"Take It All" was another "big money" prime time supergame, with the promise of spectacular prizes, cash and ultimate trips to fantastic places.
Hosted by "Deal or No Deal" emcee Howie Mandel, this game also involved opening boxes. Contestants battled each other in a high stakes Yankee Swap/White Elephant game, where someone opened a box to find a prize. The next contestant could grab that prize or open a new box, hoping to find something more valuable. At the end of the round the contestants with the prizes worth the most got to continue. The low prize holder was out.
The end of the game was the most controversial. The two contestants who made it to the final round, each with presumably fantastic cars, trips and money could choose to "Keep Mine" or "Take It All." If both players chose "Keep Mine," both players went home with their collection of gifts. If both chose "Take It All," they both left with nothing. But if one chose to "Keep" while the other chose to "Take," the "taker" got everything, while the "keeper" left with nothing. This was especially harrowing when one contestant begged another to split their winnings, that she simply wanted to take her goodies and be happy, before they made their decision. Then, when the results were revealed, she had convinced her opponent to say "Keep Mine" while she picked "Take It All!"
The one tweak that should have been included in this final portion of the game was a simple one, and really an obvious one. If you believe your opponent plans to steal your prizes by saying "Take It All," there should have been an option to say "Block," which would mean that the defender would get all the prizes for blocking the attempt to steal. However, if the opponent said "Keep Mine," when you selected "block" you would sacrifice all your prizes to the opponent.
Having an option like that would have made the decision to choose much more of a psychological issue, more of a powerful circumstance and would have been fairer to both contestants as far as giving each a reasonable chance.
