Three contestants competed. Before the round began, Peck announced a target score or "payoff point," and selected a dollar value for it by pressing a buzzer on his podium to stop a randomizer. He then read a one-point toss-up question. The first contestant to buzz-in and correctly answer it chose from one of six available categories, each with a different point value from 1 to 6 as represented by faces of a die. A correct answer to a question awarded the points for the chosen category and allowed the contestant to select the next one. A miss locked the contestant out of that question and gave the opponents a chance to answer. The payoff point had to be reached exactly, and contestants were not allowed to select or answer any question that would put them over that total, being automatically locked out in the latter case. The first contestant to reach the payoff point won the money associated with it. A new dollar value and payoff point were set, the latter raised by several points above the previous one, and Peck asked a one-point toss-up to award control of the board. A toss-up was also asked whenever all players missed a question. A new set of categories was introduced after the second payoff point had been reached. Four or more payoff points were played during this round, depending on the speed with which the game progressed.
Speed round
A 90-second speed round was played to end the Big Showdown, with each payoff point worth $100 after the one currently in play was reached. Once time ran out, the contestant with the lowest score was eliminated but kept any money accumulated during the game. In the event of a tie for second place or a three-way tie, Peck asked questions from the one-point category until the tie was broken. Players who buzzed in with a correct answer moved to the Final Showdown, but were eliminated for responding incorrectly.
The two remaining contestants competed to reach a payoff point of seven. Three categories were played, again represented by faces on a die, and point values were 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The scores were reset to zero, and the contestant who had been in the lead at the end of the first round chose the first category. As before, no contestant could choose or answer a question that would put him/her above the payoff point. The first contestant to reach seven points won the game and an additional $250; both contestants kept any money they had accumulated during the game.
Bonus Round
The champion now had a chance to win up to $10,000 by rolling pairs of oversized six-sided dice, whose sixes had been replaced by the words "Show" and "Down". Model Heather Cunningham joined the show at this point to assist the contestant by providing the dice to him/her, while Peck removed completed rolls from the table. The champion rolled the dice once at the outset, and immediately won $10,000 if "Show-Down" came up. Otherwise, the total shown on the dice was set as the player's payoff point, with "Show" and "Down" counting as zero. The champion then had 30 seconds to roll as many pairs of dice as possible, using a new pair for each roll. Rolling "Show-Down" at any point ended the round immediately and awarded $5,000. Every time the payoff point came up, the contestant won $250 and a five-second bonus, to be used once the 30 seconds had run out. If the champion did not roll "Show-Down," he/she kept the money for any payoff points and returned to play against two new challengers on the next episode. Champions remained on the show until they either lost a match or rolled "Show-Down" in the bonus round.
Episode status
The series is believed to have been wiped due to network practices of the era. An audio clip of the opening to one episode also exists, as well as audio of the complete series finale. Two episodes also exist on videotape: the 1974 pilot and an episode from 1975 where Jim Peck falls while making his entrance down the stairs.
