Round 1

McKrell read a question and people in the studio audience then voted for the celebrity they believed could answer the question correctly. After the voting took place, a totalizator set odds on each celebrity. The celebrity who had the greatest vote of confidence from the audience was dubbed the "favorite" and had the lowest odds, frequently 1:1 (even money) or 2:1. A celebrity who had few or no audience votes was dubbed the "long shot" and had the highest odds, up to 99:1. The contestant in control that round then placed a bet on who he or she thought would answer correctly, as "$10 on Nipsey Russell".

In the show's last 13 weeks, the audience was told the category of the question before selecting celebrities.

Contestants could bet $2, $5, or $10 (unless he or she had $10 or less, at which point the bet defaulted automatically to $2) or up to $100, if he or she bet on the favorite. Near the end of the show's run, contestants could not bet more than $10 less than their total when doing this.

A correct answer added the value of the bet multiplied by that celebrity's odds to the contestant's score (a $10 bet on a celebrity with the right answer and his/her odds are at 5:1 would win $50). A wrong answer lost the value of the bet and the opponent could then make a bet of his or her own on that same question. If no celebrity had the correct answer, the question would be thrown out (known as a "scratch" and indicated by a loud horn) and replaced. If either player dropped down to less than the minimum $2 bet, both players were given $2 (or $1 if that player already had $1). The first round lasted for an unspecified time limit.

Near the end of the show's run, the celebrities no longer wrote down answers. This made the game run quicker, and made it more likely that a question would be answered, since if the current player's celebrity got the answer wrong the other celebrities now knew that it was a wrong answer.

Homestretch

In round two, called the Home Stretch round, contestants had the opportunity to double their bets by picking a second celebrity with the correct answer. In the earliest and latest parts of the run, the contestant would lose any money won on the first celebrity if the second celebrity got it wrong, but the contestant had the option of not choosing a second celebrity. If only one celebrity had the correct answer, a bell dubbed the "ice cream bell" (as it sounded like something an old-fashioned ice cream salesman would ring when going around the neighborhood) would ring; selecting the correct celebrity would automatically double the payout.

The All or Nothing Question

The odds for each celebrity were determined by how well they had performed during the show for the final question of the game. The odds were calculated based upon the number of incorrect answers given by a celebrity, so that a celebrity missing two questions was given 2:1 odds, four misses resulted in 4:1 odds, and so on; odds for celebrities who didn't miss any questions were given at even money (1:1). Later in the run, the audience set the odds one more time; at first, the maximum odds were 8:1, but by the end of the run this changed to 5:1. The two players secretly and simultaneously selected their celebrities, as well as whether to bet everything they had or none of it.

There was a significant prize, usually worth around $1,000, for anyone who bet "all" and lost. Both players kept any cash won on the show. The player with the highest cash total won the game. Originally, if the game ended in a tie both players came back, but this changed to both players leaving if they both lost everything on the last question. Originally, players could stay on until defeated, and they won a car for every three wins. The limit later became three days, then five (with five wins needed for the car, but it was then changed back to three wins for the car, although the five-game limit remained).

On the syndicated versions, two different contestants (no returning champions) played each week. The winner of the game received a bonus prize.

Later in the syndicated version, a "fanfare" played during the game meant that the contestants also had a chance to predict how many celebrities had the correct answer. If either prediction, or both, were correct, the player(s) won a bonus prize package called the "exacta". This was also added to the NBC version in the last 13 weeks of its run, although they added a rule where the two players had to choose different numbers.

United Kingdom

The Sweepstakes Game, using a similar format with Bernard Braden as host, ran for 13 weeks on LWT from July 3 to September 25, 1976. A fourteenth episode later aired as a Christmas special.^[3]

Japan

Quiz Derby, with similar rules but only five celebrities, was a much more popular version than both its American and British counterparts. It ran weekly from 1976–1992.

Australia

In September 1977, ATV-0 in Melbourne premiered All-Star Sweepstakes with John Newman as host. The series lasted until January 1978.