At least it was a Victory, great stuff today

Enjoy £35,000, Neil

Im pleased Neil won big as it put a good end to a poor week. Except for Monday. Roll on the next one!

OH MY GOSH!!! WHAT AN AMAZING GAME!!!!! Wish mine had been like that!

S x

Your game was amazing Sarah......and you won about the same amount too

What a great game that was....well done Neil

Thing is he won a very similar amount to you.

That would have been funny and very spooky with your psychic powers if you had said right ive delt. Now the remaining biggies are all over there and il pick them out one by one

If only all games could have proveout rounds like that, ay?!

Well, I thought it was going to be a wasted opportunity on one of the best boards we've seen, I mean not too many deal with the top four still in play and it would take a spectacular run of bad luck to demolish that game. But that's exactly what he did, pulling out the "Geordie round" at eight-box with the top three amounts and then taking out the £50k for good measure! Shame he didn't have a blue in his box, as the record books will show a marginal victory over the Banker when in actual fact it was a spectacular one!

One-post recap.

Four pages at 5:15pm? Could be special. Noel starts with the thematic references to players disproportionately assigned big-money boxes in their wing runs... and with a story that wouldn't have been especially out of place on Noel's HQ, although it was the contestant's to tell, so no complaints there.

13 means nothing to him; Bev gets chosen first. This player is level-headed. Could be special indeed. Especially after that opening round - about as good as you can get, and the offer reflects it.

He would have Dealt before the game starts if he'd been offered £26,000? It would be irrational not to, with the starting mean at £25,712.12! There's a point - in some versions, such as Miljoenenjacht (recap of tonight's episode coming tomorrow!), there are or have been prizes offered as an incentive to not play the DoND bit. What's the lowest pre-game offer you'd accept to not play the regular UK board? I'd say I'd consider £15,000 - which coincidentally is the offer four blues and an orange later - but I'd want twenty grand to be certain, and no I am not a targetist.

Man U fan? I was playing as Man U on FIFA earlier, was 3-1 up with ten minutes to go then my opponent quit. That was suspicious; this board is almost suspiciously good, the top ten intact at the first commercial break. £35,000 at least confirms he's not cheating, and it's still an exceptional start. £17,500? Second offer of the day to be only a few grand short of the mark. Could be deal time at 11-box if the Banker keeps this pressure up. (Or if he reuses the very first dream offer he ever made... he's got a player he can use it on!)

Super round again, and a truly sensational 11-box board. £26,000 is inked in with the earlier remarks, and I would again call that just a few grand short of the mark - £35,000 would have me out here, £30,000 might, £26,000 wouldn't. Neil takes it seriously, respects the board, but goes on anyway. I hope that's because he saw more in that board (and there is more in that board) rather than because it was 11-box and Old Faithful.

Oh good grief, an orange and a blue! So, let me get this straight. Two blues, the £10k-£20k block and the top four at the second adbreak? To paraphrase the Man U boss ten-and-a-half years ago, "Deal or No Deal, eh? Bloody hell." And that's below the median!! £35,000 the median now, the mean past £60k... the offer is the median, and this is where my combination of recently-obtained financial security and long-established mathematical tendencies have me playing on. Plenty would deal this, but I think this is further from my tipping point than the first three... Neil takes it. In isolation, an entirely reasonable decision on a big-money board, but I can't help but think that someone who could take that should have taken the one before.

£425,000 PROVEOUT ROUND! Well that's how to shut Noel up. AND THAT'S THE £50,000!! Yes, he'd have chased his way to The Rock, but what an incredible Noel-defying collapse!! He's reduced to making a spectacle out of himself and the audience after that, and we have another memorable game in what is turning out to be an amazing month. How the hell are we going to decide on Show of the Month? We'll have three sensational Wakeyist games from heat 1 (the two £50k wins and Corinne) up against this and whatever Santa v Scrooge throws up...

Well, that's proved me wrong. A Sunday game at 4:25pm, and he wins £35,000. Honestly didn't expect to be proved wrong in the space of 12 weeks, let alone before Christmas, and good thing I was, too.

Just came home as it started, but what he went through, to be stabbed 7 times, is just something I can't fully imagine. It takes a person with a lot of integrity to face such an event, and still have a positive outlook on life.

The deal of £35,000 was cautious, but I think that a lot of people would feel the pressure too, if the offer was slightly higher. That was the right decision for him, even if he didn't believe it at the time.

The banker's definition of astronomical isn't quite as high as mine. 1/1680 to take out the top 4 in consecutive order from top to bottom. That was still a very impressive dismantling of the board, even though Noel was insinuating (I believe?) that he wouldn't have opened the boxes in that order in live play. The guilt trip Noel would have put him through, with a different order, would have been unbearable.

Neil can now give Anya all the toys and dog food she needs... and maybe he'll save some money for himself! Enjoy the £35,000!

I suspect that the Banker was also factoring in the fact that those four boxes were also arranged in consecutive order on the East wing.

By the way, did you think that when Neil's name came up, he didn't looked that surprised to be picked so early? You'd be right; that was actually the second take. Neil was actually so shocked to be chosen that he unwittingly let out a swear word, which meant it had to be re-shot.

Some behind the scenes info, there.

Well I never!

Really wasn't expecting Neil today and looks like most people including Neil himself were in agreement!

As the game developed - what a board. The early offers were like 2006 too!

I too was really disappointed when he took that deal though I'm sure thinking you'd no-deal in front of your TV is much different when it's in reality. I too would have had to stand up at the end to apologise to him (were you one of those, Mister Al?).

I'd have probably dealt at 5-box, and lots of regrets!

That was one of the best proveouts I've ever seen, and it would have been really painful if he'd gone the other way, his last 5 would have been the second-best one possible (the top 4 and the £20,000 that was in his box!) - wonder what the offer would have been on that? About £100k I reckon, since Daniel was offered £90k with the £750 there instead of £20k!

Oh and Geordie would have been quids in today with the top 3 values being in E9, E10 and E11!!! (And Doreen would have taken out the top 3 in that order in the first 3 boxes)!!

But what a great game, well done Neil!!

Yes very true and it would have looked rather silly to deal then show where the remaining biggies where like that, I get it enough from people asking why didnt I go on to the end if I knew it was in there!!

Well done Neil!! Amazing

Thanks not much of my doing though

Yes I was extremely lucky to win what I did but I also live with regret for not going on to the end.

Neil's game was perfection!

What a great game, well done Neil!

watching on sky+ OMG death box..newbie....£100,000......£75,000 OMG ...£50,000 OMG OMG OMG OMG fecking brill neil

awesome game

Wasn't it just?! I love your comments...can always tell they're "live" as you watch it!

That could well be my favouritegame of the month so far.

It started off in good humour with the fight over the 1p kiss and the Hull chorus, the suddenly you realise Neil can do no wrong whatsoever. The near perfect opening round is one thing but to get to 8 box with such a strong board is just an incredible achievement

I think that was an incredibly hard board to walk away from, it looked so strong, but Neil had left himself nowhere to go, it was almost inevitable he'd do some damage in the next round, the question being how much. To destroy the game from the top down immediately after dealing- wowser.

It was just textbook from start to finish

I am not ashamed to admit that yes, I was one of the people standing up and apologising to Neil at the end!

It's games like this that really make going to the studios such a worthwhile experience. I was feeling utter elation for quite some time afterwards! (It was right up there with Calum's £40,000 win, which I was also lucky enough to witness as it happened.)