what does everyone here think about the increasing amount of swaps that are given as an opening offer. we have had 2 this week i think. i feel that they are doing it to much, what does everyone else think

When there's only six cash offers in the format as it is, it does look a bit 'off' to remove one of those on a regular basis.

There's a place for it, and Sarah's game (with her 'psychic' powers) was a good place - maybe even Craig's game got away with it, though not three times - but it seems as though the Banker doesn't know how to make an opening offer these days.

I think having a swap at the start is better than the one at the end so Im all for more swaps at the start.

I thought the very first time The Banker offered the swap was really great and it made the game really exciting. Now it has become a novelty and it's really annoying.

For me, the offers are (or used to be, anyway) a way of judging what the banker thinks of the player... however, with the offers varying so widely these days, that isn't really possible any more. But nonetheless, for that reason, I don't like swaps during the game.

I don't particularly like the swap at the beginning - after all, there are "no questions except one" - yet "swap or no swap" is a second question. The swap at the beginning of Sarah's game was just about justifiable, due to the banker testing her psychic powers, however, from a statistical point of view it's a nightmare - which box is counted as her box?

Craig's first three swap offers were absolutely ridiculous - the first offer didn't come until 12 minutes before the end of the game - stupid... I don't care whether or not Craig said he'd go on regardless if the £250k was there... the banker could have surely come up with something more interesting / amusing than 3 swaps.

Stuart's 5th offer swap was a bit different to Craig's, as Stuart more or less said that he didn't want an offer, and Stuart had already made reference to swapping for Phil's... but the banker seems very odd these days... in both Craig's and Stuart's games, he should've pitched a very careful offer to at least try and get them to deal... yet he just gave up and offered a swap.

The swap at the end is an interesting psychological twist and is good - look at what happened to Swappy Barbara - she swapped £100k for £1k! At least the swap at the end doesn't interefere with any of the other offers - and it's down to the player whether or not they think they can have the edge and win more by swapping.

A breach of the Trade's Description Act if you ask me! Let's sue Endemol!

Call me what you well, but I went reasearched it and I think the swap is breach of the Trade descriptions act:



Also:


So I think it comes down to the term 'trader'.

I disagree with the swap. It is overused in an attempt to get more viewers but its more likely to have the complete opposite effect. The offers make the game and I see it unfair that other players get that opportunity to take cash, when others increasingly don't.

These people have been offered the swap mid-game: Suzanne, Bianca, Naqiyah, Sarah (September 7, 2006), Alan, Rhona, Steve, Dawn, Mike, Ned, Claudine, Sue, Mariette, Craig, Gabrielle, Stuart, Sarah (January 20, 2007). They were offered swaps for various reasons.

Suzanne - first ever swap, a twist.
Bianca - second swap, just a twist revised.
Naqiyah - From this point on the swaps were unnecessary...
Sarah - Uneccessary
Alan - Uneccessary
Rhona - A kind of psychic twist, Rhona believed in lucky numbers and Valerie had given her some special numbers for her to consider.
Steve - Uneccessary
Dawn - Uneccessary
Mike - Psychic twist again, this was neccessary, and really paid off for Mike!
Ned - Punishment for such an interesting game.
Claudine - Uneccessary
Sue - Uneccessary
Mariette - Uneccessary
Craig - First swap a kind of joke, second and third swaps a joke for the wrong reasons.
Gabrielle - Uneccessary
Stuart - I liked this twist, even if it could have been replaced with a very high offer.
Sarah - Psychic powers, same twist with Rhona and Mike.

The question 'Swap or No Swap' annoyed me as well. It was very swkward with Bianca's game when she said "No, I don't want to swap" and Noel just said "OK, let's move on then" followed by silence. He should just say, do you want to swap? Then yes or no.

I think Sue's and Gabrielle's were because they'd had *beep* opening rounds and it was supposedly a way to "change their luck". (Not that the swap actually makes any difference.)

I actually don't mind it. I know I'm a purist, and ideally there'd be no changes whatsoever, but if they have to do some new things then the opening/mid-game swaps are probably the least offensive of the lot, to me. As long as he times it right and doesn't use it when it's inappropriate (I thought Stuart's swap offer was fine, but would have been outraged had he done that to someone who looked like they had any intention of Dealing), it doesn't really bother me too much.

Thanks for that list, little_monster. I think it's a bit worrying when you look at it like this:

October 2005 - May 2006 - 0 games with swaps
June 2006 - 2
July 2006 - 1
August 2006 - 0
September 2006 - 2
October 2006 - 1
November 2006 - 2
December 2006 - 4
January 2007 (up to and including 19/1) - 5

Also bearing in mind that some of the recent games have happened mid-game as opposed to at the first round.

And then there were 3 swaps in craig's game weren't there?

I don't mind the swaps, but not when they come every few games. I love it when they swap, the tension when they open the box they swapped away is always good.

I quite like swaps, they add an extra dimension.

Swaps are OK for Round 1 and Round 6 only but can detract from the game otherwise.

the only good time for a swap is the end

Fair play Tom! Let's sue!

I am sure someone has probably got the answer to this elsewhere...............

but in the cases where the person has been offered a swap in the first or second round what have they had in their box???????

even if they have not swapped.

Pam

Suzanne - £500 (swapped for £3,000)
Bianca - £3,000
Naqiyah - £20,000
Sarah - £50
Alan - £750
Rhona - £15,000
Steve - £10
Dawn - £10,000
Ned - £250 (swapped for £75,000)
Mike - 1p (swapped for £20,000)
Claudine - £250,000
Sue - £5
Mariette - £50,000
Craig - £10
Gabrielle - £3,000 (swapped for £15,000)
Stuart - £1,000
Sarah - 10p (swapped for £250,000)

Can anyone spot a pattern?