Thanks so much for posting this! We have been waiting to see how this version of Gambit actually turned out. Honestly, I think this should have sold with few modifications. The placement of the 6 Ball device on stage was a little weird, but that's really the only thing I found off. The Answer Machine changed the strategy of the game as no couple could answer answer multiple questions in a row (except when the other couple froze), so that changed game strategy considerably. It still seemed to work reasonably well. Thanks again Wink!!
At 17:56 you can see the original Gambit logo on the back of the cards. (Always liked the face card designs on the Gambit deck.) And to my knowledge, Stan Worth's theme is the only game show theme that had a kazoo in it!
What a way to spend Labor Day, Winkster! 1:45 - That's the same randomizer sound effect heard later on _Battlestars._ And I tell ya, it sounds more like a Speak & Spell: "Spell: He gets up very early. R-O-O-S-T-E-R. That is correct. Now spell: It's in the paper every day." As much I as was enthralled with the Six-Ball Machine, it just doesn't meld well with the simple blackjack formula of the old Gambit. Maybe give it its own show?
What an interesting pilot compared to the version that they went with. Definitely a bigger use of technology here and actually a much more colorful stage :) Very interesting...
It's the Las Vegas Gambit Show......it's the Las Vegas Gambit showw-ohhhh. You'll win cash, you'll win prizes, you'll win a combination of cash and prices. Right on before blockbusters.
This was an absolute joy to watch! This should have sold to NBC in this format, the Big Numbers game just didn't work with Gambit (although it was great for High Rollers)
From this "Gambit" pilot, it looks like the unpredictable answer machine is what gave the 2 couples letters of the answer, whether or not it is a little or a lot, right after a question is asked, and they have 5 seconds to know it.
actually i think this should have been on the air. this format is very exciting and the six ball game to me looks like a predecessor to Plinko and what game show fan doesn't like Plinko. Unfortunately The Fred Silverman Years at NBC IMHO we're a pretty bad time for the network and a lot of good ideas like this show never made it to air. thank's wink for posting this. it's a damn shame it didn't sell
well i mean the format not the material used to earn the prizes/cash as superball is skeeball and you kinda have to roll the ball up a hill. in this case your rolling a ball gently and trying to position it in a way to win a prize or get cash. just like plinko where you try to position a chip on the board to get the big money and avoid the zeros or in this case dead holes
The Answer Machine is a great idea. Six Ball is fun once or twice, but I can't see basing a show around it. Much like "Bonus Shuffleboard" on Monty's Beat The Clock, seeing it day after day, and knowing it isn't really related to the main game at all, gets sort of dull fast. Not something you would make sure to tune in each day to see.
For the most part, I agree with it being a good revival. Answer Machine was a plus, but with the risk of not getting enough info, I think both couples should play. Six-Ball was also fun, but needed some more risks, like losing a letter in Gambit, for example. I'd put 6Ball over the Gambit Board... never cared for it's low risk/low reward structure.
So I have to wonder and ask, during 6-Ball, if three balls or 4 landed in the same prize, was that considered a dead ball? Did it pop out and roll around elsewhere? What if both Jacks and both Aces were filled by 4 of the balls? Two cars?
The letter machine worked out better than I thought it would be. Although the six-ball looked like fun, I still would have preferred the Gambit Board for the bonus round.
The way I see it, the Six-Ball Machine didn't have enough risk. If you got a dead ball, there should've been some serious consequences (wipe out the entire board? wipeout a few "Gambit" letters?). There wasn't enough Jeopardy.
Maybe Six-Ball and the answer machine could have been their own show, replacing the Gambit card part with a front game based on the midway game where you roll balls down a ramp into slots. There was part of the California lottery game show a little like that. Here each couple has their own ramp, each slot has a letter, (P-R-I-Z-E?) light them all to win. As long as you answer the puzzles, you keep earning balls. Play passes when you're wrong, or maybe when you land on an already lit letter.
Time to play recycled SFX: the board's "dialing" effect sounds like the one used on Battlestars. The bell for correct answers would later be used on Hot Potato.
+WinkMartindale: Not bad, but glad they went with LAS VEGAS GAMBIT and returned to the original format, btw what was your take of the 1990 pilot with Bob Eubanks?
I find the Answer Machine and the "6-ball" board too "arcade"-like to work with Gambit's blackjack. Rather, I do see those two work better in a separate game show with more "arcade" games -- besides pinball, that's done. Neat pilot none-of-the-less, just the games doesn't seem to mingle as "Gambit" was marketed as a casino game.
I was confused by the bonus game at first. Only six balls and lighting up the word Gambit. The ejecting ball from the letter part was pretty neat. The answer machine had to have been matching to order Wink's questions. I wonder if anything went wrong in the main game to cause multiple takes.
Because Gambit was the basis of Catch 21. Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley created that game format. Catch 21 had 3 solo players, though. Gambit was married couple v. married couple.
groovy tune. i'd like to play the skeeball game and yeah...pac man came out 5 months after this ...i doubt this isn't the first place this font showed up.
So does the "c" in Punch A Bunch on The Price is Right, even today. The only thing preventing a Namco lawsuit is this is 1979, and Pac Man came out in 1980.
If "Gambit" were revived today, one other option might be to use celebrity/contestant teams instead of married couples. Or, conversely, "Singles Weeks" where unmarried contestants would team up with celebrities.
Sorry, but this just isn't good. The questions should all be buzz-in, and the answer randomizer just doesn't fit in. Bonus game is odd, but if you kept it, you should not keep the letters in GAMBIT lit unless you are a returning champion. New champs should have to start from scratch.
