Blimey, Neil had an absolute dream of a game today! Not only did he deal at the right time and deliver a banker spanking, not only did he clean up all the big amounts in the perfect order after his deal, but he got to give Abbie the 1p kiss as well!

I had to laugh at Noel trying to get in on the act for the 1p kiss I bet he's waited 12 shows for that

Great game, although I already knew the result of it as Noel couldn't stop gushing about it some four months later at the recordings in real time, saying exactly where Neil went in the proveout (but I think he said 250k, 100k then 50k ) - just an amazing run and bizarre they should all be next door to each other in descending order of picking! Fabulous game to round off the filming season!

There's no better feeling I don't think at the studios when most of the pilgrims and contestants would go on and the player takes a cautious deal and it pays off it to such a spectacular effect like today, let's hope for more of the same!

Wow - after a evening of disappointing reality show results, I come back and watch a brilliant DOND game. Personally, I think I would have dealt at 8 box too because on a 4/4 board (and it's not often that £20k is in the 4 disposable boxes), I take the statistcal approach that as it's just as likely to take out 1 of the top 4 as to take 2 of the big 4, the EV of the amounts from the power 5 to take out would be around £175k (say the £100k and £75k) which would leave you with a board at 5 box where the offer probably wasn't going to be much greater than the £35k.

Congrats, Neil. You are the first recipient of the



For orchestrating a brilliant escape from a game that was set to collapse in the homestretch. What a game.

As for game analysis:

I, along with 98% of the pilgrims and 18 of the 21 players on the wings, thought Neil was walking away from a goldmine when he dealt at 8-box. I figured there was a touch of Crimson Shock influencing the decision, considering just how well the opening rounds had gone, plus it was clear that he was seriously contemplating a deal from the second offer onward. I'm sure that the Banker would've loved to nudge his offers upward round by round if he could, but that board stayed so powerful that he had no choice but to offer P5-caliber money.

So Neil takes the Deal, and then proceeds to hit a 1679-to-1 shot: knocking out the top four money amounts from an 8-box board, from the top down. That was simply astounding. Suddenly, all us uber-aggressive confetti hounds were looking like total fools - even if he still managed to have £20K on the table. The way he dealt, the reason he dealt, and what transpired afterward completely wipes out any kerfluffle about "optimal play". He felt his luck coming to an end, got out, and sure enough, he was right. The optimal decision is not always the best, and Neil proved that in convincing fashion.

As for the award, that's something I cooked up on the spot. I expected to hand out the Foster Farms equivalent first, but so be it. I move that any player who deals at 8-box and proceeds to have an OBW be granted the same honor.

In any event, congratulations Neil, well done, and enjoy the money. You've earned it in more ways than we can count.

As was I, I thought for sure he'd made a mistake, but I was proven wrong.

Being in the audience for Neil's game was absolutely brilliant - not only for the suspense of the game, but also because I have never felt such support amongst the audience for a player as for Neil. The story about Anya was actually a lot longer and more gripping than the edit made it out to be, and I think it's fair to say that the audience had nothing but unmediated support for Neil throughout the game - which made his £35,000 spanking even more amazing than it would have usually been!

Bravo Neil!

The odds of taking out the top 5 boxes in the wings after the 4th offer are 1 in 2520

He didn't take out the top five boxes, though. He took out the top four boxes (£250K, £100K, £75K, £50K) and then £10K, the sixth highest number at the start. That said, not counting what's in his box (£20K, which was fifth best on the board), the odds of knocking out the five top numbers of the seven available, in any order is 1 in (7!/5!)/5! = 7. In a specific order, such as from the top down, it's 1 in 7!/5! = 840.

KP. You disappoint me

Pro Evo > FIFA

What a game and to take the top three out in the correct order in Proveout!

That was incredible.