We've reached a big moment here, with £405,000 as the rolling jackpot - which means that game modes with a conventional starting board will see the £100k bumped up from now until the jackpot is won!

BEN might win it here of course, or he could crash, or absolutely anything in between via a Deal or otherwise! The mystery starts to unravel here, as we select one of the six rulesets...

Game 5, please.

And it is...

This should be fun, and you do get that bumped-up second prize here!

1p
10p
50p
£1
MINI PRIZE
£10
£50
£100
£250
£500
MIDI PRIZE
£1,000
£3,000
£5,000
£10,000
MAXI PRIZE
£20,000
£35,000
£50,000
£75,000
£101,250
£405,000

The Box 23 setup...

DOUBLE
ADD MAXI
ADD MIDI
ADD MINI
NOTHING

Regular offer patterns, five to open not including your own Box 6. GAME ON!

At least this format produces interesting cash+prize offer decisions and an interesting Box 23 decision for moderate wins.

1, 3, 5, 7 and 11, please.

And we've not seen it in 3.1 until now, only in 3.0!

Box 1 - £5,000 is a quiet start...

Box 3 - £500 is nice!

Box 5 - £50 is nicer still... there's no £5 to hit on this board though!

Box 7 - £100 will have to do instead, and it surely will do!

Box 11 - £250 completes a super start! What a hole in the blues that is!

1p
10p
50p
£1
MINI PRIZE
£10
MIDI PRIZE
£1,000
£3,000
£10,000
MAXI PRIZE
£20,000
£35,000
£50,000
£75,000
£101,250
£405,000

Lovely colour balance means...

BANKER'S OFFER

£9,999 + MIDI PRIZE

...a five-figure offer, sort of! That prize is worth less than £1,000, but possibly not much less... to £9,999 and that prize, Deal or No Deal?

I was sort of hoping the "update" of prizes included a boost in the value of some of the midi-prizes, but as you made clear this wasn't the case I will definitely say NO DEAL.

13, 15 and 17, please.

Technically, there's been a small boost even since that update, because the phone that was in the midi prize mix has been replaced by a slightly more expensive new model But it's still the same sort of territory.

Box 13 - £75,000! First hit.

Box 15 - £20,000 and we're heading for an ugly round here...

Box 17 - 50p! Well, that helps things.

1p
10p
£1
MINI PRIZE
£10
MIDI PRIZE
£1,000
£3,000
£10,000
MAXI PRIZE
£35,000
£50,000
£101,250
£405,000

Certainly a destabilising round... but is it actually that bad a round?

BANKER'S OFFER

£14,500

Well, that offer suggests the Banker doesn't think so! Is he making a legitimate bid for a second-offer Deal here? Even if he is, it's up to you to decide if it succeeds... Deal or No Deal?

If the jackpot was at it's normal amount, I'd call that a genuine attempt at a 2nd offer Deal...................










................with a player like October 2012 Josh playing. NO DEAL and let's continue with 21, 22 and 20, please.

What a response that is!

Box 21 - £50,000! Stability takes another hit...

Box 22 - MAXI PRIZE... eerily like the last round, and it needs to end that way too...

Box 20 - £35,000! Oh, but it doesn't... what a scary board!

Good grief, this is suddenly a VERY scary board!

1p
10p
£1
MINI PRIZE
£10
MIDI PRIZE
£1,000
£3,000
£10,000
£101,250
£405,000

The Banker says this is an extremely difficult position for you, but that it's not easy for him either, and that he's got a big range to operate in with this offer...

BANKER'S OFFER

OUTDOOR DINING SET + £10,000 ON NO-LOSE 23

That's a six-seater outdoor dining set courtesy of John Lewis worth £1,549, and you'd then get ten grand on 23 but with the NOTHING being treated as though it were MONEY BACK! A five-figure win for sure, but is that enough to tempt you out of chasing six? It's a long, risky road to go all the way along, but there'll be escape points every three boxes... and one here if you want it, Deal or No Deal?

Not a chance I'm taking £10,000 with the top 2 in play, and while it is a frightening scenario visually I only have a 5% chance of knocking both of the Top 2 out, so NO DEAL

18, 16 and 14

And on we go! It was a scenario where I think everyone needed to take a breath and prepare themselves for this round, so no wonder you took your time over the offer even as you semingly had no intention to take it!

Obvious spoiler box territory here.

Box 18 -


Box 16 -


Box 14 -

What an 8-box we have.

1p
10p
MINI PRIZE
MIDI PRIZE
£1,000
£3,000
£101,250
£405,000

Remember, if you win a prize box, you can't play 23. 1p and 10p might actually be your best blues!

The Banker wonders what you're playing for here.

BANKER'S OFFER

£20,000 ON NO-LOSE 23

OR

BANKER'S OFFER

£35,000 ON NO-WIN 23

That no-win 23 would turn all four positive options into MONEY BACK whilst leaving the dreaded NOTHING, the opposite of that no-lose one.

But, of course, you'd be putting a lot more money through it if you took that option.

You may, of course, just play on...

...Deal or No Deal?

I the Banker offered the £28,000 EV of either offer I'd be quite tempted, but the chance selling the jackpot for NOTHING immediately rules out the £35,000 offer. The £20,000 offer definitely is tempting, but this board has potential to produce a mega-money offer if I hit the slightly against the odds (36%) chance of avoiding the Top 2 in the next round.

I think the deciding factor is that I'm facing a sensible Banker, so there is only an 11% chance of total disaster in this next round, which even at this stake level I'm prepared to risk, so NO DEAL.

12, 10 and 8.

Wow, the Banker's shenanigans ultimately may have COST him a Deal there! How expensive that could yet turn out to be...

...emphasis on COULD. As you say, the likelihood is we will hit a big one in this round. We know which one we want it to be if it does play out like that.

Four scenarios here in effect. Keeping the jackpot, keeping the backup, keeping both, losing both.

Which will play out?

Box 12 -


Box 10 -


Box 8 -

So here we are.