I was wondering how much of an effect losing the £250,000 in the first round had, i.e. it's obviously a blow but how much of a disadvantage does it give you compared to hitting it later on?

So I've come up with the average win based on when the £250,000 is revealed (whether before or after deal, though of course rounds 1-3 have always been pre-deal!) The results are quite surprising.

Round 1: £12,630
Round 2: £9,660
Round 3: £12,263
Round 4: £11,045
Round 5: £13,318
Round 6: £24,515
Final pair: £39,935

So, players who hit it in the first round actually do better than those who lose it in rounds 2, 3 and 4! Is this because there's more time to recover perhaps? Or just by chance due to a handful of very big winners (Gaz, Saj and Buddy) who took it out at the beginning?

Hitting it in rounds 2, 3 and 4 is a recipe for disaster, with the round 3 figure only boosted by Lance. By this stage players are often chasing their losses once it goes. Nobody who has removed it in round 2 has gone on to win more than £30,000.

By the time you get to round 5 exits then the people who dealt early with it still in play start to have an influence on the average, and obviously having it in your final five virtually guarantees a good payout (unless you're 1p Trevor or Simone that is!)

What about Pennie... she won £30k!

That's very interesting Power5. I've always had that sort of feeling when watching the show but your stats seem to prove it.

I have noticed on various DoND games that taking out the £250,000 seems to affect the offer more so than if you did it later.

Very good points. I did believe there may have been some sort of truth in that it's better to lose the £250k in round 1 than later, due to the number of games which have gone on to be decent wins despite losing the £250k first box - take Andy K., Alasdair and Colin for example - all four-figure wins, two at £20k and above.