Well pointed out Simon.

I had my own subset of OBW for games like this, but it never caught on: LBD (Least Bad Deal).

i dont usually manage to watch the show 'live' but really glad i caught today's game, i love thel, she is a lovely lady and she always manages to match her lippy with her top perfectly, that might be down to the makeup department of course but i prefer to believe that she is just one stylish lady. missing her already.

Oh I see, I thought it was the other way around...

No more looking at Box 23 now!

I honestly thought she had made a mistake by dealing at the fourth offer, I thought she should go on at least one more round with the £100,000 and £250,000 being there but in the end it was the right thing to do. It was funny in a few parts, most games don't stand out but when they do it is exciting although I never or very rarely find games boring or annoying.

She had the same final 2 and same final offer as I did! However she had £20k in her box whereas I had 50p.

Thel was a nice lady so it's good to see her do well. After my game, she said to me that she liked what had gone on, even though she didn't have a clue what had happened as it was all so bizarre and confusing.

I had gammon & chips with Thel, her sister and Dirk one evening in the pub next to the hotel - that was quite enjoyable!

Well done Thel!

I was watching her game today and I was getting all neavous when it was 3 boxes to go but thankfully the 250k went.She seemed lovely and I was glad the 250k wasn't in the box after she dealt.

Today was a classic case of the Banker reading the player's gambling intentions well and knowing that he didn't have to offer the extra few thousand at 8 box to get Thel to deal. For once, the proveout offerat 5 box wasn't inflated either.

what a lovely lady thel was. well done on the 17.5k enjoy the money

Yes, this is a much better week than last week isn't it? Long may it continue

Thel was lovely and she played a blinder - interesting parallel to Rachel's game on Sunday in that Thel dealt despite the general consensus on the wings being to play on. Difference being that Thel dealt at the peak of the offers.

Yes, technically the banker beat her but i think the margin was negligible on this occasion. No complaints here

I wonder if £17,500 is becoming the new £26,000? It seems to have worked a lot for the banker recently, including upping Alice's 8-box offer to it!

But Thel was absolutely great, she had a fantastic dry sense of humour and had her head screwed on, and if she was slightly cautious she was decisive about it. She was more sharp than me as on one of the rounds (I think it was the thrd) the banker called when I thought only 2 boxes had been picked.

And I don't think she'll be that bothered about the extra possible £2,500!

Good game, and yes that £17,500 is being used a lot lately!

Totally agree with Simon; you could just tell the Banker was going to get the last laugh in some form or another, but because both the biggies were gone before the end it was the perfect game for her albeit her box contents!

Good game. Quite an interesting outcome as well.

Being decisive in making a cautious decision - and showing no signs of potential regret whatsoever - is always the best way to be cautious. It implies you've come with a gameplan and no Wakeyist around you - on the wings, in the audience or in the dodgy shirt by the table - will change it!

I have to agree with that! ha ha ha.

People have different ways of playing this game and no single way is right or wrong, but if the player plays the game as THEY would want to, then it is always the right way to play it, regardless of their chosen tactic or outcome.

I agree, and would add that because one particular approach (the Wakeyist one) has generally been covertly (and too often overtly) seen as favourable, it's easier to demonstrate that someone who deals early and decisively like Thel has played their own game, compared to someone like Daimon who might've been genuinely indifferent to financial risk on that scale or seduced by the notion that 'playing the game' means ignoring that rather important gameplay element, the bank offers. (Or both. Usually the latter, on the scale Daimon displayed, implies at least a hint of the former.)

An article about Thel's game - http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail/ ... ?id=409486

A quote that i'm sure will interest some.

Brilliant spot, mike. Absolutely brilliant.

It's actually this link.

Interesting comment from Thel in that article. I don't think too much can be read into it as it's just a flippant comment, especially when dozens of ex-contestants (including myself) have said they've felt no pressure from Noel in their game.

He was probably just playing "devil's advocate" with Thel. I didn't see any evidence on TV of him "egging" her on, but if he did, then it was probably to highlight the other side of the coin when she seemed to be leaning towards a deal. In much the same way he's brought players who were determined to no deal (such as Daimon) back down to earth, by reminding them how the "prudent" route can often be the sensible one.

Even in my game, Noel said "I thought you were here for the experience and not the money" (or words to that effect). However he soon gave up when I said I really didn't want to win a blue, and he then almost spoke me into dealing, which proves his comments are shaped depending on who the player is, what their attitude to the game is like, and what they say.

Yes, I remember that quote, it was open to so many avenues of interpretation... the most accurate one probably being that Noel interpreted the whole 'superfan' gimmick as implying 'I'm here to be a part of the show I love first and foremost' - and seemingly ignoring the fact that there is a game, with an 'or' in the title, and you had every intention of playing it!

I suspect a lot of contestants can't tell what's going on in that environment (credit to you for knowing exactly what was happening, although I'm not sure the viewers did!). Thel was cool, collected and cautious, was always going to stick to her conservative game plan, and was probably secure enough in that to notice if she was being swayed (and yet perhaps just anxious enough to be concerned about it and to actively think 'no, you are not going to make me 'play the game' and win a blue!').

Reminds me in that sense of Sylvia - except I reckon she actually possibly was swayed at £20,000 and maybe again at £17,500, couldn't get out quickly enough at £33,000, and I suspect her comedic 'he's having a turn, ignore him!' remarks were the immediate vocalisation of 'oh, he's going to make me feel guilty... he's already made me play on further than I really wanted to, oh thank goodness it worked'... but with a dose of brilliantly dry wit!

Every player reacts to the game in their own way. That's why over 1,000 episodes on, the game hasn't come close to dying.

To be honest I'd totally forgotten he'd said that to me and was only reminded of it when I watched a recording of my game again recently. I wasn't really listening to Noel at that point - I think you can tell that from the way I do a Dirk-esque ignoring of him when he says it, and instead talk about not wanting to win a blue (I think that's what I said).

Had I been paying attention to Noel, I'd have responded by saying something along the lines of how I wanted to have the experience and win a bit of money.