There's a lot of different views on DOND gameplay on here, and everyone has their own ambitions and financial targets. So if you were a DOND contestant (or even if you actually have been!) then how much of a gambler would you view yourself as?

Oooh, that's quite hard. I think I'd probably be inclined to play the money rather than the board, to use one of Noel's phrases; I don't think I'd ever Deal for less than £10k if there was even the slightest chance of more in the game, but once it got to around £20k I'd have to consider it very carefully.

I'd also be pretty reluctant to cut my losses if things went wrong - to me, turning down an offer is akin to saying "No, I'm not satisfied with that amount, I want more", so I think I'd be really unlikely to then go on to Deal for a lower amount, even if it meant going to the end.

So, erm...I'm not sure. I could see myself taking the first offer if I had an all-blue round, but I can also see myself going all the way to the end if I had a one-box game and got six "average" four-figure offers. I'll say 5...

Bang in the centre.

It would all depend on how the board would look like and how much the banker is offering.

I think I'd most likely walk with either 8 or 5 boxes left. I'd be very reluctant to go all the way to the end, especially wouldn't like to take an all-or-nothing gamble, and I know the banker would punish me for it if I wanted to deal before hand!

Some 2nd round offers lately would have tempted me as well!

Early on, I would have said I was a 2 or 3, but now I'd be a 6 or 7 as I tend to find myself saying No Deal to offers at the 5 box stage that could be called risky. I wouldn't carry on a board with one red and the rest blues left.

Hmmm. I might walk at the first offer - I could easily see myself taking Matt's opening offer at the very least - and there's been at least a dozen second offers I'd probably have taken, without any hesitation in the case of Matt's. On the other hand, there's been a number of games where I'd have gone to the end, and many of these have been one-box games where the Banker has made next to no attempt to buy the box.

Most likely, I'd look at things statistically - I'd definitely keep track of the balance statistics from the Bar if I was in the chair, I'd probably be able to roughly estimate the mean and volatility, and with that I could at least assert with genuine confidence that certain offers just have to be accepted (Matt's second offer, for instance - I know the mean can't go much above 40k in eight boxes even if they're all blues, so 35k would be an instant Deal for me there) and that others just have to be rejected due to being so, so low relative to the mean (Barbara's 5k offer on a 100k-high final five; the 3k offer on 20k/1p we had the day after Lance's game). Obviously volatility would count for a lot, especially with moderate offers; the two mentioned above on volatile boards are anything but moderate though, and I'd definitely have rejected them. It's not like anyone's going to offer you 7/2 on a coinflip anywhere else is it?

I wouldn't take the approach Daniel suggested - I'd treat each offer as an independent decision, albeit one affected by potential future offers (well, except the last one obviously), and if that meant turning down a big early offer and then taking something in four figures I'd do that. (For instance, I'd have gone at the final five in John's game.) I remember seeing Daniel rejecting above-mean final offers in a trainwreck Dutch forum game...

I think also that I'd have responded differently early on in the show's run, for reasons that are too long-winded and possibly personal for me to put into any depth here; suffice to say I had specific sums in mind, for specific reasons, and things have changed since then.

Wow, this is incoherent, I blame the time.

Oh hell, I think I'm a 4. Because I'm inclined to say 'job done' at high early offers, but I'm not afraid to take all-or-peanuts gambles if the offer is insulting enough - and these days it usually is. (Which in turn makes me more inclined to take early offers...)

Hahaha. Although I think I could probably do that in the real thing, too. I'd have turned down John's £2,500 on Monday, and I'd still have turned it down if it had been £2,501. Purely because £2,500 is a pretty rubbish result, considering what most people go away with, and if I got to that point I'd probably just think that I'd already lost the game, and might as well go for it just to see how badly I'd lost. Taking £2,500 and having £5,000 would just be a pathetic end, I think, whereas turning it down and winning a quid would be fine.

Sorry, that was also rather incoherent. Basically, I'd be pretty disappointed with any outcome from that final two, so I'd go for it to try to minimise my disappointment. Although then again, I'd deal £4,999, so there must be some point at which I would deal in that situation...I'm just not sure what it is!

But Dan, you have to put the money into context - £2,500 would nearly pay for a year at university!

But £5k would nearly pay for two.

Meh, I'm not saying my way of playing would be a good one - I think I'd just be far too stubborn to lower my expectations in any way. If I played, I'd probably leave with around £20k or with bugger all.

But £1 wouldn't even pay for a lunch!

Or half a pint, to use Ray's unit of currency!

I'm a gambler but not a reckless one. I would go all the way, but
usually the best chance of beating the banker is accepting the deal
around the 5 boxes left stage , but the board, the offer and the odds determine things for me. I do think the whole idea of "courage" and
"cowardice" and "intelligent deal" are a bit overused in what is essentially
a game of luck. It's almost totally down to box selection.

Having only been offered
£500
£750
£200
in the first three rounds - I only had to face this question at the end of round four
When I was offered £5000

At that point I had
£5000, £100,000 £15,000 and 5 blues left.

I was happy to go with the odds that there was 1 chance in 56 that I would take out the 3 reds.

Having arrived at the studio (thanks to KP, Big Al and the guys at Bothers Bar) with an excellent grasp of the odds at the business end of the game - from round 3 onwards - no dealing at that point didnt seem like a gamble at all.

It was a simple no deal based on the board in front of me and the odds that I had in my head.

I had agreed with Wor Lass in advance that any offer of £5000 or less with the odds in my favour was worth risking which is why I was able to instantly say "Could you ask me the question please Noel?"

In the end I lost £4980 because the 1 chance in 56 of taking out the top 3 came up.

I know I would have been more upset if I had taken the £5000 and 90 seconds later the Banker had offered me £10,000 - £20,000 if I had taken out 3 Blues.

That is the beauty of being prepared as a player. Even if it goes horribly wrong once you explain how you approached the Game, most people are cool when it all boils down to " it wasnt my day".

My only target was to avoid joining the 1p Club at all costs and if there was a chance to do something unusual - like settle for an amount I could smile about at the end..... well you know the rest.

I think that the one nice thing that DOND really does leave you with (as a former contestant) is that you watch every subsequent game hoping that everyone who sits in that chair and plays that wonderful game screws the banker.

You know what it means to the contestant and you cannot help but remember how much it means to the occupants of the East and West Wing to share in their happiness.


G

Spot on re the 5 boxes left and spoken like a true DOND fan !

As I said at the start of the 3 from 8 round

"This is the round I came to play"

8.

i wouldnt deal unless its a one-box-game (not including last round)

It would depend on the state of the board and the banker's offer.

yeah, to be honest G i thought the offer shouldd have been around £8/9,000, given that you had the £100k and the £15K as well as £5k. he was very unfair in your game, i felt sorry for you. but i agree with every word you just said. Despite the fact that i'm not really your biggest fan.

7.

5

I only saw your game the one time when it was first transmitted but as best as I can remember you said on the show that you only had a one bad box in 56 chance of things going wrong (I think that was before you no dealt at the 8 box stage) so you were definitely right to no deal when you did based upon the odds which most contestants wouldn't have understood so well as you, and no one could ever accuse you of lacking courage, it just wasn't your day as you said.