Ok I was just thinking about this and how people react to the Banker by trying to be nice to him and when doing a sweep saying no deal just to give the impression they're a no dealer.

Does being nice to him really affect your offers that much and just how much influence can you put on the Banker?

We have in the past seen the Banker punish people for rejecting an offer too quickly (though to be honest I haven't seen that for ages now) and then offering them something lower. When you mention a target like £20,000 will the Banker offer you that target figure, when in fact the offer should of been higher.

Recently people have had 'dreams' and the Banker has played on this fact and offered people their 'dream' with the most recent being the Elvis dream. Should you mention your dream or will the Banker latch on to that and later offer you your dream.

But the main point is that does how you come across as a player really affect your offers, if you're nice to the Banker will he offer more? Or if you tell him that his offers are rubbish and no deal straight away will he offer you less? Or perhaps more if he's scared you will go to the end.

While the Banker has the power of giving you offers, isn't the most important factor dependent on the game board and the amount of big money left on it?

The board is more important, the relationship should have nothing to do with it IMO

The way you present yourself influences the offers.

The effect this has depends upon the luck of the board. If someone presented themselves as a big gambler, got a big early offer, actually took it, then that's a great thing for them if the game falls down from there, but not if they actually bought the £250k to the table as a different set of offers might have dragged them further on to potentially win more...

Sometimes it's very unclear, witness JT getting some low offers on an awesome board and eventually getting an OPW from a five-box Deal that was an even lower offer than Kathleen's on the same board with a better blue - if he didn't mention his debt, would he have gone earlier, and critically would it have been for less?

Ultimately the relationship is there but it's very much multi-dimensional.

I think people have to be careful on the wings - if they give the impression they're a dealer, they could get low offers throughout. This may be a good thing - you may be forced into the game and end up with a huge sum of money from the final offer / your box. As well as not having any regrets about turning down large money. On the other hand, it means you probably won't get as high offers as some people might.

If you give the impression you're a no dealer, the banker may be scared of you and offer high offers to make you go as he's scared you could play far into the game and win a substantial amount of money. But again, he could think you're cocky / arrogant or maybe think you're bluffing, and as such, offer swaps or meaningless / joke offers (see "First 3 offers = swaps" Craig from January 2007).

I think if you're "nice" to the banker it can work. For example, one or two contestants have complemented him and he raised the offer. But at the same time, he may think you're trying to butter him up and punish you with low offers!

Rejecting an offer too quickly can make the banker angry, so of course that definitely does seem to have an effect. Although we can't tell the timescale normally because of the editing - I think when a contestant no deals really quickly though, Noel and / or the banker usually mention it.

I don't think mentioning a target is a wise idea at all. For starters, he'll offer you low amounts to try and see if he's near you target (as he did today with the £18,888 offer). Also, if he knows what your target is, he could use it to play mind games and offer half of it on good boards, or offer your target on a very good board, when the offer should really be higher...

I don't think dreams should be mentioned for your own good. Simply because if you get offered it, you are going to be given a huge dilemma - as ultimately you're there to win money. If you deal, the banker can then give better versions of your dream in the proveout if things don't go your way, as we saw with Maggie... except she dealt a monetary offer in between the two dream offers! So that's even worse, as the banker knew she'd deal the money at 5-box so he could rub it in with an improved dream offer at the final offer.

Generally, I think if you come across as being nervous or cautious, you will get lower offers, and if you come across as being confident and / or a gambler, then you get higher offers. I don't think this is a concrete rule though. Especially if you're bluffing.

Overall, I think the banker can be influenced but there are so many factors involved that it becomes a bit of a lottery... and he seems to go through stingy / generous phases in-play, as well as fair / guilt-ridden proveout phases... Variety is DOND!

I think it is important, and can have quite a major influence on the game. And a lot of contestants play into the Banker's hands. What I would suggest a player does to maximise their offers is:

1) Don't give away too much, e.g. dreams, debts, personal circumstances etc. The Banker can take advantage of this.

2) Don't come across as a targetist (writing in the book in itself is enough to give that away, stating an amount verbally is equivalent to playing a hand of poker with your cards face up!)

3) Don't come across as someone who always says "deal" in the sweeps, even if it's just due to not wanting to see the others to go away with nothing - the Banker will expect to be able to get you cheaply.

4) When you start to play, give the offers a respectful response while at the same time making it clear that you're not going to go cheaply while the big amounts remain. Saying you're going to the end regardless, on the other hand, might have the opposite effect (i.e. swap/joke offers).

5) The one you can't control, of course - get yourself on the Banker's "payroll" by revealing lots of big reds on the wings!

That is of course a joke that the banker makes... but is there statistical evidence that shows whether black widows / white maidens get higher / lower offers than normal?!

Good point h.

I love some of Power5's points there too. I think Aaron was onto something when he said at the start of the game 'I'm here to make a deal - as long as it's the right deal'. That'd be my attitude too (though for me, the right deal there would have been at £30k, and can you imagine that if it had happened in 2007?!?). I'd probably say something like 'on any board, there is an amount I would Deal and an amount I wouldn't. It is up to the Banker to offer the amount I will Deal' - basically daring him to take me out, making clear that generosity will get him somewhere!

The offers are not just based on your board, it is also personality and if you are a gambler. For example, Susan was offered 42k with 50p/100k, yet Zahida was only offered 34k with 5k/100k!! It all depends on how much the banker thinks it'll take to get you out. Another example is with a 5-box board of 10p/500/5k/20k/250k, Graeme was offered 41k because he seemed a big gambler. Even though the banker gave him a HUGE offer, he nDed. Tracy, with EXACTLY the same board was given 22k, and dealt. Tracy had a fair offer but Graeme's was just excessively high like di's 44k with 15/20k backups and Darren was only offered 42k with 20k/35k backups. It's all the player.

I don't think the relationship with the Banker does matter. Its more or less a ficticious entity played up to and maintained by Noel (and obviously encouraged by Endemol) to give a more personal feel to the game for the benefit of the mass audience.

Obviously the board is the major determining factor with offers and what he thinks of you as a personality type is secondary but still significant.

Your relationship with him whether good or bad is not going to outweigh the above. If he thinks you are a no-dealer and you have a good board you are going to get a good offer whether he likes you or not. Sucking up to the Banker will not make any difference and actually is a sign of weakness IMO. An aggressive attitude to him may be detrimental in the early rounds where the offers are basically decoration and never likely to be accepted but ultimately in the later rounds its the board and his perception of you as a player that does the talking.

The Banker by now must be a pretty good judge of character. We all tend to pigeonhole a player by type when they come to the chair. Spot the dealer. The Banker has a lot more information on the players than we do and so must have a pretty good idea of what they will do and what he can get away with.

The 'relationship' is useful for dramatic effect and entertainment during games but its the board and contestant personality type that dictates the offers at the end of the day.

The banker can recognise the target driven players. personally I think it's best to have an 'ed type attitude'.
It narks me no end players who are ignorant about previous offers games/boards etc and let themselves get bought cheap.

That said it only works if you have a reasonable board if you have a bad one the banker tends to offer joke offers to everyone anyway.

I think there's no real 'proper' way to play the Banker. After almost 600 episodes pretty much every single idea has been tried, and whatever sort of 'strategy' you use the offers will just depend on how the Banker's feeling. You can't go there and think "Right, I'm going to pretend to be a Di/Graeme type because that will get me huge offers" because it simply doesn't work like that.

I think Endemol want every contestant to respect all the offers, so, as tempting as it is to try and be the next Andy K and just say "That offer's rubbish. Ask me the question!" 0.0014 seconds after Noel gives the offers, I doubt they'd allow it. In general, luck is a crucial part of the game and it's simply a case of having it.

Yes, I think the contestants are told that they should think about all the offers as it gives "thinking" time on-screen. If they answer the question really quickly, then there's no time to edit in "shocked faces" etc! This can be seen in Adrian's game when he deals quickly and there's no time to edit "thoughtful faces" etc. in between Noel asking the question and Adrian answering!