Oh yeah I forgot about the holiday!

My fault...

But how you start does have a relatively big influence on how you finish.

A rather disappointing start to the Xmas specials but the life was just sucked out of the game in rounds 4 and 5, and with really poors offer before that, and indeed at 8-box to force the game into the special section, even a one-to-open game from 5-box has little excitement when the top prize left is 5k, and there's not much of a board to play it with.

Still, I was really happy for Sam that she got the holiday, and I guess once she got that, she was just happy to take the box contents no matter what, and I guess that trip was more valuable to her than all the reamining boxes save the 5k, so it seems she committed herself to going for that at 5-box, indeed the offers didn't go up considerably from the 1k until 2-box, which may have been worth dealing, but I'm not going to crticise her becuase even though she still gambled and lost, she was still smiling and laughing about it afterrwards, it's when they get annoyed about it after gambling and losing (such as 1p Matty) that I think they are worthy of criticism.

Really going to miss Sam and her smile that could light up a room, and gutted she didn't win a large amount!!

4 offers well over 75% of the mean (and some getting up into the high 90% range) all no dealt would normally be the sign of a gambler but with the holiday already won, I can't blame her for going to the end. I've have been very temped to take any of the last 3 offers though.

The other thing I forgot to mention was that I must say how much better the whole set and costumes are compared to last year - I mean Sam still looked very pretty, unless Louise last year who was one of the most gorgeous girls I'd seen on the show in her normal attire and looked really frumpy when she played! And I think the holiday bonus is better that getting a few hundred or a grand more on top of your winnings, you;re still gambling with the boxes with their normal values.

I do also like the way they've varied how the contestans pick the Scrooge or Santa compared to the Trick or Treat, or Sunshine or Sunburn. On those the picks were exclusive of each other so there was equal chance of picking either outcome, but here the chances of picking one or the other depend on what previous contestants have picked, so tomorrow's player will have a 6/11 chance of picking Scrooge rather than 1/2. I can see that could backfire later on if everyone early gets Santas, and they might not want to play or deal before 5-box if they are likely to get a Scrooge! Last year it was good for the later games, given Patricia, Orry and Stephen knew there was only one Scrooge left on the calendar!

A big thumbs up!

I think everyone is going to enjoy this next week (and a half) of shows - the Scrooge and Santa theme is going to throw up some interesting games, I'm sure!

Sam was a lively contestant, but never had the decent offers the board warranted early on, and the twist meant she was practically obliged to go to 5 box, by which time her board had collapsed to virtual ruin, and she was obliged to go to the end having received the holiday.

I mean, she was offered £3k at 8 box with £35k and £100k still in play, which was quite frankly appalling, especially as if she kept the top 2 and picked the santa, she would have been in a really strong position. Then again, the end twist is the main selling point of these shows, and the banker's willing to gamble a bit more with the offers. Still, today's were very poor.

One thing worth observing today - there are 12 baubles on the tree, so therefore it is possible the Xmas stars could include this twist, as it would leave 2 to choose from for the final star show. Despite being there for the 23rd December show, I literally have no idea whether they will or not. So that's kinda intriguing!

And the curse of the hottie strikes again, Such a shame.

I liked Sam and have nothing but admiration for her positive outlook and bubbly demeanor, given what she's been through. I know i'm not the only one who wondered why she was given a chair while on the wings, now I guess we know.

She was just dogged by bad luck throughout the second half of the game, her only reprieve was finding the Santa and winning the holiday. Still that's better than nothing and must be some recompense for not winning more cash.

And incidently Moxx's law of the swap would have said not to swap today so by rights she should have won more.

I wouldn't have gone to the end with those final round offers, holiday or not. With a £5k high board anything over a grand has got to be worth considering, particularly when the offer is over 90% of the mean with more blues than reds still in play.

(Also, this was the 22nd game I was in the audience for, and the 19th where a blue was on the table.)

What a shame for such a lovely lady that she didn't get a wedge of cash to go with her holiday.

I hope they enjoyed their holiday and I wish them every happiness for the future

Yet another long-runner wins little money-wise...still, I think I'd have done exactly the same as her so there won't be too many regrets because of the holiday that was also won...it gifted her a feel-good ending even after a bad end to the game.

It was shocking to see the game collapse so quickly mind...here's to more luckier games!

I loved Sam, she was lovely and brought a lovely smile to the wings during her fairly long run. She looked absolutely stunning!

I'm gutted that she only won £5, she deserved a lot more, but she got the trip to Barcelona, so it's not all that bad.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the Christmas shows, the format seems good. Only slight changes, but they can make a massive difference.

I liked Sam and she always come across warm and friendly on the wings with a great smile and I would never have guessed that just 3 years ago she was involved in such a terrible accident. It's unfortunate that after a run of 33 shows she ended up with just £5, but at least due to the Santa bonus Sam also got a holiday as out of the game as well.

Gameplay wise it wasn't a great game and with all the big money gone by 5-box there wasn't much tension in the game, or for the Banker to be able to influence the game much with an offer after each box. Sam decided by then to go all the way and it would have been a nice end to the game if the £5,000 was in her box. Which would have made for a nice bit of spending money on the holiday.

Also, I prefer this year's set design/costumes over last year's Scrooge & Santa editions. Though it's nice to see that Eamonn the turkey is back again this year .

a beautiful lady with a matching spirit & personality- you cant buy your health and she showed that by smiling away with just winning the holiday and playing a positive minded game- top girl!!!!