Happy New Year, everyone! Time to kick off the year right with some case-opening action. Calling the numbers tonight is Robert Evans, a children’s speech pathologist from North Carolina. He plans to use part of his winnings to make a donation to his local humane society. In true southern fashion, Robert’s aunt Mattie Gay is sitting on a rocking chair in the audience with a quilt on her lap.

Robert picks case 11, and we get things underway.

Round 1
[17] - $400,000
[10] - $.01
[14] - $300
[22] - $200,000
[5] - $50
[13] - $500,000

Oof. Not a very good opening round, but the top two amounts are still in play. Here comes the first offer.

BANKER'S OFFER

$11,000

Robert says NO DEAL.

Round 2
[23] - $200
[19] - $5,000
[3] - $5
[15] - $1,000
[9] - $10

“That was an amazing round,” remarks Howie. It truly was, and the offer gets an increase as a result.

BANKER'S OFFER

$35,000

Robert’s supporters include three fellow speech pathologists, one of whom says he can’t skip. Robert demonstrates his new-found skipping ability and then says NO DEAL.

Round 3
[21] - $300,000
[8] - $75

The million dollars remains in play as Howie calls a break.

We’re back to complete round 3.

[24] - $10,000
[16] - $1

Robert is jumping up and down, and he should be because that was a good round. Despite the loss of a Power 7 amount, the offer increases again, this time to

BANKER'S OFFER

$52,000

Robert says NO DEAL.

Round 4
[2] - $100
[26] - $400

The last case of the round will be opened after the break.

We’re back to complete the fourth round.

Robert is a big fan of soap operas, but has never seen a telenovela (a Spanish soap opera). Howie and Soraya, the holder of case 1, act out a scene from one. Soraya angrily recites a line in Spanish criticizing Howie, after which she slaps him across the face. We then continue with the game.

[6] - $25

The UK folks call that an all-blue round. Us North Americans call it an instant offer boost, and it comes to the tune of

BANKER'S OFFER

$95,000

Robert says NO DEAL.

Howie notes that the entire audience wants to support Robert on his quest for mega money. Seated amount them is Xavier, one of Robert’s biggest success stories. Robert has not seen Xavier in two years, and is very surprised to see him. Before working with Robert, Xavier was completely unable to speak.

Xavier and his mother join Howie and Robert onstage, and Howie then gets Xavier to throw to the next break. We’ll be right back.

We’re back to begin the fifth round.

Round 5
[18] - $750,000
[7] - $50,000

From one of the best rounds to one of the worst. The safety net is gone, and the offer drops to

BANKER'S OFFER

$88,000

The board at this point:
$500
$750
$25,000
$75,000
$100,000
$1,000,000

Robert says NO DEAL.

Round 6
[25] - $25,000

Wow. Robert dodged a bullet there, but the millski remains in play. We’ll get the next offer after the break.

We’re back and the Banker is ready to deliver her sixth offer. Said offer is the first foray into six-figure territory in this game. Specifically, it’s...

BANKER'S OFFER

$139,000

There is a one-in-five chance that case 11 holds the million. Robert thinks this is the perfect opportunity to submit a counter offer. One of Robert’s supporters suggests he counter at $200,000. Robert’s actual counter offer is...

BANKER'S OFFER

$185,000

Robert goes through what the money means to him and his causes. The Baker phones back and says this game is about numbers and not about who deserves the money. But despite that, she says DEAL.

But was that a good deal? There’s only one way to find out.

Proveout
Round 7
[20] - $100,000

BANKER'S OFFER WOULD'VE BEEN

$248,000

Round 8
[12] - $75,000

BANKER'S OFFER WOULD'VE BEEN

$357,000

Round 9
[1] - $1,000,000

The other remaining case, number 4, held $500.

Statistically, it’s not the best deal Robert could have made. But with only $750 in case 11, it is certainly a good deal by dollars, and that’s good enough for our contestant.

Stay tuned for another new episode of Deal USA, coming up next!