Well I certainly wasn't expecting the 3rd offer deal today. I guess after 2 weeks of bad luck, a cautious deal was expected but not of this magnitude of caution.

An extremely cautious deal, yet it still resulted in a technical player victory as the £100 was in the box.

In a way, it's kind of nice to have a game like this every now and then (an early deal with a slightly prolonged proveout), but I hope Jason's game hasn't started a trend.

One final thing: I now hate Russ. Harsh maybe, but the animal noises were not funny the first time, there beyond embarassing now. Please stop.

Sure, but if the host is unable to maintain the neutrality that he has defined as part of his role on multiple occasions in the face of a 'boring game', he is not fit to host the show.

This does not preclude him expressing disappointment, or horror even, at the state of the board that is left, if there is no judgment of the player's decision...

i totally agree about russ. not so much hating him but the animal voices wasnt good 1st time so dont carry them on. even jason looked unimpressed withn him when he was stood next to him in the wings

Quite ironic that Russ had the £250k in Jasons game.

Well I thought I would respond to all the lovely( and not so lovely) comments on this thread as it is about me afterall!
Cautious? yes, Dealt early? Yes.... no mortgage payments for the next two years? yes. Every player has a reason to be on the show, I had applied over two years ago, and was lucky...for those people with an awful lot of opinion,who havent been on the show, it must be slightly gauling that you feel soo agrivated at the way games like mine are played.If every player played to the end,it would be pointless TV.I knew from being on 22 shows how people can be consumed with greed,loose their way and go home with nothing..it wasnt gonna happen to me. I filmed for ten days, and went home with ten grand.Do you know anyone else earning a thousand pound a day? Thanks for all the nice ,logical comments on the forum, its appreciated. Love Shell.

There's been an awful air of bad timing on the show of late times, it could easily have worked in your favour on another day! Random luck on the day, nothing more, nothing less!

Tax free £10,000...hell I could do with that meself!

Well done on the 10k Shell, I was shocked in the studio with what you had left on the board but now I have seen the games running up to yours I don't blame you at all

The first 35 minutes, certainly. It would be a drawn-out reveal of what's in the box. Some games already feel like that, like Jerry's. Of course, he's entitled to play that way just as you're entitled to play yours (although I'd be quite a long way from either of your approaches myself!), but games like that only have tension from what's in the box, and it's all too easy to skip the middle of the show (and the adbreaks that fund the show!!) to flip back at the end to see the result. Nothing like that from cautious players, even if you know they're never going to win the quarter-million...



Do you believe contestants end up taking more risks on the show than they intend to when they arrive in Bristol? If so, what makes them do so? As your show - and even more dramatically Paul's - demonstrated all too vividly, the host can be very overt in displaying a preference for risk-taking. Do you think that influences anyone?

If anything, the only thing you did wrong was being almost too defensive in making sure you didn't go the same way as some other players. However, as even the Banker of all people admitted at eight-box, it takes courage to Deal at the third offer when there is such a stigma against doing so. Statistics show that almost one in four players who deal at that point took the most from the game, which is more than the equivalent for eight-box and two-box Deals, and utterly proves that Noel's twaddle is just a means of ensuring more people play on. This is why I refer in commentaries to eight-box as the Acceptable Deal Point or ADP - it's a quite deliberate mockery of the stigma against Deals any earlier.

I wouldn't have taken the same Deal as you. I wouldn't even have considered taking the same Deal as you. But you wanted ten grand and got it, and this is a show where 'running scared' is often a more courageous action than blindly taking the plunge. I therefore find it rather difficult to criticise someone for 'cowardice' - at worst, you were guilty of a short-term approach to your money, and that's something that frankly most people in 2009 are guilty of!

An interesting contrast to Jason's game. The £10,000 deal was too early and probably less than the board was worth at that stage but it was Shell's decision and i think that should be respected.

Looking at this game in a larger context i do feel in a way this result couldn't have come at a better time
Given the number of games which have gone t**s up in the 4th round lately, and especially after Jason's trainwreck a 3rd offer deal was almost inevitable. If Shell had gone on to do a Daniel and achieved an OPW (which if she'd opened box 7 earlier she could have achieved, remember) that might have had a knock on effect, with more players encouraged to bail out at the 3rd offer, as it stands this could be seen as a timely reminder to the others that every game is different.

Cruel as it was if the wings learned one thing from this game it's that not every game goes wrong at 11-box.

Technical Banker victory actually, since Shell dealt for less than half of the peak offer. I am pedantic.

Anyway, an 11-box deal always generates lots of lively discussion here, and today is no exception, I see. Of course, variety is what keeps the show fresh so there are no complaints from me.

I suspect that if there's ever a whiff of the players expecting a Banker's Gamble, it won't happen. I suspect that a big part of the appeal of the Gamble to the producers is its shock value, so the second that Vic opened his gob and mentioned it, he'd ensured that it would never happen for Shell. (It reminds me of the time when I was sitting in the audience for H's game, speaking into a microphone and giving him my (edited out) advice at 5-box. I was thinking of Banker's Gamble possibilities but couldn't find a way of saying that out loud. Of course, I had no idea at the time how significant the Gamble was in Alice's game, just a few days before, so it was never going to happen anyway.)

I'm not sure why Vic mentioned the Banker's Gamble, really. It'd be pointless if it was offered to someone who had dealt an 11-box offer which was poor for the board. If someone's cautious enough to take that offer in the first place, then they're not likely to take on a banker's gamble. Unless of course it was absurdly generous; let's say they'd dealt at £10,000 and had a final 2 of £5,000 and £50,000 or something... although even then they still might decline the gamble!

Interesting game today. Given the time, I wasn't expecting Shell to deal when she did, and it's a shame she didn't have the mid game crash we've seen so many times recently. I like 3rd offer deals, if all players played to the end it would be boring. I wouldn't have dealt when Shell did, I felt it was worth one more round. I wonder if this game will have any effect on future shows. Roll on tomorrow.

One post recap.

Round 1: Below average
Offer 1: £NO_DEAL
Round 2: Bad
Offer 2: £NO_DEAL
Round 3: Very good
Offer 3: £NO_DEAL - wait, what? she took it? fair enough.
Round 4: Good
Offer 4: £DEAL_OR_NO_DEAL
Round 5: Good
Offer 5: £DEAL
Round 6: Bad
Offer 6: £NO_DEAL

On the subject of the cautious deal...

It's fine by me. Today's deal wasn't one I would make myself. Financially I'm ok, and mathematically it's a bad deal, so I'd be going on. However, everyone has different circumstances. I imagine for a lot of people playing the game that £10,000 at the third offer is a job well done. I applaud anyone who has the courage to take the money rather than "play the game" as it's become known... remember folks, it's "Deal Or No Deal", not "No Deal".

Well Iam glad I have generated a stir here, good or bad I feel all the thread comments are thoughtful and I respect them all. Every player on the show has a game plan. Some do like I did and stick to a final goal.Some have a goal and in the madness forget it and carry on, with varying results.All I know is that we had some serious car crash games and I knew I would regret taking a blue home for the rest of my life.....well more than wishing for more cash...and thats still why im happy and have a fab bank balance compared to some players who were not as fortunate. Two players who dealt on and got a blue have NEVER got over it.....and my heart goes out to them.xxxxxxx

It was your game and no-one can deny you played it your own way.

Enjoy the money.

does anyone know what has happened to Roli he was only there for a couple of games.

Yeah, he will be back, had family emergency.xx

I just clocked on to Shell's gameplan...talking up how you thought you and/or box 7 had big money inside, and I guess in hindsight you could have got something really amazing out of the game by 8-box...the Banker usually ends up digging further into his pockets when he's facing a determined player...so kudos there!

Well done Shell - enjoy the money! £10k certainly not to be sniffed at.
Maybe the consensus of this forum wouldn't have dealt but hey it must be easier playing the game on your tv than doing it for real.