Best game ever! I knew we were in for something special by how quick the game was going, but that was just immense.

that was a hell of a good game.quite painful to watch at times.Dale your a star,you deserve all the luck in the world.enjoy the dosh babe!
this has to be in top 5 all time best games.

Dale definitely stuck out on the wings over the last few weeks as the player who could give the show the kick up the backside it needed after Christmas, and it's so good to see that the boxes were kind to him.

Whether this is a turning point remains to be seen - only the boxes can determine that. But I get the impression this was played largely straight with no gimmicks, unlike say Ant's (which involved a last-minute gamble from the banker and a swap, so might have seemed a bit of a blur afterwards), so with any luck it might be a bit easier for it to stick in players' minds.

For now though, enjoy it for the great victory it is. Well done Dale!

WOW!! What a week of contrasts so far.

Tears of sadness on Monday and tears of absolute joy just two days later.

Well done, Dale. It's been a long time since I was ever on the edge my seat in that way. (Not since Alice's game on 12th March 2009 anyway!) When he took what seemed like an eternity to no deal the £26,000, I thought... "Oh no!! May fortune favour the brave!"

And it did! To the tune of £100,000. He said "Go for it!" and he most certainly did.

I don't know about everyone else crying on the show but I almost did as well I think. If the Dream Factory got flooded again, it wasn't because of a thunderstorm this time.

Phil.

These are the sort of games I tend to be a bit "bah, humbug" about, because they typically come as the result of a gamble I wouldn't take, and which I keep on imagining the player wouldn't take if the host went right down the middle.

Today, the host went right down the middle.

This was exactly the right time for such a game too, at a time when the producers were throwing in twist after twist in failed attempts to push players into what they would consider uncomfortable risks. After a string of these uncomfortable games, seeing a game played almost completely straight - even the five-box twist was a good one in my book - with arguable-either-way offers, that were all declined, with a huge Happy End, is very good timing. To see it with the host not only refusing to goad the player into the gamble, but actually correctly using OHO as a reason for dealing?!? How good is that?

The only possible shadow on the horizon is if Noel uses this to push the next few (dozen) players into risk-taking. Judging from his reaction to this game, though, I think he was so anguished by the possibility of a crash that he will genuinely be disinclined to play up the theatrics. Let's face it, that's what they're meant to be, that's all Noel ever sees them as, it's only the social scientist in me that shudders at the mere thought of them. This game, though, was far beyond theatrics. This was genuinely dramatic. There was no void for Noel to fill with vacuous and (inadvertently?) manipulative statements today. The game spoke for itself.

More of that with lower-stakes, conservatively-played games, and I will call this the moment Deal or No Deal was saved.

Charismatic contestant and for once the boxes fell right. Surely the best game ever.

Where is everyone tonight?

I might be a bit biased having the pleasure of seeing this game live but to me today's game is up there in the top 10 games ever (if not right at the top).

It's very rare when you have no idea what a contestant is going to say but at 2-box, I did not know what Dale was going to do. The decision took quite a long time with his parents wanting him to take the money but realising that Dale was probably going to make his own mind up. You could see the look on their face when he turned down £26k.

As others have said, this game didn't need any twists and even the one at 5-box was at the request of the player (and probably with 40% of £19k worth the gamble). 8-box and 5-box offers could have been a bit higher but they were in the territory of not being too low.

Having seen Dale's first appearance during the Christmas shows when he said he had done the Andes trek, it was great to see him play his game also. His wheelchair didn't seem to hinder him - in fact at one point, Noel had to tell him to slow down as he was whizzing round the studio at some pace and the drop between the walk of wealth and the studio floor could be quite perilous - in fact at one point, there was a heart-stopping moment when Dale actually lost his balance and tipped out of his wheelchair.

This was the final show of the day's filming and with the time it took for the production team to assemble the wheelchair ramp and the time it took for the decisions to be made, I ended up missing my last train home but the cost of the extra hotel night and train ticket was totally worth it.

The one game to happen and I missed it due to a requirement for Uni!

FINALLY, someone gambles and it pays off, this MUST be game of the month!

Game of the month??..... will need a non-contrived mega game to top it for game of the season.

Well, that was fantastic! I thought we could be in for a classic when Dale (ironically an anagram of DEAL) was called, provided the boxes fell kindly for me. Of course, it was going brilliantly until he hit the £250k, but in a way that worked in his favour as it saved him from a much harder decision either at 8-box or 5-box. I sort of had a feeling he would go for it despite his parent's visible anguish, those who have experienced adversity in their life are more inclined to gamble as they tend to have the strength of mind to cope with the consequences if it goes wrong.

I can't imagine how tense it must have been in the studio (actually I can, but that's another story), and thankfully the big amount was matched to the player for once. That last part was real edge-of-the-seat stuff, and so great that it didn't need to be contrived and it was won from a justifiable decision (albeit not one I would've taken).

I wonder what effect this is going to have on the other players?

It's a weird (but understandable) quirk of Deal that had £250 been revealed most of us would be saying how terrible the game was and how he shouldn't have gambled!

But I think this was a great show regardless of what the outcome was, the £100k reveal though made it stupendous!

Even had he won the £250, it would have been a decision he made on his own and I am sure he would have dealt with it (probably with less tears than when he won the £100k).
It's rare for Noel not to have to sum the game up or even invite us back for tomorrow's game.

Certainly one of the tensest, most nail-biting games i can recall in some time.

My initial thought was that Dale's game had peaked at 11 box, that he'd used up all of his luck in the first half of the game and for a moment there that final round looked to be a real heart-breaker, then when the offer came up i thought only an idiot would turn down £26k on that combination.

But kudos to Dale, he took a gamble and it paid off. It was an exhilerating and emotive end to an incredible game.

One more thing, if you look back at the first break where Dale wheels over to the board and points to the £250k on the board , his hand seems to be pointing more at the £100k.

This was one of the best and most tense games we've had. It might not have been a £250,000 win, but it certainly felt like one.

I honestly didn't know which way Dale would go with the final offer. I know he said he'd "go for it" all the time, but with lots of encouragement to deal at the end I thought he just might (not that I would have blamed him in that situation). When he no dealt I was just so hoping it would go the right way and thankfully it did. Certainly one of the most tense moments in DoND's history.

Would have been interesting if Dale had actually found a blue during the final round and was given an extra offer. I wonder if that would have changed the outcome at all or just prolong the tension?

KP, what is OHO?

If this was the last game of the day then that may mean claire was also still around at the hotel. What a contrast for her the following games would have been. Thats one aspect of deal that can be cruel, having 3 shows a day with varying degrees of success and failure and the losers back at the hotel with their regrets while the winners celebrate.

Well done for forgetting! "Only Here Once". Noel used it as an acronym a lot last year. He used it to vindicate gambling when strictly it's a reason not to (if you played ten times you might as well gamble to optimise your payout as the big wins will dwarf the money rejected in the expected five blue wins, but with only one shot, you have to maximise utility rather than total winnings).

And there's four a day taped now... so another £20k+ winner there too, albeit one with possible regrets (though from what Dan Judge said, these fade faster than regrets from No Deals gone wrong).

I don't think the term "OHO" was in use when you were on the wings, Paul. I think it was just under a year ago that it started popping up.

Still find it just as annoying now because, as KP says, it can be taken a few ways but only one tends to be focused upon.

Funny you said that as I thought the same thing and wondered if it would be picked up by the banker. You must be an avid fan if you didn't mind paying for hotel + train. I presume they don't allow you out during the game and effectively keep you prisoned until after filming in such situations. I have visions of half the pilgrims suddenly disappearing from the show in order to catch their trains.