the second after the teammates switched positions. The team accumulated points by hitting bumpers, noisemakers and lights with the ball. Hitting any of the seven large numbered bumpers won the contestant a prize, with bumpers two and three together earning a larger prize, such as a car or trip. At some point during the series, a bonus prize was added for hitting all seven numbered bumpers at least once. Originally, each bumper and other noisemakers scored 200 points. Producers audited the score by watching the tape to ensure that each scoring feature had registered, but scoring errors increased week by week as the machine aged. The rules were eventually altered so that only the seven "thumper bumpers" added 500 points for each hit, with nothing else scoring. There were also two “out holes”, one at the center of the machine and one in between the bottom flippers. Each portion of the bonus was played until either the ball fell into one of the out holes or sixty seconds had elapsed. Once the time limit expired, the flippers stopped functioning. However, the ball would continue to score points for each bumper and noisemaker it hit until it eventually fell out of play. If the team managed to hit the target score at any point, the round also ended. Money ball If a team reached the target score after playing two balls, the team played a bonus "gold money ball" in which the player earned $200 for each noisemaker and bumper. The goal was originally 15,000 points for each new champion, and lowered by 1,000 for each return visit. Later, the goal started at 13,000 points, and the money ball earned $500 for each bumper hit. At some point in the run, this round was redesigned to be a multi-player "money ball marathon" rather than a bonus round any player might be able to achieve in any one play of the machine. The contestant achieving the top point score over a two-week period was awarded a money ball round. This format lasted for five marathons (ten weeks), after which the money ball was dropped from the game altogether. After the money ball round was removed, the electronic point counters on the pinball machine were covered over. Contestants then only played for prizes obtained by hitting the seven bumpers and hitting all seven bumpers won a $5,000 bonus. Format change In early 1976,