I think this will prove to be a unique, or at least extremely rare, thing for the Banker to do. Glenn Hugill himself said in his interview at Bother's Bar in October, "There was a game recorded a couple of weeks ago with a contestant called Ned where he did a number of amazing things because they were appropriate to Ned." The fact that he picked out that particular game when there would have been another 2 weeks' worth recorded afterwards suggests it's not going to be a permanent change.

I think the last thing that got such a reaction from people was Suzanne's opening swap, and that's been repeated on a number of occasions since but not too often (and interestingly enough Ned was the first player since Suzanne to actually accept a mid-game swap offer!) I can see extra offers being a feature that comes up very occasionally when it is appropriate for the player/game situation.

I have to say that game confused me somewhat, I hope we just get back to conventional ones tomorrow. I don't know what the point of doubling the early offers were, that was just for show, I doubt anyone would have dealt them!

I don't mind the early or mid-game swap, if there are more blues than reds on the board like Ned's at the time, chances are you will be swapping a blue away. I realise that it's also likely that you'll swap for another blue, but if you open the box you've swapped away soon after and its a blue, you will have a psychological advantage over the banker!

I'd have dealt the £15k offer for sure if the game was being played in the usual way, and I'm not surprised Ned dealt when he did, becuase only having to pick one box before the next offer rather than 3 would have completely thrown me (thrown my odds v money calculations out of the window anyway!)! I think the fact his wife was there made it irrelevant really, I mean it was very close to the mean, and was worth taking. John G no dealt a similar offer in relation to the mean, and look what happened to him!

Well done Ned on a great game, and not letting the banker wind you up!

I'd have loved to see the "offer after every box" scenario on 1p Trevor's game after the second £9,900 - I wonder if he would have dealt for whatever sum was offered (£40k - £50k maybe?) with 3 boxes left!

I think he would have dealt after the first box, as long as the offer went up a reasonable amount! He only went on because it was such an insulting offer which didn't quite reach his target...

...dear hell.

Doubled offers for correct predictions: insane. I'd have taken every doubled offer without hesitation. I didn't like it so much.

One-box-to-open finish: yes, it's unfair on the other 300+ contestants. But I like it. I think that in the long term it could be used permanently; perhaps if they change the prize tree on a more long-term basis than these Christmas specials, they could change the offer structure too.

The Banker - I don't think we can determine the impact on the probability of a quarter-millionaire. The extra offers provide extra exit points but may indeed drag a player on. It depends on the generosity of both the five-box offer and the two that follow. I'd imagine the biggest effect would be more people winning something between 20k and 50k.

Mid-game swaps - straight out of the French version. Expect more in the future. Sadly.

was a fascinating game

he was so lucky to pick the 75k out...was the highest left

I think its good to have a unique game every now and again, stops the show getting stale - however that only works if they ARE unique. If things like this happened all the time it would lose its impact. Games like Ned's and Elizabeth and Mandy's liven things up a bit.

Well done Ned

I agree with you, Maggot. Enjoy the money, Ned, We will miss you.

Wow what a game and well done Ned on your £15,000. A shame you dind't get more but it was a risk to go on.

Anyway I liked these little changes provding they aren't used all the time. It gave that game an extra edge.

An amazing game in terms of how unique it was - all those offers to double the offers if Ned predicted them right; the swap mid-game; and the offers after every box at the end of the game (which is like USA DOND) - all in all, a very unique game - well done Ned for not letting all the new stuff get to you - £15k was a very wise deal, as it would have been risky to go on.

Personally, I hope this doesn't become a regular thing - I think the "guessing what the offer is, and if the player gets it right, the offer will be doubled" stuff is quite harmless, and has actually happened before (with Simon, back in May 2006), but I'm not sure about changing how many boxes are opened before the banker makes his offer.

I often wondered if we'd ever see a non-monetary offer at a later stage than round 1, and it finally happened!

Again, well done Ned, really enjoyed the game!

Wow! What a game, Well done Ned, It was a really interesting game between you and the banker. Enjoy 15k

Very interesting game with many firsts!!

Any pics of it?

i loved Ned's game yesterday. It was great how the banker played along, ie the double offer's as he knew Ned wasn't going to deal anyway. How cruel swapping for 75k though!

Here's the pic of the stupid proveout offer

You obviously haven't met £145,000...

Yes I have.

In other words, that's not even a touch inflated compared to Mally's £145,000.