Episode 57, January 6 2006 @ 5:10pm
Player: Gavin- has box 11

Noel takes us round the set. 'Look at it! Bare floorboards... no carpet, nothing! And that's because we give it all away to our players! And you,' he says, plugging the call-and-lose game. After Dave's game, no wonder there is that feeling of euphoria, and he gets mentioned again.

Gavin works in the Inland Revenue (boos); 'I give out money, I don't take it!' (cheers); he's a poker player and bets on the horses (Noel's eyes light up); he's come with a plan (Noel's eyes remain lit up). Off we go...

Box 2 (Mumtaz) - £35,000. A big 'oooh' but Gavin says it could be worse.
Box 4 (Geordie) - £3,000. 'That's fine!'
Box 6 (Lyndsey) - 'I think I've got the hang of your system!' - £5! 'See, it's working now!'
Box 8 (Miguel) - £50!
Box 10 (Gill) - £5,000. 'That's alright!'

The Banker admits to being nervous of Gavin...

Banker's offer:

£7,000

Noel says he can't remember an offer like that after hitting 'one of those Power 5'... but NO DEAL it is.

'So I guess it's Box 12 then?' 'Sure is!'

Box 12 (Vanessa) - £750. 'Looking very good now'...
Box 14 (Ann) - £500! Noel says if this is a blue it's 'very special' and calls a break...

First adbreak
1p
10p
50p
£1
£10
£100
£250
£1,000
£10,000
£15,000
£20,000
£50,000
£75,000
£100,000
£250,000

Box 16 (John) - 50p!

Noel is loving this and says the Banker 'should be wetting himself'! The Banker says he will 'even the score' soon enough!

Banker's offer:

£13,579

Noel says that while it may be a silly offer it's serious money... Gavin says this board is just too good... NO DEAL it is then!

Noel says that in this round Gavin's system will run out and he hopes his luck lasts at least that long...

Box 18 (Linda) - 'quite a game to make your debut on! No pressure, but the 1p would be amazing!' - £20,000. 'It's OK,' Gavin says. 'Amazingly,' Noel adds, 'he's dead right. Look at those four big numbers!'
Box 20 (Robbie) - £100,000! 'Now we have a different game.'
Box 22 (Marie) - £1! Big cheers. Noel starts talking up the board again and points out how nobody's won the £250,000, although 'we came agonisingly close' with Dave...

Halfway stage
1p
10p
£10
£100
£250
£1,000
£10,000
£15,000
£50,000
£75,000
£250,000

The Banker says that as there are now only odd numbers left, the offer is predictable...

Banker's offer:

£13,579

Noel calls it 'minxy', Terry says there's 'loads of money on that board', and Gavin NO DEALS.

Box 21 (Andrew) - 10p! Big cheers. 'Now, if you can find that 1p...'
Box 19 (Michael) - 1p! Huge cheers! 'This is an incredibly powerful position!' Noel talks it up through the break...

Second adbreak
£10
£100
£250
£1,000
£10,000
£15,000
£50,000
£75,000
£250,000

Box 17 (Gerry) - 'if this is another blue or £1,000, Gavin is surely going to receive a life-changing offer from the Banker at the next phone call' - £50,000!

Gavin looks disappointed but says he still has the £250,000, and Noel points out he has £75,000 as well... the Banker says a good poker player knows when to fold...

Banker's offer:

£22,000

Noel says that the offer is intended to be 'very even'. Geordie says there could be another round 'but be careful'; Robbie suggests going on; Gavin admits he isn't sure and is tempted to flip a coin. Noel outlines both the 'tantalising possibility' and that '£22,000 is real money'...

Gavin eventually DEALS. He says he didn't feel sure enough, but admits he was very tempted to play on.

Noel says this is going to be interesting as the player is clearly not entirely sure of the decision, and that means if it goes wrong there's a lot more room for regret...

Box 15 (Liz) - £75,000! Big sigh of relief from Gavin but Noel points out the £250,000 is still 'present somewhere, and possibly here', pointing to Box 11.
Box 13 (Terry) - £10! Groans. 'Uh-oh...'

Squashdown
£100
£250
£1,000
£10,000
£15,000
£250,000

Box 9 (Jenna) - 'We need this to be the quarter of a million' - £250,000! 'You beat him!'

Gavin says he is 'so incredibly relieved'...

Banker's offer would've been:

£3,579

Noel says we should savour this as it doesn't happen very often, a player winning with a whole round to spare...

Box 7 (Julie) - £1,000.
Box 5 (Alan) - £10,000! 'Oh, if this is £15,000... my word, you will have absolutely crushed the Banker!'
Box 3 (Arlette) - £15,000! 'Incredible!'

A £100 vs £250 finish...

Banker's offer would've been:

£135.79

To wild laughter in the audience. 'Well this doesn't really matter now does it? You beat the Banker good and proper!'

Just for good measure, Box 11 had £100! 'Even at the very end it goes with you!' Box 1 had £250. Noel says we're on a 'sensational run' and hopes we come back Monday...

Great, I thought you'd given this up, but I like it, I'd love to see this game happen in reality!

Imagine if this game had happened in January 2007...

...actually if this game had happened in January 2007 it would've been a £30k ND and a crash to £100 which would've been a record at the time!