Hello, friends. It's been a while.

I have decided to return to the forum after a lengthy hiatus. Much of my time away was spent determining a way that I could make myself useful around here, and I finally found the answer.

I am going to reprise my old role as international recapper. As some of you may recall, I shared this duty with Joe Raygor (J.R.) for recaps of the ill-fated U.S. version several years ago. I will no longer contribute to the UK section(s), as it is not advantageous for me to do so.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Le Banquier. Le Banquier, which is French for The Banker, is Quebec's version of Deal or No Deal, and it is patterned after the U.S. version. Its set, music and gameplay mirror the version we once called the black sheep of the Deal family.

Le Banquier has been on the air since 2007, and is hosted by Julie Snyder, a popular Quebec television personality. I believe she is also one of the show's producers. The top prize is $500,000 CDN. Here is what the board looks like.

$.01
$1
$5
$10
$20
$50
$75
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$750
----------
$1,000
$5,000
$10,000
$25,000
$50,000
$100,000
$125,000
$150,000
$175,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000

And now, here are some historical stats about the game (via Wikipedia):

Highest amount won: $255,000 (Deal)
Lowest amount won via dealing: $14.22
Lowest amount won via contestant's case: $20*
Best deal: $41,000 for $.01
Best deal by dollars: $255,000 for $1
ACB-approved worst deal: $60,000 for $500,000
*Although this contestant won only $20, she also won about $21,000 worth of wedding-related gifts, as she was a bride-to-be.

Now that the housekeeping is taken care of, let's start the game. Our contestant is Olivier Guindon, 20, of Terrebonne, Quebec. He recently lost 100 pounds, and is a big fan of the Ligue nationale d'improvisation, or the National Improvisation League. This is an improv comedy league that borrows many things from ice hockey (i.e., participants were hockey jerseys; the stage looks like a hockey rink; hosts are dressed as referees, etc.).

Before the game starts, LNI legend Claude Legault presents Olivier with an LNI jersey of his own, and a case containing season's passes for the LNI. So without opening a single case, Olivier is already in the plus column.

Olivier picks case 11 because his birthday is August 11. The models then enter, but for this special episode, they are replaced by popular LNI "players," dressed in their jerseys. Before each one opens their case, Snyder picks a slip of paper from a fishbowl that indicates a way they have to act while opening the case (i.e. open the case like Celine Dion, Kim Jong Un, Elvis, etc.).

But wait, there's more (sigh). There a number of bonus prizes in play for this game. They are:
-L'Ingot d'Or - The $10,000 case has a gold bar (L'ingot d'or) inside that awards a $10,000 bonus from Capital One when opened.
-Three cases have keys inside, one of which starts a brand new Nissan Versa worth $20,700.
-One of the left-side amounts is the "Surprise" case, which contains a mystery prize.

Okay, that was a mouthful. If you're still awake at this point, congratulations. Let us now open some cases.

Round 1 - 6 to open
[7] - $150,000
[25] - $500 - Key #1 is also inside. Olivier tests it, but the car doesn't start.
[14] - $.01
[13] - $300,000
[10] - $400 - Key #2 is also inside. Again, Olivier tests it, but the car doesn't start.
[20] - $400,000

Offre du Banquier: $24,000

Olivier says: REFUSÉ (No Deal)

Round 2 - 5 to open
[23] - $1,000
[16] - $75
[17] - $200,000
[6] - $25,000
[3] - $5 - Key #3 is also inside, and as you might have guessed, it starts the car. Olivier wins the car, plus $1,100 worth of camping gear in the trunk. Just how many sponsors does this show have, anyway?

Offre du Banquier: $33,000

Olivier says: REFUSÉ (No Deal)

Round 3 - 4 to open
[19] - $50,000
[18] - $100,000
[22] - $20
[8] - $10

Offre du Banquier: $43,000

Olivier says: REFUSÉ (No Deal)

Round 4 - 3 to open
[9] - $5,000
[2] - $125,000
[5] - $100 - Also contains the Surprise, which is $10,000 worth of furniture and appliances from Brick. Over here, Brick is a popular member and radio presenter, but in Quebec, it's a furniture and appliance store.

Thankfully, I DVRed this show, which enabled me to fast-forward through 46 hours worth of improv acting and other randomness. Had I watched it in full, I probably would not have been able to write this recap. Julie Snyder suddenly remembers that there's a game show going on, and we get this offer from monsieur le Banquier:

Offre du Banquier: $57,000

Olivier says: REFUSÉ (No Deal)

Round 5 - 2 to open
[26] - $300
[15] - $1

Offre du Banquier: $81,000

Olivier says: REFUSÉ (No Deal)

Fun fact: This is the first new post in this section in over a year. I had to brush aside a lot of dust before I began posting. You're welcome.

Round 6 - 1 to open (Mark'll like that)
[12] - $10,000 - Capital One bonus added to whatever else Olivier wins.

Offre du Banquier: $102,000

Olivier says: ACCEPTÉ (Deal)

Proveouts

Round 7 - 1 to open
[24] - $50

Offre du Banquier aurait été: $151,000

Round 8 - 1 to open
[1] - $200

Offre du Banquier aurait été: $225,000

Round 9 - 1 to open
[4] - $500,000

Olivier's case 11 is then opened, and $175,000 is inside. The remaining case, #21, held $750.

The victory goes to monsieur le Banquier, but Olivier walks away with $143,800 in cash and prizes, including a new car !

We'll be back next week with the Halloween special. Until then, good night, and may all your deals be spankings .

It looks like many Canadians, including Oliver, have the same strategy as many American prime-time contestants did, and that was to chase a six figure offer then Deal once you get it. Still, it was a very sensible Deal that was unfairly punished.

Just to be clear, Julie Snyder is the host of the show. The contestant's name was Olivier Guindon.

After reading that recap, Hawker, I can understand why you hate that our version sometimes only gives away pennies. Sadly, there aren't many UK gameshows even on the major channels that just give away bonus prizes to the contestant just for playing (certainly not cars).

I'm all for the bonus prizes. If your game goes south, the least you can walk away with in some episodes is $10,000 worth of prizes. That's a pretty sweet deal. As I mentioned above, in one of the three unlucky game sin the six-year history of Le Banquier, the contestant won only twenty bucks, but took home around $21,000 worth of wedding-related gifts.

I think they upped the prize quota for this particular episode because it was a special. I don't think they give away cars on a regular basis. What I do know is that the Ingot d'Or bonus from Capital One is a sponsored prize this season, and is given away in every episode when the contestant finds the $10,000 case.

It should also be noted that Le Banquier has only had four "blue" wins in its six-year history on TVA: a $14.22 deal* - the contestant was left with $5 and $20 at two-case - the aforementioned $20 win, a $50 win, and fourth, which I am unaware of. I don't know of any other version that can boast this kind of statistic. In February 2011, the $14.22 winner was invited back to play the game again, and I think he did much better the second time around.

Another stat about Le Banquier: this version is infamous for people underselling high-value cases. French Canadians appear to use a very cautious and conservative approach when playing the game. That's probably why the show has only had three low wins, and also why the biggest winner in the show's history won $255,000 (but scored a spanking).

*This deal also had some prizes attached to it. In addition to the cash, the contestant also won 50 pairs of white socks, and had their photo featured in 7 Jours magazine.