I've been keeping this a secret, but my Dad and I went to see this show (and Johnny's game), the first time we were pilgrims since we started watching. The recording of the show lasted from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and while the editing of the show makes it look tight, a lot of context and banter was lost at the same time.
The warmup guy (I believe his name's Mark?) told us they were resuming recording after a two-week break, which resumed the day before. The over-reaction to the QM going in Monday's game was probably because the audience hadn't practiced properly, which we did before the show. He does a good job of keeping the energy up, even when we're tired at 10 in the morning.
We sat on the left-hand side of the audience (relative to entering the stage), a bit too far to be seen. While a camera-guy did close-ups of us both, this was left on the cutting-room floor, as most of the audience shots in the final show were of Patricia's mum, which is understandable.
Before the game started, Patricia requested that she could change her mind after picking a number, so Noel always had to check with her if he could tell the players to open the box. She seemed to be overwhelmed at the choice of boxes, even though it is no better than random, so opening a single box could take ages.
After opening 5 boxes, the banker rang, and Noel asked her if it was okay to pick-up, in a long discussion. After about 8 rings, the phone stopped! Noel said this could be history in the making, no first offer, and Patricia chose [west-wing-girl-whose-name-I-don't-know], who dawdled about opening the box, asking if it was okay, if it was allowed. Noel found it funny in a slightly-exasperated tone, saying about the banker making no offers and players complaining about opening boxes! The banker rang back, and then the offer was made.
A bit later, Patricia went and chose David's (h2005) box, but she wasn't sure whether to open it or not. This went on for a long time, and Noel taked to David, who said about how he and Patricia knew each other, David making visits to her place, and a reference to eating sausage and chips was made, the sausage bit being especially emphasised by Noel, which David was ribbed for! I recall Lisa finding this really funny, as did the rest of us!
Patricia eventually switched to another box, which contained a red. I think the all-red round only lasted about 90 seconds on the telly, it was a
lot longer.
At 8-box, she declined £6,500, which my Dad and I both felt, with an unstable board, and her nervousness, wasn't the right choice. I didn't know that there had been a long-run of large-win games, so she may have been unduly pressured to continue.
5-box was a critical moment, with the £3,250 offer. It was clear that this was a bad offer, but she didn't know what to do. Noel commented that she didn't seem to be fully there. It's almost as though she was overwhelmed by the experience, and couldn't come to a decision. We all seemed to sense that this was a difficult decision for her, and the players gave her advice, but she remained unsure.
After 15-20 minutes, Noel stepped in, and said she had to make a decision. I was amazed that she declined the offer in the end, even though it was the right decision in risk-reward terms, and this didn't come through at all in the edit.
5 to 2-box was a real rollercoaster, as we were all with her, even though she was struggling with continuing through the heightened emotions. When she made it with the HT still intact, that was a real relief. I think that's partially the reason for the £23,250 offer, which is more than what I was expecting. At this point, she was hyper-ventilating, and Noel and her mum had to calm her down. The banker rang, and asked her if she was okay? And then said, if she died, would he have to pay out the money?!
She also took a while to decide whether to take the offer, she must have been that far gone. Noel asked the audience whether she should deal, and most of us, my Dad and I included, stood up. "90%", said Noel, which was a fair assessment. Of course, we weren't fully sure if she would deal, after all that had happened, but were fully supportive when she did!
After the game, Patricia returned to her normal self, drained from the experience, but happy for the result she produced. She was hugged and chatted with the players for quite a while afterwards, I sensed they were close, and they were a tight group. They seem to really care for each other while they're there, which I felt while walking past them to the exit.
This was a good game, but very long, and we were all stiff from sitting down for so long. But, what seemed as though would be a disastorous game, turned around, and we were happy Patricia won a nice sum of money, even in a very unusual way! Her mum played a pivotal role in the game, though I wonder what would have happened, had she stuck with opening David's box.
I'll post a message about Johnny's game tomorrow.
FAQ
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:23 pm Author: Skyline Post subject: Re: 05/03 Patricia
