The Money Game, also known as The Oregon Lottery's Money Game, was a short-lived lottery game show which ran in the state of Oregon from 1988 to 1990, and was hosted by Tom Parker and Karen Trumbo. It offered five contestants an opportunity to win up to $50,000 and possibly a car. It was produced by KGW-TV, Channel 8, in Portland, Oregon, the same station that broadcast the award-winning question and answerquiz showOn the Spot, and also by station KOIN-TV, Channel 6. The Money Game was created and co-produced by Mark Richards, the original host of Starcade, and the contestant coordinator for Jeopardy during the 1984/1985 season. All contestants had to purchase a Money Game lottery ticket to get on the show, and both winners and non-winners could make winners.
Format
Contestants were chosen from winning ticket holders sitting in the audience, while the rest of the audience players split the grand total combined winnings of all five players. Each player had a "home partner" that won money based on how the players did. The board had 25 squares, and all 25 squares were available all five rounds. Five players played five rounds and took turns each selecting a number from 1 to 25. Each square had a dollar amount that ranged from $100 to $1,000 in the first round. The values increased round by round, and the champ at the end of round five had the opportunity to boost his or her winnings to $50,000. Other squares included a "double your money" square in Round 2, a "BONUS" square in Round 3, another "BONUS" square in Round 4, and in Round 5, one square was worth $2,500. No square was worth less than $500 in Round 5. Anybody who found a square worth $1,000 had to do the "thousand dollar dance." Round 4 was the round where both the home viewer and the matching studio player won the same amount behind the square.
Vault Round
The champion was offered an extra $10,000 and had the decision to either keep it or gamble on one of two doors. One door hid the $50,000 jackpot and the other had various prize packages ranging from $2,500 to $25,000. Each time the $50,000 was won, confetti dropped from the ceiling.