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Awantura o kasę (lit. 'Brawl Over Money') is a Polish game show hosted by Krzysztof Ibisz. The show first ran from November 4, 2002 to February 25, 2005 and its second has been broadcast since October 5, 2024,^[1][2][3][4] it is currently shown every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) at 17.30 (CET +1) on the Polish television station Polsat. Under the Polish licence of the format, granted by the ATM Grupa, a local version of the show also aired in the New Zealand in 2005, using the title Cash Battle.

Three teams compete: blue, green and yellow. Each team starts the game with PLN 10,000 (PLN 5,000 in the first run of the programme). They bid on questions coming from randomly chosen categories (by spinning the categories wheel placed in front of the host).

Each auction begins with PLN 500 (PLN 200 in the first run). All the money that is offered by teams goes to the pool, regardless of whether the team wins the bid or not. The team that declares the highest amount of money answers the question. A team is automatically given the right to answer the question if they bet their entire bank account (go all in – "va banque"), or if their bid is higher than any other team's total.

The team that won the bid is given 60 seconds to confer. If they answer the question correctly – they win all the money from the pool; if they don't come up with a correct answer – the pool is carried over to the next question. At all times contestants are allowed to negotiate with the host the price of a hint, which is a set of four possible answers.

The team with the highest amount of money after seven (six in the first run^[a]) questions have been asked advances to the second round. (If the last question is answered incorrectly, the team with the highest total automatically wins the pool, unless they are the ones who didn't answer the last question correctly.)

At the end of Round 1, the teams that didn't advance to the Final Round win whatever is left on their accounts.

The team that won the first round and the team that won the previous episode (known as the Champions) play by similar rules. The challenging team begins the round with the money they won in Round 1, while the Champions begin with the amount they scored after the first round on the first episode they appeared in.

The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins the game and plays in next episode as Champions. They can stay in the show until they are defeated.

The Champions’ team members wear traditional graduation cap and gown outfits.

First run (2002–2005)

Second run (since 2024)

Appears on the host’s wheel on three wedges and only in Round 1.

Four possible variants of answers, one of which is correct. Unlike other auctions, money bid by teams is removed from play instead of being added to the pool. The hint does not count as a question.

The team that wins the hint via the auction is allowed to call for it at any point, even during further episodes.

Appears on the host’s wheel on two wedges and only in the Final Round.

Each team designates one member to take part in a duel. These two players choose the category by taking turns in eliminating categories from the list. The first to press the button answers the question. If they answer correctly, the team wins the pool (PLN 500 is taken from each team + there may be a certain amount of money in the pool from the previous question + the host sometimes adds some money on top of that), while the opponent is goes to the penalty box, and the losing team plays shorthanded. In case of a wrong answer, the answering player goes to the penalty box, and the pool carries over to the next question. If neither player presses button within a given amount of time, both of them go to the penalty box, and the pool is carried over to the next question.

A player in the penalty box can be bought out in any moment by their team via bargaining with the host (in a way similar to asking for a hint).

Appears on the host’s wheel only in the Final Round: on three wedges (in the first run) or on four wedges (in the second run).

The Black Box (in the first run) or the Golden Box (in the second run) contains various prizes, e.g.: cash, cars, scooters, gold bars, or even joke prizes such as PLN 1 or a pickle.^[5] (Their total value in Series 1 of the second run amounts to over PLN 1.5 million.^[6]) It is also possible for one box to have multiple prizes inside.

The Black/Golden Box is bid on in the same way as a question, meaning whoever offers the most money wins it. The Box is not considered part of a round (question), and subsequent questions will still be asked. Since the second run of the show, the team that wins the box can choose between two Golden Boxes (and two Golden Boxes can be bid on during one show); this was not the case in the first run, as one Black Box was being brought in by a cast member.^[7]

The contents of the box are revealed at the end of the episode (therefore after the winner has been determined).

Since the first episode didn't have a proper returning champion, the Champions team was made up of biggest winners from the previous game show hosted by Ibisz, Życiowa szansa (the Polish version of the then-popular Chance of a Lifetime).

For the first episode of the second run of the programme, best team chosen during casting was invited as the Champions team.

The New Zealand version of the show, titled Cash Battle, aired in 2005 on TVNZ. It was hosted by Todd Scott.

Each team started the game with NZD 1,000 with all auctions beginning at NZD 50. Also, each round consisted of only four questions.