Worth going for the final gamble, but you can't argue with that! A great recovery to an OPW from a game that looked like it was heading nowhere!

That was a good result considering how the game was flowing. He was the essence of how to handle a tough game: not sobbing, not disrespecting the low offers, just ploughing on to the business end of the game. I really enjoyed that one.

Must be something to do with his 'Take Fat' tribute group, I'd have thought.

Noel's stupid unnecessary padding out really annoyed me!

However, £13k is a good result after having a £415k opening round.

First chance I've had to watch a live show as it's broadcast. It didn't feel like it was live, perhaps goes to show how good the production crew are at giving it the same feel as the other shows!

That was one of the worst opening rounds we've had for a while, so kudos to Russell for taking it on the chin. After the decline of £7,500 at 8-box (which seemed a good offer considering the low blues still there), the £13,000 at 2-box did seem to be a forcing offer in comparison, especially with the swap then ruled out. Was glad to see him get the upper hand in the end.

Russell's interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jar9P2ojJp8

Terrible start, great turn around.

There was a good argument for taking that final gamble but even so considering how the game started £13k was a fantastic result

£13k after that start is a result. Took a bigger gamble than I would have done at 8-box but the dream/nightmare rounds at 5-box seem to keep popping up recently.

Absolutely, brilliant recovery and a satisfying conclusion to a tough game for luck generally. Very enjoyable afternoon at the studios as always, chatting to Lyn and Kanga (as she's known on here!) about loads of statistical nonsense as usual!

....Such as £250k being in Box 4 on my 44th pilgrim game on channel 4 at 4pm!

He obviously doesn't recall Frank Sinatra fan Buzz, then - whose opening round consisted of the top 3, £15k and £10k.

By an astonishing coincidence, he too went on to pull out a highly unlikely OPW...




And he doesn't recall Keran, either...

To be fair, at least he described it as "one of the most extraordinary turnarounds" rather than "THE most" - I think Gaz on the wings may have had something to say about the latter!

I think the record for worst opening round still belongs to either Audrey or Irene from the very early days - I think one of them took out the top 3, £15k and £35k or something like that...