Why all the glum faces?
I could pay off all my debts AND have a luxury holiday or four with £27,500!

Hmmm the ending from Noel wasnt really fair

But the LTL winner Kerry Banks came from Ludlow, just a few miles down the road from me

Let's make no bones about it - I'm no defender of Noel when he's on "it's not enough!" form, but today he had a point. An extraordinarily early deal, which is a shame cos Steven was one of my favourite players. Still, he went away with decent money.

But you have that 'What if' feeling for the rest of your life, and then £27,500 doesn't feel as much - when it is. If you get what I mean.

I know it's been said many a time before, but I'll say it yet again - Noel seems to be wanting the players to be proved wrong when they deal too early... and as a consequence it makes for unsettling viewing.

Noel's saying that people may have been throwing things at the TV when Steven dealt - no, I was throwing things at the TV wishing Noel would stop rubbing it in and being negative!

Although for once I don't think it could be glossed over. There was not a single person in that studio other than Steven who thought he should deal when he did. It would have looked odd if Noel said nothing.

It's by far the biggest win this week, so congrats Steven! Great game!

I agree, I thought he did have a point and was being fair up until the throwing things at the telly quote at the end.

Agreed. The last comment from Noel was unnecessary.

Thirded! That was unnessicary at the end!

That is true - but Noel has got so stupid recently with his guilt trips when people deal that I'm sick of him rubbing it in, whether the player's done an ok deal or a really bad deal.

True, but I didn't do the lottery yesterday; what is I had won big time?

I think way too many plough on far too long - how many times have we seen a good board nose-dive in one round, never to get back up?

I mean with Noel screaming that you could have the £250,000 in your box when only the £250,000 and 1p left means nothing as it's the same odds that you have 1p!

I would have gone on one more around and dealt at £55,000 but that's all I would risk.

Well done Steven!

Well done Steven, 27k is chunky money - even for Noel.

You did the right deal at the right time FOR YOU!

Good analogy!



However, we should have looked at the possibility of an amazing board, which Steven got. Rather than "Don't carry on 'cos it's all going down the drain".

Could have saved Steven bucket loads if he adhered to his 'Always carry on if you have 3 of the power 5 left' motto. Maybe he was trying to get others to carry on, and supportive players are always good. Unless they encourage chanting and floor stomping.

I feel moved to make my first post just to agree with the comments about the rubbish Noel talks, especially after a deal is made, in order, presumably, to keep the 'drama' going.

He uses terms like 'wasting' and, of all things, 'squandering' money which the 'contestant' never had, and expressing such disappointment that this young man is now only 27.5k better off than an hour earlier

I don't really enjoy the show since he's started talking about 'pilgrims' and 'Power Fives', and telling people what they have "Just GOT to find"... it was fun when it was much simpler, but has, IMO, long passed its Sell By date.

We only have it on 'cos my wife watches R&J and I like Countdown, and there's nothing else to persuade us to change channels... I'm ususally on the PC anyway and just catch a bit through the door!

(I can understand it must be difficult for Noel to find something new and interesting to say )

But would have had, had they carried on! I think that's the point Noel is trying to make - you could have had this, you could have had that - even if it's annoying!

Welcome to the forums, Justin.

You are right, Noel is just doing it to make the game look interesting after the deal has been made. I mean Catherine Tate's comedy character "Nan" summed it up when she said "what's the point carrying on playing a game for money you ain't gonnna win?"

But it's like comedy, when you have to ABUSE someone else to make the comedy, it isn't funny anymore. So if you have to ABUSE someone to make your show good, it isn't a good thing.

Noel needs to find another way to keep the entertainment value going after a deal that doesn't involve pointing out how stupid he thinks the contestant is.

Today's game was ruined by the proveout offers, really. It's so nice to see a player who refuses to be pushed on by Noel. As #1 Box 4 Fan said, Steven did the right Deal for him, rather than for Noel. Well done!

But that's called hindsight and we can all be very clever with that!

When £27,500 was taken NO ONE (including Noel) knew what anyone COULD OF HAD.

So it's wonderful to say all of this now, but what would you be saying when he refused the £27,500 and took out the 3 biggest values in the next round?

All too easy to say things after the event