold [/quote]
Pot Of Gold; this is what I can remember.

You have the champion at a podium stage left at the end of the road to the pot.  On stage right lies Mark and the high winning contestant du jour.  The road looked like this

(1)    (2)    (3)    (4)    (5)    ($10K)    ($25K)    (Big Bucks)

... or something similar to Big Bucks.

The champion would  bobby trap one of the three spaces in front of the challenger.  The challenger would pick a spot to advance to.  

- If it was booby trapped, s/he would go back to  the place where they were before.  
- If it wasn't bobby trapped, s/he was safe and advanced again.  
- If the challenger got bobby trapped twice while playing, s/he was done, and the champion won I think $20K.  
- If the challenger chose $10 or $25K and was not trapped, they won that and displaced the champion.
- If the challenger chose Big Bucks and was not trapped, s/he was the champion and was presented with a tray of oversized coins (I think there were six or eight of them).  S/he picked one and Mark would pull the slip out inside of it to show what the new champion won (up to $250K).

That's what I remember.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Michael Brandenburg on July 12, 2003, 09:55:54 PM
For the record, I preferred that show to Ohio's Cash Explosion Double Play show and would watch it when I was at my mother's for the weekend when it was on Saturday nights on the WGN cable channel.  However, I don't remember games on that show called \"Mismatch\" or \"Thunderball.\"

   I'm a little vauge on the second \"Knockout\" game, but this was sort of how it worked: Two vertical sticks were set up in a playing area and a \"bouncing cube\" was turned loose in the area for 10 seconds.  If both sticks remained standing after the 10 seconds, the player's initial $3,000 bankroll was doubled to $6,000; otherwise it remained at $3,000.  Then the game was played again with three sticks and the player's bankroll was tripled if all three sticks remained standing after 10 seconds of being attacked by the \"cube.\"

   At this point, the player could elect to stop the game with his/her winnings to that point or play one more time with four upright sticks in the playing area.  If the player chose to play and all four sticks remained upright after another \"cube attack,\" the player's bankroll was quadrupled; otherwise it was cut in half.

   \"Pot of Gold\" was the end game, played by the top winner for the show against the returning champion from the preceding week.  Eight \"pots\" were on stage, with the first five from the left numbered from 1 to 5, and the last three bearing (from left to right) cash amounts of $10,000, $25,000, and \"Big Money.\"  To play, the challenger started from the left of Pot #1 and took 1, 2, or 3 steps toward the right of the stage -- but before making his/her move, the champion would \"booby trap\" one of the challenger's possible selections.  If the challenger chose a \"booby trapped\" pot, he/she would have to return to his/her previous position to try again, and if he/she landed on a \"booby trapped\" pot again, he/she lost the game and the champion would win an additional $25,000 and return to the following week's show to meet a new challenger.

   However, if the challenger managed to land safely on any one of the three \"money pots\" on the right end of the board, he/she became the new champion and won the amount in that money pot -- either $10,000, $25,000, or \"Big Money,\" which was selected from a tray of 9 coins that had concealed values inside ranging from $50,000 to $200,000.  (Note that the only way to reach that last \"money pot\" was to first get to Pot #5 safely and then take three more steps to the \"Big Money\" pot at the end, which made for some interesting strategy on the part of the players.)

   There was also a game called \"Fast Break,\" which was \"Home Run/Touchdown\" with a basketball theme, one called \"Vortex\" that was played with balls that were rolled into an inverted cone, and one called \"Wrecking Ball\" in which a ball on a pendulum was swung across a rotating turntable having 12 \"buildings\" on it, at least three of which had to be standing at the end of the game for the player to win the game's top prize.   However, I have to go to bed right now, so we'll let someone else fill in the details on those games.


   Michael Brandenburg
   (Oh, yes, \"Illinois Luckiest\" had that crazy pinball machine -- but you won't believe what I discovered earlier today about that \"Card Sharks\" pinball machine I'd poked so much fun at for a while!)
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Strikerz04 on July 12, 2003, 11:08:41 PM
I absolutely hated the pinball machine (for both the endgame and the contestant selection) because it was the worst way to determine who would play the next game. I liked the other version with the lights (this was about 1997 what I am describing). After they brought the pinball game in, I kinda just gave it up on the show.
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: cyberjoek on July 12, 2003, 11:26:56 PM
The Pot Of Gold endgame was played for a while with everyone who was there to play that night.  All players selected slots 1, 2, or 3 to start the game after the Champion (top winner for the night) had picked two slots to boobie trap, everyone who was left was to pick one of the next three slots after the Champion had boobie traped two of them, repeat untill someone lands on a money step or all players are eliminated.  If all the players are eliminated then the champ gets to pick one of the big money tabs to win upto $300k

Thunderball was a version of Vortex played for a short while, it added a \"thunderball\" into the mix, if it landed in the center the contestant won a mystery prize, in exchange for this risk the player had to have one extra black ball (no one ever won the prize, most beleve it would be some instant tickets)
-Joe Kavanagh
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Brandon Brooks on July 12, 2003, 11:35:36 PM
Quote
The Pot Of Gold endgame was played for a while with everyone who was there to play that night. All players selected slots 1, 2, or 3 to start the game after the Champion (top winner for the night) had picked two slots to boobie trap, everyone who was left was to pick one of the next three slots after the Champion had boobie traped two of them, repeat untill someone lands on a money step or all players are eliminated. If all the players are eliminated then the champ gets to pick one of the big money tabs to win upto $300k

This was when it was changed to Illinois' Luckiest.  

Brandon Brooks
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: cyberjoek on July 12, 2003, 11:49:43 PM
Ack, I could have sworn it was before the name change then changed back then the new sho introduced (I think it was a stunt for sweeps one time, A November if I remember right) but of course I could be entirly wrong,
Thanks Brandon!
-Joe Kavanagh
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: GS Warehouse on July 13, 2003, 12:06:22 AM
[quote name=\'cyberjoek\' date=\'Jul 12 2003, 10:26 PM\'] Thunderball was a version of Vortex played for a short while, it added a \"thunderball\" into the mix, if it landed in the center the contestant won a mystery prize, in exchange for this risk the player had to have one extra black ball (no one ever won the prize, most beleve it would be some instant tickets) [/quote]
Hmm, I don't remember Thunderball played like that.  Here's how the two games two covered worked:

Mismatch: The contestant is staked $5,000 and draws one of three balls, red, yellow, or green, from a drum.  Then, the contestant reaches into another drum with three more balls of those same colors.  If the colors do not match, the contestant wins $5,000.  This is done three times, then it's decision time.  Whichever color was drawn the first time, a second ball of that color is added to the second drum, and if the contestant can mismatch here, his/her winnings are tripled; otherwise, the money is halved.  He/she can decide to stop after the third draw.

Thunderball: Between Knockout I and Pot of Gold, there was Thunderball.  The three on-stage players, in an order determined by lot, draw thunderbolts with numbers from 1 to 10.  These thunderbolts correspond to the rods supporting 15 balls in a giant Ker-Plunk game.  The last player to drop five balls wins and chooses one of their thunderbolts, which conceals an amount ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Brakus on July 13, 2003, 12:27:33 AM
Knockout, when played as the end game, was simple: the returning champion chose a spot on the arena, and the challenger got the spot directly 180 degrees from it. The bouncing cube was released, and whoever's cylinder wasn't knocked out was the winner. If it was the champion, he won another $20,000. If it was the challenger, he got the cash bonus hiding underneath the spot on the arena.

Mismatch lasted very shortly, and with good reason; it was boring. A player was given $5000. The player drew two balls from two different holes, and each time they mismatched, the money was doubled. Repeat two more times.

Thunderball was played a lot like \"Don't Drop the Ice\" or something similar. I do believe it was an end game; each player had five balls, and they had to remove a stick from a container that contained balls too. Every time a ball fell to the bottom on their turn, they'd lose the same number of balls. The last person remaining with any balls becomes the winner.

Pot of Gold has been explained on this forum. Everybody held their breath whenever someone successfully landed on \"Big Money\" because the payoff could have been worth from $40,000 to $250,000.

Other games I remembered:

Wrecking Ball. Think \"Knockout\" except that the arena is now an oversized Lazy Susan and the bouncing cube is now a yellow wrecking ball. The player let the wrecking ball swing back and forth three times (i.e. 6 swings) and won money for each cylinder remaining at the end of each turn. The third turn was a double-or-lose-half proposition.

Splashdown was fun. Twelve volleyballs were held up by 15 numbered rods: 5 volleyballs on the bottom, 4 in the middle, and 3 on top. The player would draw a number, representing which rod would be removed from play, causing any balls that the rods held up to be released. The nine lower volleyballs were colored yellow and paid (I think) $5000 every time one of them splashed down into the water. On the top, 2 volleyballs were red and 1 was green. If the green volleyball fell into the water, the player doubled his winnings. If a red volleyball fell into the water, regardless of any other ball the fell into the water, the player lost half the winnings.  This game was fun because it was very suspenseful and gave people a good chance to win some serious money.

Vortex was simple: Players released 7 balls into a vortex-shaped bowl, and when they settled in the bottom, if the middle ball was not red, the player won some money. Three turns, decision on the third turn.

I think I got everything here.... if there were any other games I left out, please fill us in. :)

- J
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: beatlefreak84 on July 13, 2003, 12:48:50 AM
Thanks for all the info., guys!  You've really done a great job of sparking my memory!

However, I think I left one question out:  During Instant Riches' \"Pot of Gold\" era, how did they dwindle the three contestants that played the mini games down to one again?  For some reason, this part escapes me.

Also, some corrections I should note from other posts after a nice memory spark:

The range for Pot of Gold's \"Big Money\" space was from $40,000 to $200,000 (there were 9 coins to choose from, I think).  A repeat champion received $20,000 for each additional victory and could stay on for up to six shows (yes, somebody DID pull this off!).

I believe Vortex's starting pot was $4,000, and I always thought Mismatch started at $3,000 and doubled for each successful pull.

Again, thanks for all the help, but can anybody give me the payout structure for \"Wrecking Ball?\"  That's the only one I don't know of the 10.

Anthony
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: GS Warehouse on July 13, 2003, 09:49:56 AM
[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Jul 12 2003, 11:48 PM\'] However, I think I left one question out:  During Instant Riches' \"Pot of Gold\" era, how did they dwindle the three contestants that played the mini games down to one again?  For some reason, this part escapes me. [/quote]
Simple: it the was the contestant who won the most money in their game.

Quote
I believe Vortex's starting pot was $4,000, and I always thought Mismatch started at $3,000 and doubled for each successful pull.
Actually, Vortex had been $3,000 when it debuted, then went to $4,000 after a couple of months, but it went back to $3,000 on IL.  The Mismatch starting point was always $5,000.

Quote
Again, thanks for all the help, but can anybody give me the payout structure for \"Wrecking Ball?\"  That's the only one I don't know of the 10.
Start with 12 buildings.  After six swings (three up, three back) of the wrecking ball, each building still standing pays $1,500.  After six more swings, each building still standing pays another $2,500.  Then, if the contestant so chooses, six more swings, and if at least two buildings are still up, their money doubles; if not, they lose half.  BUT it doesn't stop there.  A contestant who successfully doubles his/her money can double it again if two buildings remain standing after eight swings, and so on.
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: Brandon Brooks on July 13, 2003, 09:50:26 AM
Quote
However, I think I left one question out: During Instant Riches' \"Pot of Gold\" era, how did they dwindle the three contestants that played the mini games down to one again? For some reason, this part escapes me.
As I said earlier, highest winner played Pot Of Gold.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Illinois Instant Riches
Post by: brianhenke on July 13, 2003, 01:35:06 PM
Yes, I liked IIR. I thought the Illinois Lottery was stupid to get rid of the IIR format and go to Illinois' Luckiest.

   It was a Jonathan Goodson Productions show (JGP! who would have ever thunk it), and its change of games over the show's run was similar to its 2000-2002 Eubanks Powerball run.  The 2000-2001 games were Capsize (altered after a few shows), Powerball Express (altered too), and the polling game with the winner with the most miles going to play Zero Gravity. 2001-2002 games were Gauntlet (bad), Brainiac (replaced by a modified Capsize) and a revamped polling game with the winner going to play a one turn only Zero Gravity. But since this is a IIR thread and not P:TGS, we'll not going to talk about how the P:TGS games were played.

   Brian

   The Jehovah's Witnesses distribute Mad magazine?

   We want some more pro wrestling (STILL) and NASCAR questions!