was at stake for their opponent to win the game or take the lead (e.g., spinning a natural pair and a joker, then playing the pair for $100 instead of turning it into a $200 triple). By playing this way, the opponent had less of an advantage if the contestant missed the question and the opponent answered it correctly. Winning the game The game was played in rounds, with each contestant guaranteed one turn per round unless the outcome of the challenger's turn made it unnecessary for the champion to take their own. The first contestant to reach $500 won the match and kept their money. If the challenger reached or surpassed $500 on the first turn of the round, the champion had one last chance to spin either three jokers or a combination that would tie or beat that score. Either contestant could win the game by reaching $500 with a correct answer to a question missed by the other, or by spinning three jokers and correctly answering a question in any category. If a round ended with the scores tied at $500 or more, the game continued until the tie was broken. As was common practice on Barry & Enright’s productions during this period, champions played until they were defeated and received a new automobile after every fifth victory. There was an exception to this practice, however. At the time that The Joker’s Wild was airing in syndication, and although it was carried by stations regardless of network affiliation, most syndicated programs had what was referred to as a “network-of-record”. This meant that The Joker’s Wild would be treated as if it was airing on one of the major television networks and had to follow all of its rules and regulations. For the 1981-82 season, CBS purchased The Joker’s Wild to air on the stations that it owned and operated at the time, becoming the show’s network-of-record as a result; since CBS had a winnings limit placed on all of the game shows that were airing on its schedule, the same limit was applied to The Joker’s Wild as well. The limit was in effect until the end of the 1983-84 season, after which CBS chose not to renew its contract with Barry & Enright Productions. During the three seasons that CBS imposed the winnings limit on The Joker’s Wild, it was only employed once. That came in