Well how did the game work?
Two players competed. To get to the Banko board, you essentially played Stumpers with five clues, giving two to start. If both clues got by your opponent, you could stop and take 2 spins at the board, or risk it by showing the opponent another clue for 3 turns. This continued until you decided to stop, you gave all five, or the other player solved, thus earning the spins for themselves.
The board contained 24 prizes, and a star in the center square which was "always an instant win." The game started with some (four?) prizes already revealed. Stopping the flashing light (with a plunger and the cringe-worthy cry of "BANKO!") revealed a prize, and sometimes an extra direction (free turn, flip flop of control, etc.). The contestant who lit up the fifth prize in a row of five, or the one who hit the star, won the game and went to the bonus round.
The bonus round replaced the prizes with dollar amounts, but kept the star. If you hit $200, for example, all other $200 squares went blank. But in the bonus round, the used squares didn't go out of the shuffle. If you hit a blank, you lost the bonus game, and all your money. (Sound familiar?) But if you reached the money goal, or hit the star, you kept your earnings, plus some B&E type prizes.
The prizes in the winning line, and the prizes won in the bonus, were what the home audience was crossing off their cards. Wink hosted, Charlie O'Donnell announced.
-Jason
