Maintenant, on va jouer au Deal or No Deal... en français!

Yes, that's right, folks. It's time for another exciting episode of Le Banquier. I hope you've been enjoying these recaps thus far.

Tonight's contestant is Ulrick Chérubin, who is the mayor of Amos, a small town in northwestern Quebec. Ulrick was born in Jacmel, Haiti on December 24, 1943, and emigrated to Canada in 1970. He is one of the first black Canadians to be elected mayor, and he presides over a municipality which is virtually entirely white and Québécois. He was elected to Amos' city council for the first time in 1994, and was elected mayor in 2002. Since then, he has been re-elected four consecutive times, each one by acclamation.

Amos will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2014, and Ulrick says that whatever money he wins will be put towards the centennial festivities. As usual, the Capital One Ingot D'Or and Surprise bonuses are in play.

Ulrick picks case 24, which is most likely a reference to his birth date. With that out of the way, it's time for us to get this show on the road.

Round 1 - 6 to open
[3] - $5
[11] - $20
[15] - $25,000
[5] - $400
[1] - $100
[17] - $300,000

A fantastic opening round. Monsieur le Banquier responds with:

Offre du Banquier: $45,000

Ulrick doesn't even wait for the question. He says REFUSÉE.

Round 2 - 5 to open
[2] - $50
[14] - $10
[20] - $1,000
[12] - $300
[7] - $175,000

Offre du Banquier: $59,000

Ulrick says: REFUSÉE

Round 3 - 4 to open
[10] - $500
[4] - $750
[8] - $150,000
[16] - $.01 / Surprise - The Surprise this time is power tools from BMR, valued at $11,500.

Offre du Banquier: $74,000

Ulrick says: REFUSÉE

Round 4 - 3 to open
[9] - $10,000 / L'Ingot D'Or - Ulrick snaps up the Capital One bonus. Why the UK version doesn't do something like this, I'll never know. Maybe they need some sponsors.
[22] - $5,000
[6] - $200

The Banker calls Julie on the Videotron-sponsored phone, as usual, but asks to speak with Ulrick. The two speak, and the Banker says that he too is a mayor. The lights in the skybox then come on, and the Banker is revealed to be Régis Labeaume, the mayor of Quebec City. He then tables this offer to Ulrick:

Offre du Régis: $91,000

Ulrick says: REFUSÉE

Round 5 - 2 to open
[18] - $1
[21] - $50,000

Only one amount, $75, remains on the left side of the board at this point. With that in mind, Régis offers:

Offre du Régis: $101,000

Ulrick says: REFUSÉE

And now, here's your Round 5 Random Fact.

Round 5 Random Fact: Since it premiered in 2007, Le Banquier has continuously been one of the highest-rated shows on Quebec television. This is a sharp contrast to its UK counterpart, which has aired some absolutely dreadful shows lately.

Round 6 - 1 to open
[13] - $400,000

That's a major hit, but the half-million remains in play. I'd expect a reduction in the offer here, but let's see what Régis has to say.

Offre du Régis: $148,000

Wow. I was not expecting that. Ulrick thinks it's a great offer, but he ultimately says REFUSÉE.

Round 7 - 1 to open
Ulrick is convinced that the $75 is in case 19. He picks it, and Marie-Pier opens it to reveal...
[19] - $75 - Amazing! Ulrick has cleared the entire left side of the board, which means that he can't leave with less than $100,000!

Régis, in his role as Banker, wants to stop Ulrick at all costs, and he thinks this offer will do the trick:

Offre du Régis: $201,000

Ulrick says: ACCEPTÉE

Hmm. I wasn't expecting that. I think there was at least one more round in this game, but let's see what would've happened.

Proveouts

Round 8 - 1 to open
[23] - $100,000

Offre du Régis aurait été: $290,000

Uh-oh. This isn't looking very good...

Round 9 - 1 to open
[26] - $500,000 - Phew ! Crisis averted!

Julie then flips the lid on Ulrick's case 24 to reveal $125,000. The other remaining case, #25, had $200,000. Ulrick went a round too soon, but he still produced a great win.

Ulrick departs with $222,500 in cash and prizes, which will be a great help to the centennial celebrations in Amos. It also catapults him into the Hall of Fame as one of Le Banquier's biggest winners of all time.

More fun next time. Until then, have a great week, and may all your deals be spankings .

Wow, an excellent game there. Granted, I wish he went just one more and claimed the title of Le Banquier's biggest dealer, but he understandably must have felt his great fortune was going to turn on him. It would have been a definite $290,000 for me in that game, with the board being too stable to walk from with anything less than an AMO with Le Banquier's offers, which promptly arrived there.