Play Your Cards Right (Game Tin PYCR)

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We asked 100 policemen: 'Have you ever arrested someone who was such an incompetent criminal, you actually felt sorry for them? How many said yes? Contestants could also choose to "freeze", thus making the last revealed card the new base card and preventing the opponent from receiving a free chance. The fourth question in each round was a "sudden death" question in which someone would win the game on the next turn of the cards. Whoever won control of the board had the opportunity to play the cards (and could change the base card if desired) or pass them to theirs opponents (who could not change the base card and had to successfully clear the remainder of the row). If either team guessed incorrectly, their opponents automatically won the game.

When Card Sharks was slated for a revival in 1986, Forsyth himself was considered as possible host by creator/producer Mark Goodson (Forsyth, at the time, was in the United States filming the short-lived Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak). The job ultimately went to Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty. There was no shortage of contestants happy to behave on television as they might on the last night of a club 18-30 holiday, and apparently there were 13 million viewers who could stand the “higher” and “lower” shouting from Rent-a-Mob audiences as contestants had to say if a card was greater or smaller than a previous one. We asked 100 policemen: 'Have you ever wished for a crime to occur, just to relieve the boredom? How many said yes? no need to reset all the cards when a new player comes along all this can be done at the push of a button. The first team to reach the end of the board won the game and (starting in the 1990s) a "Brucie Bonus." The first couple to win two out of three games wins the match and went on to play the bonus game for big prizes (later cash).

Games

We asked 100 married men who own dogs: 'when you come home from work, who greets you first, your dog or your wife?' How many said thier dog? The winning couple got 200 points to begin with. Bruce would then ask a question, if they got it right, they'd win an extra 50, if they got it wrong, they lost 50. There were two rows of three cards dealt out (going from left to right, and upward), and one final card at the top. At the start of each row, they could change their card. At the start of the second row, they got an extra 200 points. The rules are the same as in the previous game, but they had to bet on their answer (minimum of 50). When they got to the final card, if they had 4,000 or more, they could play for the car (which was a separate game on the US version). They were asked a simple question (usually to name 5 of something - no-one ever got this wrong), and then predicted higher or lower for the final card. If they were right, they would win the car. If not, they won a prize based on their score. We asked 100 bald headed men: 'Would you be prepared to marry a bold headed woman?' How many said yes? Control of the board was determined by asking a survey question similar to the surveys done on Family Fortunes. Unlike the US version, the questions were played more for laughs (for example: The question would be, "We asked 100 tattoo-artists - if somebody came in asking for a tattoo of Bruce Forsyth, would you try to talk them out of it?"). The couple who received the question would joke around with Bruce about the question and then gave a guess as to how many people gave the answer that Bruce gave. After hearing the guess, the opponent had to choose whether the correct number was higher or lower than that guess. Choosing correctly gave control of the board to the opponent; otherwise, the initial contestant gained control. The initial contestant would also gain control of the board if he/she correctly guessed the answer on the nose and thereby winning a case of champagne. Up to four toss-up questions were played per game.

We asked 100 small shop keepers: 'If you went into someone else's shop and the assistant gave you too much change, would you tell them about it?' How many said yes? We asked 100 school children: 'If your school burned down, would you be happy or sad?' How many said happy? An interactive DVD game of Play Your Cards Right was released in 2007, with an updated sequel released in 2008, both produced by DVDPro.

We asked 100 married men: 'If your wife wanted you to wear a homing device so she always knew where you were, would you wear it?' How many said yes? We asked 100 married women: 'When is your husband more likely to notice your new dress - when you wear it or when he sees the bill?' How many said the bill?

We asked 100 barmaids: 'Have you ever deliberately spilt a drink on a customer's lap?' How many said yes? If neither team guessed all the cards on their row correctly, another toss-up question was asked and the same procedures were followed until someone revealed all the cards in the row or the fourth question in the round was asked. We asked 100 bus drivers: 'Have you ever deliberately driven through a puddle to soak a pedestrian?' How many said yes?We asked 100 single woman: 'When having a medical examination, would you feel more comfortable if the doctor undressed as well?' How many said yes?

We asked 100 married Japanese women: 'Have you ever kissed your husband in a public place?' How many said yes? We asked 100 butchers: 'Which would worry you more, a visit from the Income Tax or a visit from Public Health?' How many said Public Health?In 2020, as part of a series of one-episode revivals of former gameshows made by ITV franchises, comedian Alan Carr hosted two episodes of a revived version of Play Your Cards Right. If the match was tied after two games, a tiebreaker game was played to determine the winner. Contestants played rows of three cards instead of five, and three questions were asked instead of four, with the third being sudden death.