Deal or No Deal - 12th-17th November

Well, this was a better week than last week, even if frustrating at times.

Monday 12th: Jo

Winnings: £2,700

Dealt at: 5-box

Highest offer: £8,500 (17-box and 14-box)

Box value: £20,000

Unlucky really. After taking out the top three in a single round (the seventh time that’s happened in live play), there wasn’t really much chance of a recovery. And Jo’s subsequent 5-box bailout for a respectable £2,700 wasn’t daft; just unlucky that the proveout went against her.

Tuesday 13th: Tommy

Winnings: £5

Opened the box

Highest offer: £8,500 (17-box)

Box value: £5

Once again, someone opens their box to a blue. But there was more to it than that. Tommy’s daughter had written him a good luck card with Box 20 on the front containing £20,000. And so, it was coincidental for Tommy to select Box 20. And so, when faced with a final two of £5 and £20,000, Tommy turned down his offer of £6,500. He may well not have gambled if the card premonition hadn’t been there. A tense and exciting game, despite the heart-breaking ending.

Wednesday 14th: Charlie

Winnings: £13,500

Dealt at: 8-box

Highest offer: £20,000 (5-box)

Box value: £100

Now this is more like it. It may not have been a Banker Spanking, but for someone’s decision to eventually be justified after several games gone wrong was a good enough result in itself. In the following day’s game, Noel mistakenly referred to Charlie’s game as a Banker Spanking, and was subsequently punished by the Banker for doing so!

Thursday 15th: Teresa

Winnings: £30,000

Dealt at: 8-box

Highest offer: £45,000 (5-box)

Box value: £10

Like Charlie’s game, a deal that turned out to be one round too soon, but was ultimately justified. And, when a player only goes one round too soon, somehow missing out on more money doesn’t feel so bad. Especially when you have £30,000!

Friday 16th: David

Winnings: £9,000

Dealt at: 8-box

Highest offer: £71,000 (2-box)

Box value: £100,000

Another incredibly unlucky proveout. David’s decision to bailout at £9,000 wasn’t a terribly stupid one considering it was a precarious board. So cruel that the board would’ve totally turned around leaving him with a final two of £50,000 and £100,000.

Saturday 17th: Hazel

Winnings: £24,500

Dealt at: 8-box

Highest offer: £104,500 (2-box)

Box value: £250,000

Yet again, a sensible deal is made to look bad by the jackpot being in the box. Hazel’s decision to deal at £24,500 was sensibly seeing as only £75,000 and £250,000 were higher. Just unlucky that the Jackpot came to the table for the fifth time in under three weeks.

The show seems to be in a phase of people making sensible decisions, only for the proveout to go against them. As the Banker pointed out, people still have been winning huge sums of money, even though they haven’t been taking the box. Also, it should be noted that, with the exception of Smithy, all the players who have sold the jackpot recently have made a sensible decision for the board, and have simply been unlucky.

As I’ve said many times before, we can only hope for better things to come. We usually get a couple of decent games in late November, so let’s hope for a few more this year.