We’re double-dipping with the Deal episodes again tonight. Our second contestant is Monica Durazo. She’s a single mom who is a huge competitor and wants to win enough money to support her family. Monica is convinced the millski is in case 12 because it’s the month her daughter was born, it’s her basketball jersey number, and it “looks like a man and a woman dancing.” Okay then.

And we’re off.

Round 1
[13] - $1,000
[16] - $10
[18] - $5,000
[8] - $300
[3] - $400,000
[21] - $500,000

That round started well, but didn’t end that way. The Banker wonders how big of a competitor Monica is, and Monica says she’s completed 15 half-marathons.

The first offer is

BANKER'S OFFER

$9,000

Quick NO DEAL from Monica, and a quick link to the first break from Howie. We’ll be right back.

We’re back. Monica says she wants to buy a new house and provide for her daughter. The Banker then randomly calls, and says that during the commercial break, she did some research. Her findings show that Monica ran the New York Marathon in the rain. She sends a Banker Babe out with a gold medal, which Monica puts on. Inscribed on the front – 19,491st Place. Ha ha.

Back to the game.

Round 2
[7] - $25,000
[10] - $10,000
[23] - $750,000
[11] - $750
[26] - $400

Aside from losing the seven-fifty, not a bad round. Here’s the offer.

BANKER'S OFFER

$10,000

Supporter time. We meet Monica’s daughter Alyssa, who is a basketball player with WNBA aspirations, Monica’s mother, who became a bikini model at age 62, and Monica’s stepfather.

Monica says NO DEAL.

Round 3
Monica picks case 22, and it will be opened after the break.

We’re back. Monica says she wants to win enough money to win a BMW 3 Series. Back to the game now, as we open case 22.

[22] - $300,000
[1] - $1,000,000
[17] - $.01
[19] - $5

Looks like we’re in for another low-stakes game, as the highest remaining amount at this point is $200,000. Howie thinks Monica needs a break, and you know what that means. We’ll be right back.

We’re back, and here comes a low offer.

BANKER'S OFFER

$7,000

But that’s not all. A Banker Babe comes out with a basketball, a Diana Taurasi signed jersey, two tickets to a Phoenix Mercuries WNBA game, two tickets to the WNBA All-Star Game, and access to a Mercuries coaching session. That makes the total value of the deal

BANKER'S OFFER

$8,700

“This is really cool, but we want a house,” says Alyssa. Monica says NO DEAL.

Round 4
[14] - $100
[2] - $25
[4] - $50,000

The board right now:
$1
$50
$75
$200
$500
$75,000
$100,000
$200,000

And the offer is...

BANKER'S OFFER

$21,000

Monica elects to use her counter offer, which I personally would have saved until later. The counter offer is

BANKER'S OFFER

$50,000

I think that’s a bit too rich, but we’ll see how this works out. The Banker will deliver her answer after the break.

We’re back, and it’s time for the Banker’s verdict on Monica’s $50,000 counter offer. She says NO DEAL, which does not surprise me.

Round 5
[15] - $1
[5] - $500

That round will certainly help the next offer. The Banker says Monica doesn’t have the guts to play on and go one case at a time. She offers

BANKER'S OFFER

$31,000

Monica says NO DEAL.

Round 6
[6] - $75

Now we’re trending in the right direction. A huge offer is on the way, and we’ll find out what it is after the final break.

We’re back for the conclusion of this game. A huge offer was promised to Monica before the break, and the call comes in. Howie says the Banker has made a low offer, and sure enough, it’s only

BANKER'S OFFER

$7,000

But wait, there’s more. The Prize Wall raises to reveal a white BMW 3 Series, Monica’s dream car (value: $47,669.53). That makes the total value of the deal

BANKER'S OFFER

$54,669.53

Here’s the board.

$50
$200
$75,000
$100,000
$200,000

Monica says the cash could be a down payment on a house and she will be able to give her daughter a car. Despite that, Alyssa says her mother should play on. Monica’s mother echoes that statement.

Monica says she can’t gamble any further, so she says DEAL.

We forgo the proveout, and Howie opens case 12 to reveal $75,000. So not the world’s greatest deal, but Monica managed to salvage $54,669.53 in cash and car out of a hard-luck game, and that’s not too bad.

That’s it for tonight’s double dose of Deal. I’ll be back next time with more. Until then, good night and good deals.

That was a pretty silly Deal given the board. Dealing the cash equivalent of that offer would be somewhat understandable, but to Deal for an expensive car and not even enough money to pay for the taxes on it was not a well thought out decision.

Nice producer win for product placement there. Definitely worth playing on purely because of the US tax rules as Ben said, effectively she dealt for a 90%-ish discount on a car.

Interesting decision to skip the proveout!

Not a fan of the USA show, but these recaps/commentary's are interesting. Great Job Mark.