BIG NUMBERS: THE HIGH ROLLERS GAME
(E.S. Lowe/Milton Bradley 1975)
CONTENTS:
    Cardboard game board with nine slots
    20 value cards (two values each from 50 to 500)
    4 Insurance Markers
    Plastic-rimmed dice trayl inside box
    Question book
    Pair of Dice
    Milton Bradley Bucks

GAME PLAY:
        Value cards are shuffled and nine are dealt face down into the slots on the game board.  As on the show, the player who gains control by answering a question can roll or pass the dice.  The object is to remove value cards AND not lose the game by making a bad roll.  The player who wins the game earns the dollar value of his cards.  The first player to win two games plays the Big Numbers for a chance at $10,000.  Doubles earn insurance markers in the Big Numbers bonus round only.

DIFFERENCES TO TV SHOW:
        On the original show the contestants played for prizes as well as cash, but other than that, this is pretty faithful to the series.  (The rules most people remember were adapted later in the run of the show.)  However, the original edition does have, without a doubt, the absolute worst quiz book of any home adaptation ever.  Most of the material is OK, but about ten percent of the questions, while more or less correct, are hopelessly imprecise, vague or just bizarre.  Here are some of my favorite examples.  Remember, this isn't Family Feud, there's only supposed to be one right answer!

CHANGES IN SECOND EDITION:
        The question book is a lot better, for one thing.  More of the yes-no, true-false or multiple choice quickies the show used.  The cover photo is identical, with a red background instead of blue.  Some of the original edition games were actually published by the Milton Bradley subsidiary E.S. Lowe and therefore didn't have the grey MB banner down the left side.  All second edition games did have the MB banner and logo.

WHO THE HECK IS E.S. LOWE?
        Edwin S. Lowe made a fortune selling Bingo and other generic games as early as the 1920s.  In 1956, the company had its biggest success with a dice game developed by a wealthy Canadian couple for playing on their yacht.  Yahtzee and other dice, card and gambling games continued to make up the bulk of Lowe's inventory when the company was acquired by Milton Bradley in 1973.  Always sensitive to its wholesome image, MB continued to release the games separately under the Lowe logo for several years to follow.  Someone originally must have thought that High Rollers more resembled those gambling games than the company's other TV game show adaptations.  While some first editions (and ALL second editions) bore the standard MB logos, the Lowe line continued to be sold separately through the mid-eighties.

COMMENTS:
        The essence of the game is actually based on a dice game which has been sold over the years by many companies under a variety of names.  Frankly, it's the sort of thing you could do fairly easily with pencil and paper  The only difference between the generic game and High Rollers is the question-answer part, and since the question book is so lousy, this is really only of interest as a collector's item.

HIGH ROLLERS
(Parker Brothers 1988)
CONTENTS:
    Cardboard game board with nine plastic shelves
    Question book
    9 Number Cards
    21 Prize Cards
    4 Mini-Game cards
    1 Map Game Card
    1 Full House Card
    4 Insurance Markers
    3 $10,000 Cards
    10 Money Chips (8 $100, 1 $600 and 1 $6,000)
    Pair of Dice
    (The empty box also serves as the dice tray, with a raised, slotted area for prize cards.)
GAME PLAY:
        The number cards are placed randomly on the nine shelves.  Prize cards and mini-game cards are shuffled together and three cards at random are placed in the prize holders, one under each column of numbers. A player must clear a column AND go on to win the game in order to claim a prize.  Three games are played and the player who won the most goes on to play the Big Numbers round for a chance at $10,000.  Mini-games, when won, are an opportunity to pick up an extra prize, usually with a single roll of one die or other random decision.
DIFFERENCES TO TV SHOW:
        Prize cards are discarded and replaced after each game, unlike the TV show where unclaimed prizes would stay on the board until won.  The TV show would always create a "hot column" that could be removed by a single roll, and placing the numbers at random usually won't create such a column.  All three preliminary games are played, regardless of whether one player wins the first two.  (The box game winner is the one who picks up the most in total winnings, which is more likely to be done in the preliminary games.)
COMMENTS:
        The differences, though numerous, are minor, and all effectively improve the home game experience.  This is an extremely well-designed adaptation with colorful pieces, clear rules and a book of questions identical in style to those asked on the show.