Looking at recent games where the banker has offered a really healthy sum of money as the second offer, and the contestants have no dealed, only to end up going home with considerably less, is it fair to say that contestants are pressurised into not dealing when they should? For example, Dot rejected £12,000 as her second offer because she thought it was too early in the game and people needed to be entertained, only to end up dealing later for £3,100. Massimo was offered £16,000 by the banker as the second offer, and ended up dealing at £7,400. At the £16,000 stage Massimo asked for a sweep of all the other contestants and they all without exception encouraged him to play on. Should contestants be concerned about not looking good for dealing too early? Any five figure sum is a lot of money to some people, and is it worth losing? Are contestants inappropriately pressurised to no deal? We've yet to see someone deal at the first offer, but I think this would still make the game entertaining! The banker definitely seems to be using an interesting psychological ploy with these early offers!

I think I'd probably feel like I shouldn't deal at the first or second offer, as I would want an exciting show, and that would be a bit of a let down. I know that's a bit silly when it could cost you money, but I'm sure that affects the contestants' decisions - I remember Aaron saying that the main reason he didn't take £30,000 at the second offer was because it felt too early and he wanted to put on more of a show. The few shows where the contestants have dealt at the third offer haven't really been as entertaining as the rest, and I know I'd feel a bit disappointed if I dealt early and my show turned out to be boring.

I think the banker is all too aware that contestants are likely to want to play on even with a high second offer to make the show more entertaining, so that is why he will sometimes inflate that second offer, and then as the contestants take out the odd big number he will lower his offer, then they feel compelled to go on in order to chase the earlier high offer, sometimes with disastrous results!

Yep, that was certainly the case for Dot, and he was trying the same thing with Richard the day after. I think really he can offer whatever he likes for the first two offers (well, within reason!) as he knows nobody's going to take it, so there's room for jokes like John's £8 and Lucy's £50, as well as the high offers to try and set them up for a fall.

I think that dealing at any of the first two, maybe even three is to early to deal. It may be a great gameboard at the time but it is too early to judge how the game will turn out. In Massimos game he had only lost one red when he got his biggest offer, IMO it would be silly to deal with so many reds left when you could so easily take out 3 blues or low reds in the next round and then receive a significantly higher offer.

Yes but you could just as easily take out the £250k and £100k as Massimo in fact did, and then receive much lower offers. Most people are optimistic enough to think they won't do that though, which is what persuades them to carry on. I would have been seriously tempted to take Aaron's £30,000 2nd offer, which in the end turned out to be his best one. Of course the better your board looks after the first couple of rounds, the higher your odds of hitting big reds in the ones after that. There is no guarantee that carrying on will produce higher offers.

I think that there is pressure on contestants to no deal as they feel it will be more of a game for the audience to see. I have to admit to turning over sometimes when someone no deals as most of the excitement from the game has gone.

However, it's the players game and they shouldn't let the audience influence their decision.

I think there is still entertainment after the deal, as the contestant still has to sweat over whether they have squandered a lifechanging amount of money. Contestants want to have beaten the banker, and to have made the right deal at the right time. A number of contestants have squirmed as they discovered that £250,000 had been in their box all along, after they had dealt earlier. Regardless of whether the deal has been made or not, when their final box is opened there is usually some tension.

Comparison with other versions is probably worthwhile, especially with those offering much larger sums of money - the Dutch version springs to mind, not least because it offers genuinely huge sums early on.

As far as I'm aware, nobody's dealt before the third offer in that version, but it's quite common to deal before the one-to-open rounds. Someone dealt at the second offer in the Australian primetime version though.

who has dealt the earliest in uk history

beryl? flash?

No one has dealt at Offers 1 and 2, but 5 players have dealt at the third offer:

Jenni - 4 January - £26,000
Andrew - 26 January - £14,000
Beryl - 24 February - £3,100
Flash - 14 March - £6,000
Johnnie - 5 April - £8,300

Interestingly, of those, every single one had higher banker offers in the post-deal proveout, and three of those actually had higher amounts in their box! Having said that, there are many who have regretted not taking an offer after it went wrong, just look at the stats section!

I thought that was the whole point of the Banker!

I think every contestant will have their own "pressure point" at which point the deal - their board - their needs - their courage .......... meet. Some folk will also want to remain in the chair while others will discover that they really want the game to end as soon as possible, find out how much they have won and get back to the hotel.

When that pressure starts.... and how they react .... is part of the magic of DOND

Today we saw yet another game where the contestant was offered a lot of money, (£20,000) to no deal, and they ended up walking away with less than half that amount. There are two problems:
1) People want to be entertained
2) Contestants don't want to seem weak to the banker and everyone else by offering advice to "deal"

Result: Frequent financial disappointment for contestants.

I don't see how contestants can offer impartial advice, and the audience want to be entertained so how can they? Sometimes Noel offers a balanced approach, but let's face it, we all love contestants to no deal cos we want to see a £250,000 winner!! But if contestants have come to take away a good amount of money and not play the game the best advice would be DON'T ASK FOR ADVICE!

To be fair, a few people advised Amy to Deal at £20k - and they said "I would Deal", rather than "You should Deal". Which was fairly stupid in my eyes, as if the banker pays half as much attention as Noel claims he does, he'll now know he can probably get them out cheaply.

The only advice I'd really want would be Aaron-style odds or comments on the generosity of the offer. It's impossible to say whether someone else should Deal or No Deal, and I don't think it's ever of any use.

As Noel says you fail to mention the Jennifers of this world....

Too many people emphasise the fact you can take out the biggies and never mention the fact that 3 blues is just as easy.

I could probably be the first contestant to deal at the first offer, cos I have an amount in mind, and if he offered it, no matter WHAT was left on the board, I'd go.

Thats my chances of getting on up the swannee

If someone came up to you on the street and offered you £15,000 would you accept it, then immediately go to the bookmakers and lay about £14,000 of it on a horse to win that was priced Evens? Well that is what a lot of contestants are effectively doing encouraged by the studio audience and their fellow contestants, their so called "friends" who are ready to offer "impartial advice" on whether they should deal or no deal. I know that sounds tough, but let's get a reality check, it's not always cool to be a gambler!

Exactly, Rico, there is too much advice given, and at the end of the day, anyone who goes on that show is out to win MONEY - some have an amount in mind, but gamble and end up getting naff all, which is why I SO admire Melanie the other day, for dealing at £30K

I LOVED her answer when Noel asked her WHY she'd dealth, she said, 'Cos I only wanted £5K' and that is my phillosophy, if you get anywhere near the amount you have in mind that you'd like to win, why gamble it???