High Rollers

Production information

Alex Trebek and Wink Martindale hosted High Rollers. Kenny Williams, a Heatter-Quigley staff announcer, announced for the Trebek versions, while Dean Goss announced for the 1987 series. The 1970s editions were recorded at NBC's Burbank studio complex; the 1987 series taped at Studio 43 at CBS Television City in Hollywood. Prize models on the first series were Ruta Lee (daytime) and Elaine Stewart (weekly syndicated), who also rolled the dice for contestants.

During the 1978 revival, Becky Price, Linda Hooks, and Lauren Firestone rotated as models; Martindale's version featured Crystal Owens and KC Winkler. Stan Worth composed the theme for the 1974–76 and 1978–80 versions. In 1985, Score Productions composed a theme titled "Bubble Gum" for a failed Heatter pilot called Lucky Numbers, which was reused for the 1987–88 version. Two editions of a home game, Big Numbers: The High Rollers Game, were released in 1975 by E. S. Lowe and Milton Bradley, both with Trebek on the cover.

A board game based on the 1987 version was released by Parker Brothers in 1988, showing Martindale and two contestants. A computer game for Commodore 64, Apple II, and MS-DOS was released by Box Office in 1988, with Martindale holding golden dice on the cover. An Australian version aired on the Seven Network in 1975, hosted by Garry Meadows with Delvene Delaney and Suzanne Fox as dealers and Max Rowley as announcer. A Japanese version, SuperdiceQ, hosted by Masaru Doi, aired on TBS from 1980 to 1984.

Almost all of both NBC daytime versions are believed lost due to wiping; a few episodes have appeared on YouTube. The status of the 1975–1976 syndicated version is unknown.

Did You Know?

• During the final seven weeks of the first daytime version (April 26 – June 11, 1976), the main game was known as 'Face Lifters', where digits concealed a picture of a famous person and contestants won by identifying it.
• In the 1978–80 version, at least one column in each game was designated as a 'hot column', meaning all three of its digits could be cleared with a single roll of the dice (e.g., 1-3-6 with a roll of 10).
• The 1987–88 version featured special games like 'Dice Derby', which mimicked a horse race with even and odd numbers moving different horses, and 'Driver's Test', where a contestant had six rolls to land exactly on a 'CAR' space.