I was just about to say.

Anyways, I remember looking at it for ages and finally concluding that it was a 6 figure sum. But, it was never confirmed. Oh wells.

Haha, I typed "definitely ended in a '00' or maybe even a '000'" and then added the "it was definitely red" and forgot to remove the "ended in '00'" bit - but anyway, it apparently was £100,000 as there seemed to be some more "0"s in the first half of the figure, suggesting it was £100,000 and not £250,000. I think someone said it had to be a six-figure sum as the figure came quite close to the edge of the board.

One whole year since Boxgate. Wow!

One of the great mysteries I'd like to know as well as the value of Tom's dropped box, was what Massimo had originally before the re-shuffle. They could have exchanged the quarter-million for £15k, or 50p for £15k!

I'm not totally convinced that it was fair to have his own box in the re-shuffle, but I suppose they had to, othewise it would be a big advantage to the banker if he knew that whatever value was in Tom's dropped box wasn't in Massimo's?

Roy had box 4 today as well!

I think that's why it was included. Though had Tom's box revealed a blue then they may have let Massimo keep his original box as it wouldn't have disadvantaged his game?

Tomorrow of course there's no anniversary as it was a Sunday last year, but it will (given there's no 31st April!) be 18 months since the first show. Incidentally, when we get into DOND's 3rd year, I wonder if there will be a "Two Years Since" thread or just combine 1st and 2nd anniversaries on the same thread!

The start of May is Francesca Day!

She played after only 10 shows, and carried box 9 with her to the pound table.

Francesca had a very good, steady game, with no offer being below £5,000 and she dealt at her peak offer of the game - the fifth offer of £20,000! She was left with a hypothetical £10,000 sixth offer on a £50 vs £35k board, and had £50 in her box - a true banker beating and an OPW!

These early players are always hard to place in terms of when they happened, as you usually remember very little of them being in the wings when they were called up so soon. I do remember rumours that Francesca won £250,000 posted on one of the other sites, but as I'd heard it wasn't won before that year's summer break then I never believed it! Seem to remember she was quite loud in her game, after not doing a lot in the wings (not that she had much chance to stand out in 9 shows before her game... having said that, some of the current big characters have done less shows than that I guess!)

Some memorable anniversaries coming up later this week of course - two of the most dramatic games ever, and one of DOND's most unforgettable characters!

Francesca was a bit of a legend really. She treated her game like a rollercoaster ride, and that it was! I remember her saying "It's a DEAL" I thought it was really special as I hadn't been watching long and that was the first time I'd heard that said.

Today marks one year since Gaz's game, who played after only 15 shows on the wings. He played with box 13, and after hitting the £250k at the first box, his game didn't look as though it was going to be good... He received an opening offer of £1,099 - the "99" as Gaz was an ice-cream seller and the banker stuck a "99" in it! Gaz said he'd rather the banker had sprinkled hundreds and thousands on it!

He had a better second round, although still hit the £75,000 and his second offer raised to £4,100. He hit yet another Power 5 box in the third round - this time the £35,000 - and his offer dropped to £2,050. After a better round, his offer increased slightly to £3,500 - but at this late stage in the game, his peak offer was still only £4,100.

However, after no dealing the fifth offer of £8,200 - with a board of 1p, £1, £500, £10,000 and £100,000 - he went on to have a final two of £10,000 and £100,000 and faced an offer of £35,000! He no dealt this final offer, and his own box was opened to reveal the £100,000! The end of this game generated one of the biggest mass mobs on the contestant that has ever been seen on DOND!

Gaz remains the only person to have won £100,000 by going to the end and having it in his box, and he is one of the all-time top winners on DOND! As a result, he featured in the Hall of Fame during last June's Double Deal Week, has a double-page spread in the DOND book and his show was repeated as a classic episode on a Saturday afternoon on C4 recently!

The big win came as a shock to me, as I'd read on the forum a few days before that there was a big win due on the Thursday in the week Gaz played, so I was not expecting to see it on the Tuesday and when Gaz was offered £35k, I assumed he dealt... then when he no dealt, I assumed he won £10k - but as it turned out, the spoiler was wrong and the big win was Tuesday and not Thursday!

I'd like to think I'd have won 100 grand in Gaz's game due to the offers being so crap - however at the time I was still in a "deal anything decent" frame of mind, and thought he was taking a huge risk turning down £8,200 - how stupid of me! Really cheered me up as well, I remember work announcing restructuring that day, and was worried about my job!

Really liked Francesca as well, I love the excitable women! They should have kept her on the wings a bit longer though, she could have been even greater! I thought her £20k offer was HUGE at the time, I don't think any 5-box offer had been so close to the mean in the time I'd ben watching (it was only just over 23k)!!

HAPPY FRANCESCA DAY!



HAPPY GAZ DAY!

Today marks a year since the legend that is Pat M played her game! Pat M played after 32 shows on the wings, and she carried box 1 with her to the Pound Table. After she had a couple of good first rounds, she received offers of over £9,000, and her third offer increased to £17,500, which she no dealt! However, she then hit the £100,000 and her offer dropped to £8,000... then hit the £250k in the next round, reducing her sixth offer to £500 on a board consisting of 1p, £50, £250, £1,000 and £3,000! She no dealt her fifth offer and went on to have a final two of £50 and £1,000 and an offer of £350, which she also no dealt. Her box was opened to reveal that she had won £1,000!

Everyone was hoping she would win a huge amount as she provided so much entertainment on the wings, with much witty banter with Noel and the other contestants. Not the best result for one of DOND's most memorable contestants - but she remains one of the most popular contestants to ever appear on DOND and her banter with Noel has never been re-created by anyone else in quite the same way as Pat did with her brilliant, unique style!!!

HAPPY PAT M DAY!

I wish they could have forgotten the money and the boxes that day, and it should have been "An Audience with Pat M and Noel (and 21 other participants)"

Just as well, becuase the game was awful - I don't she made a terrible decision or the banker was really nasty either, just one for the fates! Though at 8-box she still had £250k and £50k and was only offered £8k ( I thought it was low due to the big hit in the last round) - Barry got offered £26k for the same board recently!!

I liked her, but I thought she got a bit annoying on the wings.

Wow..that was a year ago...

Happy Pat M day one and all. I just can't belive she played a whole year ago. She certainly was a unique contastants. There was no player as legendary before her, there hasn't been one since and I very much doubt that there ever will be another. Many have tried, a few have come close, but no one has ever surpassed the greatness of Pat M.

After the excitement of Gaz's game and the anticipation of the long-awaited game of Pat M, the player of 4th May 2006 had a lot to live up to! And that player was Patrick. After 18 shows on the wings, he carried box 4 to the table.

After a fairly steady first few rounds, he no dealt the third offer of £6,500, and went on to hit the £100,000 and £250,000 as the first two boxes of round 4! Subsequently, his offer dropped to only £800 - which he no dealt. After a better round, his offer rose to £2,000, which he also no dealt. With 10p and £5 of the blues and £1,000, £3,000 and £10,000 worth of reds remaining, he was offered £3,000, which he dealt! He played on to have a £5 vs £10,000 final two and his box contained £10,000.

HAPPY PATRICK DAY!