I noticed that there hasn't been anything of this kind on the US show, so I figured I might as well start this thread. What is the best American game so far? We're going to start with a discussion thread for Season 1 (including the pilots), after which I'll create a poll using all the shows that have been listed. I'll then do the same for Season 2 and Season 3, and the top few from each poll will be in one final poll to determine the best US episode of all time!

http://heelsrule1988.tripod.com/dealornodeal/index.htm
This is a useful site to refresh one's memory of these games. Just click "List of Contestants" at the top and you'll download a list of all the contestants up until this point, along with the amount that they won, and other information. There are also individual recaps of all the games as one scrolls down the page.

Ah..anyway, for now, let's start with Season 1 (plus the pilots).

This goes from Karen Vann ($25,000) to Casey Bell ($196,000). You can list as many games as you want (within reason). I'll keep this open until it dies down, I suppose. (I know most people haven't seen most U.S. episodes, so it may take a while to get a proper list going) Vote away!

Right, season 1 didn't have that many memorable games, but there were definitely some good ones. Here are my faves from Season 1, in chronological order:

Cheryl Jackson ($5) - She was so brave..and a tense US game is really rare!
Cyndi Pridgen ($407,000) - She really turned down some huge offers, and it was the first $400k+ win! Definitely a memorable one to me
Thorpe Schoenle ($464,000) - Another great megawin game! It was amazing how long this stayed the highest win
Lauren Potter ($44,000) - Her reunion with her sister was really sweet
Casey Bell ($196,000) - She was annoying, but her reaction to Celine Dion was completely hilarious

I so want to see Casey Bell's episode, but I loved Michael Wallace ($252,000) with the first non-monetary offer and the lid breaking!!

I know these are from Season 2, but I'll talk about them anyway.

My favorite games:
Peter "Shinebox" Shine, Season 2 ($100,000) - One of my favorite games for some unknown reason. Peter, a NYC police officer, was left with a final 2 of $75,000 and $100,000. He was also one of the first US players to clear the entire left side of the board before the right side. He won his money through his own case, No. 9 (chosen because it rhymed with his last name), and it marked only the second 6-figure case win in the show's history.

Matty Sollena, Season 2 ($675,000): Matty played a $3 million game, and his $675,000 deal was the highest ever won on DoND USA for a short time. Unfortunately, he made one of the worst deals in the show's history, as his case, No. 23, contained the jackpot. Matty declared his game as "Matty Day", and the mayor of New York City proclaimed a specific day as "Matty Day" as well. Oddly enough, the license plate of Matty's car reads "Case 23" for obvious reasons. He even got a Case 23 tattoo later on. Now that's what I call a dedicated DoND fan!

Thorpe Schoenle, Season 2 ($464,000): I love games with $400,000+ wins. Thorpe's $464,000 win was a record for such a long time until the most recent installment of the Million Dollar Mission. He was a fun contestant too, and was a joy to watch. He deserved every penny of that $464,000. He had $400,000 in his case, so he made a $64,000 profit off of the Banker.

Anteia Greer, Season 2 ($402,000): It was "all about the 'fro" in Anteia's game. Anteia's large afro hairdo and bravery resulted in a massive win. Even the Banker and the remaning models showed their support by donning huge afrom wigs. Of course, Case 25 model Hayley didn't have to; she has a huge afro of her own, and it's real, too. Anteia's deal was a massive OBW, as she had the one remaning left-side amount, $400, in her case, No. 21. Anteia also holds the dubious honour of being the first conetstant to faint when she heard a bank offer.

As for my least-favorite games, they are the ones where contestants won left-side amounts due to reckless greed, pure idiocy, or just plain bad luck. If it were up to me, none of these games would have ever been allowed to air, as they did not make for good television. We watch DoND to see people win life-changing sums of money, not chump change. These people screwed up terribly, and in some cases, it was their own fault.

Oh, and Aaron, you're not missing much by not having seen Casey Bell's game. She was incredibly annoying, and she herself opened up the $5 million case (hers was a special end-of-season mega jackpot game). Talk about adding insult to injury.

I'm just hope it comes back to this someday...