Welcome once again to Le Banquier! We're back to our usual English presentation after a rather eventful all-French episode.

On this episode, we welcome the illustrious Archstered to the stage. A longtime fan of Deal or No Deal, Archie also has prior game show experience of his own. Earlier this year, he appeared on Ejector Seat, taking home £500. Not bad for roughly half an hour's work.

But tonight, he'll get a chance to win even more. We've got 26 cases here, one of which contains our top prize of $500,000! Will Archie become our first half-millionaire? We'll find out soon enough.

Here's the board.

$0.01
$1
$5
$10
$20
$50
$75
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$750
----------
$1,000
$5,000
Capital One
$25,000
$50,000
$100,000
$125,000
$150,000
$175,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000

If you've seen the show before, you'll also know that three of our cases contain some terrific bonus prizes. Here's the 411 about them.

Capital One: Opening this case gives you a guaranteed $10,000. Sponsored by North American financial services provider Capital One.
Maxi Case: Sponsored by Quebec-based supermarket chain Maxi, this case awards a trip to an exotic locale.
Surprise: Telling you what's in here would ruin the surprise .

Capital One is a standalone bonus, while the other two have some of our lower amounts hiding behind them.

Also, the case opening structure is as follows:

Round 1: 6 cases
Round 2: 5 cases
Round 3: 4 cases
Round 4: 3 cases
Round 5: 2 cases
Rounds 6-9: 1 case each

Now that the housekeeping is done, it's time to start the game. Archie, pick one case for yourself, and then six more for the first round. Bonne chance !

I'll take case 1 please.

24
6
9
13
5
7

To start the game!

All right, here we go.

[24] - $50
[6] - $400
[9] - $150,000
[13] - $100
[5] - $5,000
[7] - Surprise | $20 - The Surprise is a complete men's wardrobe from Le Château, which includes some of your favourite shirts . It's worth $10,000 !

Here is your first offer.

BANKER'S OFFER

$51,000

The question here is not Deal or No Deal. Instead, it's Est-ce que cette offre est acceptee ou refusee?

Oh my! What a wonderful surprise! (here comes a pun) *Tailored* to the player.

Refusee!

2
4
10
18
26 are my next 5 boxes, merci!

Here's something you should know about Le Banquier - the Surprise is almost always tailored to the player. In addition, if the player wants to use their winnings to go on a trip somewhere specific, they either win it through the Maxi Case, or receive it from a special guest celebrity sometime during their game.

Okay, let's get back to the action. Time for Round 2.

[2] - $750
[4] - $100,000
[10] - $500
[18] - Maxi Case | $75 - You've won a trip for two to Toronto worth $9,000 !
[26] - $400,000

Most of the Power Eight is intact, which is great. Monsieur Le Banquier can't quite read you, but he thinks you might be a threat.

BANKER'S OFFER

$66,000

Est-ce que cette offre est acceptee ou refusee?

I'M HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL.

Refusee.

Boxes 11, 20, 21, 25 please.

Every time I hear someone say that on TV or in one of these forum games, I get a bit concerned. But hey, I'm not making the decisions here. That's your job.

Anyway, let's open up the next four cases.

[11] - $10
[20] - $1
[21] - $175,000
[25] - Capital One - That's ten grand in your hand, regardless of how you do in the game .

The Banker is starting to get a bit concerned about you, but he knows that everyone can be bought for a price.

BANKER'S OFFER

$85,000

Acceptee ou refusee?

Not this time, Mr Banker. Refusee.

15, 17 and 23 please.

Coming right up!

[15] - $1,000
[17] - $300,000
[23] - $0.01

No 1-cent Club for you today, but a bit of a dilemma for the B-man. He maintains that everyone has their price, but some people have a higher price tag than others.

BANKER'S OFFER

$98,000

Acceptee ou refusee?

There is no denying that is a good offer, but Refusee.

19 and 8.

That's a line I've heard before, but then the offers are declined anyway. Look at any version of this game, and you'll see that I'm right.

Going for a deuce in this round.

[19] - $50,000
[8] - $25,000

The Banker sees that the well of red amounts is starting to evaporate. He thinks you should give this next offer some consideration.

BANKER'S OFFER

$112,000

First foray into six figures. But will it stop you? Acceptee ou refusee?

As it's one to open, I shall Refusee.

14.

We're going one case at a time from here on in. Somewhere, Mark Dade is smiling .

[14] - $200,000

The Banker thinks that the game is starting to turn in his favour. The half-million remains in play, though, and he's playing close attention to that.

BANKER'S OFFER

$121,000

Acceptee ou refusee?

I like pushing things to the pepsi max.

Refusee.

12.

Get out your energy drinks, folks, because this is starting to get interesting.

[12] - $125,000

He's beginning to realize that you mean business. But he adds that business is his middle name.

Here's a look at what's still in play at this point.

$5
$200
$300
----------
$500,000

Unopened cases: 1 (your case), 3, 16, 22

BANKER'S OFFER

$140,000

Acceptee ou refusee?

I'm fully aware that the offer is over the average, but I already have the trip to Toronto, the cash and the wardrobe.

Refusee.

Case 3.

Yes, indeed. You have already won $29,000 worth of prizes, and they're yours to keep no matter what. But let's see if there is more money in your future.

[3] - $300

There is one scared man on the other end of this phone. He says that right now, he hates the song Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees.

BANKER'S OFFER

$163,000

Acceptee ou refusee?

Archie DEAL here.

Acceptee!

16 would have been the final one to open

Well, that's a nice chunk of change, no matter how you slice it, so congrats to you, good sir .

But, as we often ask post-deal, was it a good deal? There's only one way to find out.

Proveout

You said that you'd have gone for case 16 next. Inside it was...



Holy boats, that was amazing! Naturally, the Banker is grumbling now because he has to pay out such a massive amount of money. The final offer would've been...

BANKER'S OFFER WOULD'VE BEEN

$100

A measly C-note.

You've clearly spanked the Banker hard, so let's see what was in your case and case 22.

[1] - $5
[22] - $200

You sold a $5 case for 32,600 times its value. That's phenomenal. And let's not forget about the $29,000 in prizes you racked up along the way. That means you leave us with a grand total of $192,000 in cash and stuff. Congratulations, and thanks for playing !

Will this amazing run continue? Find out next time on the ultimate game of chance, Le Banquier. Until then, this is Mark David saying merci, et bonne soiree.