[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Dec 23 2003, 11:43 PM\']I think Scrabble did something similar, where two players played for the whole show, and the best Sprint time over the week won $25,000.
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Scrabble had as many different prize structures as they had Tournaments of Champions:
In February 1985 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning players to date (the show had only been broadcast approximately seven months) competed over a two week period. The champion won a jackpot of $53,500 (IIRC) -- this was $35,000 plus all the pink and blue square bonuses during the tournament. Each of the players played two Crossword games (in sets of two - any given player faced the same opponent twice, win or lose). The champion was whoever accumulated the shortest time completing a four word Sprint (remember in those days the standard Sprint was three words).
In November 1985 there was a tournament where the five highest earning players between February 1985 and November 1985 competed against five players selected from the national Scrabble board game tournaments (the players were paired off as one TV player against one board game player). Like the first tournament, each player played two Crossword games against the same opponent, win or lose. Each game was worth $1,000, players kept any money earned through pink or blue squares, and players who completed a four word Sprint in under 25.0 seconds received a $1,000 bonus. The player who achieved the shortest time that week had his or her earnings raised to $25,000. I remember this tournament well, because I was the winner, getting four words in 15.2 seconds. With earnings from ten games broadcast in September 1985, I was retired from Scrabble with earnings of $65,000.
In May 1986 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning players not yet included in a Tournament competed (February 1985 through May 1986 players were included, except for the five TV players in the November 1985 tournament), in a format like the February 1985 tournament. The prize for the shortest Sprint time was $50,000.
In the summer of 1986 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning teen players competed for $50,000 in savings bonds. The format was like the February 1985 and May 1986 adult tournaments.
Then in the fall of 1986 there was the 13-week $100,000 Scrabble tournament. It started with a series of 12 weekly tournaments. The winners of the 12 weekly tournaments returned in the 13th week (along with four wild card players from the 12 earlier weeks) to play for $100,000. I don't recall much more detail there.
