Bonus Bonanza

Bonus Bonanza was the official state lottery game show of Massachusetts, running from 1995 to 1998. It was hosted by Brian Tracey and Dawn Hayes. The show was produced at WCVB-TV by Jonathan Goodson Productions, and all of its games and its theme were virtually identical to the Illinois state lottery game show Illinois Instant Riches (later Illinois Luckiest).

All audience members wore name tags (a la The Price Is Right) but only those that earned their way on to the show by means of a Massachusetts lottery ticket were chosen to be in the contestant's pool. Hayes would spin a wheel that was hooked to a randomizer. When the wheel stopped, whoever's face the spotlight shined on got to play a mini-game, in addition to winning a set of lottery tickets. There were a total of five mini-games available, but only three of the mini-games were played on a given show, and all three contestants involved got to play the bonus game for a possible $200,000 (as opposed to $100,000 from Illinois Instant Riches; the prize doubled to $200,000 when the bonus game Pot O' Gold was introduced).

Contestants were shown 7 balls, 5 yellow and 2 red, arranged in a line. When released, the balls so that the balls spun around a funnel-like table and ended up in the center in a daisy-like pattern (one ball surrounded by the other six). The object was to have a yellow ball in the center.

The contestant was originally spotted $5,000 - later reduced to $3,000 - and asked to pull a lever that released the balls down the table and into the daisy pattern. For the first pull, their money doubled if the center ball was yellow. For the second pull, one of the yellow balls was replaced with a red ball, and their money tripled if the center ball was yellow. They didn't lose anything if a red ball came up in the center for these first two pulls.

The contestant could then stop with their winnings, or opt for a third pull after another yellow ball was replaced by a red ball. For this final pull, they quadrupled their money if the center ball came up yellow, but lost half their money if the center ball came up red. Maximum payout is $72,000 (or $120,000 under the original payoff system).

Vortex debuted on this show before it carried over to Illinois Instant Riches; on IIR, the payoff was originally the same as the reduced values; it later was increased to a start of $4,000, for a possible $96,000.

The contestant was given $5,000 to start and shown a container with three balls concealed - red, yellow, and green. The contestant picked one of the ball to establish as the "Danger Ball." The contestant was then asked to pull a ball out of the container. If it was any color other than the Danger Ball color, they earned another $5,000. After each pull, the balls were spun around in the container again. After three pulls, a second ball with the Danger Ball color was added, and the contestant had the option to quit with their winnings or gamble. If they chose to gamble, they tripled their money by pulling out a colored ball other than the Danger Ball color, but pulling out the Danger Ball cost the contestant half their money. Maximum payout is $60,000.

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