This game starts as normal, but before each round, there is a "shift", replacing one randomly-chosen value on the board with another. The direction and scale of the "shift" depends on another random draw that picks one board value; if it is a blue, it goes down (drastically if it's below £1, not much if it's £250+), while if it's a red it goes up (drastically if it's £75,000+, not much if it's four figures). These two are entirely independent draws, so you can shift blues dramatically up and reds dramatically down.

You get to choose your box in this, and to start you also need to pick two more numbers 1-22, which will be used in the draw for the first shift. This will be followed by a 22-box offer...

Ok, not 100% sure I follow but I'll pick it up

I'll have box 13 please.

And I'll choose boxes 1 and 2 for the shifts.

OK. You have box 13... and straight away you've replaced £250,000. Oh.

It goes down, but only by a small amount; it's now £225,000.

And you have a 22-box offer...

Banker's offer:

£7,000

So I now know that £225,000 is in either box 1 or 2?

Or are there 2 sets of boxes for the purposes of this?

No deal to offer obviously

If it's 2 sets of boxes then 1,2,3,4,5 for my choices. Otherwise, 3,4,5,6,7.

Three, really, if you look at it that way. The shifts are made entirely through random draw, and if you want me to do the shifts automatically I can do that.

The £225,000 could be anywhere.

Ok, so 1,2,3,4,5. And automatically is fine

Basically, I have to be aware that at the end of every round one value on the board is going to change? Is the shift before or after the offer?

Before the offer.

So here we go...

1 - £50,000. Not good.
2 - £5. That, on the other hand, is.
3 - £50. That's the fifty we wanted to see!
4 - £1,000. That's OK as it is associated with a 'small' increase only.
5 - £250. Only associated with a 'small' decrease, but still good.

And for your second shift - £1 becomes, erm, 80p. Which seems utterly irrelevant, but actually increases your chance of a 'huge' decrease, as amounts below £1 are coded for that, whereas £1-£249 is coded as a 'standard' decrease.

1p
10p
50p
80p
£10
£100
£500
£750
£3,000
£5,000
£10,000
£15,000
£20,000
£35,000
£75,000
£100,000
£225,000

As things stand, at the next shift there is a 9/17 chance a box will increase in value, and a 3/17 chance of a huge increase, but a 4/17 chance of a crash in the value...

Banker's offer:

£11,000

Wow. That's £11,000 of real money. I have respect for money. And I know the banker must have respect for me...

That said however...

It's a great offer Mr Banker, but NO DEAL.

6,7,8 next please

We move along...

6 - £500. That's good, but the lower blues really are a lot better in this.
7 - £35,000. Second significant hit but critically the top three, the ones which facilitate huge increases, remain in play...
8 - 80p! Well that didn't last long, and the worst-case shift becomes a mere 3/14 chance... as is the best-case!

£15,000 is the shifted amount... it's odds-on it's going up... and it's going all the way up to £48,000!

Your new board at 14-box, then:

1p
10p
50p
£10
£100
£750
£3,000
£5,000
£10,000
£20,000
£48,000
£75,000
£100,000
£225,000

The first two offers are combined...

Banker's offer:

£18,000

Sorry about slow reply, just travelled down to London as I'm playing in the WSOPE (poker tournament)

Good news though is I think I now understand how this game works lol

NO DEAL to the £18,000. Whilst not a bad offer I don't think it's generous enough for this board.

9,10,11 next please.

We go on, then...

9 - £750! No small downward shifts left now... taking out some pennies would help muchly.
10 - £100! That'll do too...
11 - £5,000. Only a small upward shift associated with that, so we can take that.

At this point, you have only a 4/11 chance of this shift being negative... but if it is negative, there is a 3/4 chance it will be massive...

...and seeing as you're shifting £225,000 it had better not be a negative shift...

...it isn't! It's now £250,001!

1p
10p
50p
£10
£3,000
£10,000
£20,000
£48,000
£75,000
£100,000
£250,001

Banker's offer:

£26,000

Hmm. This is one of those offers that really is on the borderline.

I usually say that when I'm not sure I suggest taking the cautious deal route.

This board however is simply too strong.

A bit of negotiation for the banker...

Up the offer to £32,000 and it's a DEAL.

If not (as in no increase, or he'll up it to less than 32k) then NO DEAL -> in this case i'll take 12 14 15

He says even though he's losing this game, he's enjoying the scrap, and can afford to take it another round so he's not changing the offer! Ergo...

12 - 50p! He might regret that now...
14 - £10! He probably will regret that now...
15 - 1p! He almost certainly will regret that now... only one blue!

Unfortunately it is the 10p, and as such is associated with a huge downward shift possibility. That's all that can save the Banker now...

£48,000 is increasing...

...to £170,000!!

In that round, you actually added more than £120,000 to the board!!!

10p
£3,000
£10,000
£20,000
£75,000
£100,000
£170,000
£250,001

The Banker said he thought he could afford another round, but not one like that!!

Banker's offer:

£64,000

If you take out the 10p in this round, you are guaranteed to increase one of the other box values at the shift. However, you are not necessarily guaranteed £3,000, because assuming you have at least one red in the final two (and the only way you won't now is if you keep the 10p to the end and it causes another value which you also keep to the end to shift below £1,000) you will be offered the Seventh Shift, which will cause either of the two amounts to either increase or decrease by a massive amount, regardless of what they are. So, for instance, if you finished with £10,000 and £100,000 and took on the Seventh Shift, the £100,000 could increase to as much as £750,000, and the £10,000 to as much as £350,000, or either of them could become a blue. You aren't committed to the Seventh Shift, it is entirely your decision, one you will make whether or not you are in active play. (A Banker's Gamble from a proveout Seventh Shift produced our biggest ever win...)

But in the here and now, £64,000 is the offer.

Another well pitched offer, not far from the mean.

However, the

a) low chance of the nightmare round
and
b) the high chance of an upward shift

means I'm going to NO DEAL this.

16 17 18

The upward shift is definitely a critical advantage in this configuration...

16 - 10p!! And it's now a certainty!!
17 - £75,000. Reduces the chance of a huge shift upwards, but there's still three higher!
18 - £170,000! That hurts... but this shift is guaranteed to improve something. At worst, it will turn £3,000 into something fractionally higher. At best, it'll send anything on the board soaring by hundreds of thousands of pounds...

£250,001 is no longer your top prize...

...it's going up, as you know...

...it's now £500,000!

£3,000
£10,000
£20,000
£100,000
£500,000

Banker's offer:

£96,000

And I'm done at £96,000. DEAL

19 20 21 for proveout

19 - £100,000. That's some ambiguity gone.
20 - £3,000...
21 - £10,000!

Leaving £20,000 vs £500,000... if you wanted to stick with that finish. The Seventh Shift would have been available, shifting the £500,000 potentially to a million, or £20,000 to up to £400,000, or either of them to potentially a blue. Your call...

No shift. Shifting the £500,000 downwards is obv catastrophic.

Resultant hypothetical:

Banker's offer would've been:

£192,000

Box 13 had £500,000! Box 22 had £20,000.

bleh. i'd have also taken the £192,000.

once my offer hit £96,000 though it was simply too much to gamble.