Deal or No Deal (Singaporean game show)

Deal or No Deal is a game show which was aired in Singapore on MediaCorp Channel 5 and MediaCorp HD5 for two seasons. Based upon the original Netherlands format of the game show, each episode sees a contestant choosing one of 26 briefcases, each containing a cash amount between $1 to $250,000, and then attempting to win as much as possible either by gambling on having a high amount in their chosen briefcase, or making the game's hidden operator, named "the Banker", offer a considerable cash sum for their box regardless of what is inside. The amount a contestant wins is determined by pure luck – cash amounts are randomly allocated to each of the briefcases before each game, with contestants required to open a specific number of briefcases per round of the game to eliminate the cash amounts their chosen briefcase does not contain, in turn affecting how much is offered by the Banker.
The show premiered on 13 May, 2007 with a million dollar deal show series from Sunday to Wednesday, after which the show aired every Wednesday at 8:30pm. The show is hosted by Adrian Pang. The second season of the show premiered on 21 November 2007, and increased to two episodes aired per week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:30pm.
The show's official website has an online game, to let viewers become familiar with the format of the game.
Gameplay.
Before the game, a third party (known as an auditor in the show) randomly places the possible winnings in the 26 briefcases, which are then distributed to 26 identically-dressed models who reveal its contents during the game. The amounts range from S$1 to S$250,000. The twenty-six models are mainly professional models, including a former Miss Malaysia Universe, Andrea Fonseka.
After picking one of the 26 briefcases as theirs to keep, the contestant then selects 6 of the remaining 25 cases to open, revealed one at a time. Each amount appears in only one case, so any values revealed in this way are not in the contestant's case. A large electronic board (referred to as the "money tree") is used to keep track of the amounts still in play, with the amounts revealed struck off the board. This is followed by a phone call by "The Banker", a silhouette figure lit only dimly from inside a box overlooking the stage, who makes an offer via telephone to Adrian to buy the contestant's case (The Banker's voice is never heard, except for Adrian himself). The banker's offer is primarily based on the mean of the cash amounts still in play, the stage of the game (early offers tend to be far lower than the mean), as well as the player's psychology. Adrian then asks the contestant the title question: "Deal or No Deal?"
If the contestant accepts the banker's offer (by pushing a stylized red button enclosed in a glass case), the game ends and he or she wins the amount of the offer, and the value of the case that he or she chose at the beginning of the game is then revealed along with the whereabouts of the remaining prizes. Should the contestant refuse the offer (by stating "No deal" and/or closing the glass case), they must choose five of the remaining cases to eliminate from consideration. The Banker makes another offer, and play continues as before. The Banker's offer may be higher or lower than the previous offer, (if a top prize is eliminated in the round, generally the offer decreases; conversely, if only lower amounts are eliminated in the round, the offer increases significantly).
Subsequent rounds have the contestant withdrawing four, three, then two cases from play. Should the contestant continue to decline the Banker's offer after this point, they then eliminate one case each time (with an intervening offer from the Banker) until two cases are left. If the player rejects the final offer, the player wins whatever is their chosen case.
Each contestant has several supporters (usually three, though it has been increased to four for the second season), who sit in a special section just off stage during their game. As the field of briefcases dwindles, one or more of the supporters are asked to consult with the contestant and help him/her make a decision, such as which briefcase to open next or to accept the Banker's offer or not.
Homeviewers SMS game.
During the show, six briefcases are displayed before and after every commercial break. Viewers are invited to guess which briefcase contains a cash prize of S$1,000 by text messaging their answer e.g. Case 3, at a cost of S$0.21 per message. A lucky draw is held at the end of the game from the pool of viewers who chose the correct briefcase. The winners win S$1,000 and other product prizes from the sponsors of the show. On the 26 December and 27 December 2007 episodes, the home winners won S$2,000 on each of the two episodes. On the 30 January and 31 January 2008 episodes, the home winners won S$2,888 on each of the two episodes.
Records and statistics.
Correct as of the episode dated 31 January 2008.
Season 1.
Episode 1: The show premiered where insurance broker Harry Goh wanted to picked #13, but he and his wife consulted spiritual guidance prior to filming and so, decided to pick #11 instead. In Round 5, when he asked his best friend to pick a case (#1), it contained the $250,000, resulting in the bank offer dropping from $18,000 to $14,800. In Round 6, he dealt at $16,800. As the cases were revealed, the bank offer went up to $81,000, but fortunately for him, it was a good deal as his case only contained $150. Case #13 contained $150,000.
Episode 2: Sujeeta Menon dealt in round 8, winning $11,500, after striking out the largest amount in the very first case; her bank offer frequently fluctuated through the game. After dealing, the last bank offer went up to $27,500. Her case (#12) contained $50,000. The episode was the first ever time a contestant struck out the top 3 huge amounts within 2 rounds.
Episode 3: Khairunnisa invited an "imaginary" friend of hers named George. She picked #18. Despite knocking out the biggest amount early in the game, her following rounds went quite well. She rejected all the banker's offers, including the last potential bank offer of $33,000, leaving the last two amounts of $75,000 and $750 in play; her case contained only $750.
Episode 4: Banker Kaan Hoa Koang began the game by picking #18 for himself. During the fifth and the sixth round his bank offer dropped from $26,600 to $15,600 and then to $12,500 after he consulted his friend to open #11, which contained the $250,000. He continued the game and the bank offer went up to $21,000 in the next round in which he chose to Deal. Had he continued playing, the next bank offer would have been $36,000 after his next pick. He struck a good deal, though, as his case contained only $750.
Episode 5: Mr Joseph Tan began his journey by selecting #23. When it came to Round 4, his bank offer dropped from $11,000 to $9,000; he didn't deal. The next bank offer was $22,000 and he dealt. This deal was supported by his family members. However, when the next potential bank offer came up, it went up to $34,000. It was a good deal as his case contained only $7,500.
Episode 6: Gurdith Singh picked #3, and also requested to kiss one of the ladies as a good luck ritual (the lady turned out to be his wife). Despite knocking out all the huge amounts, and declining the bank offer of $9,900 in Round 4, he played on. He continued to the end and it was revealed that his case contained $2,500.
Episode 7: Amy Wong picked #20. After declining the banker's offer of $1,800 in Round 4, her luck took a further tumble. Her son Terrance and her 2 friends encouraged her to play on in the final round, when the banker offered her a ridiculous amount of $5, even though the remaining briefcases containing $15 and $25 weren't opened yet. She finally opened her case which contained $25. This episode marked the worst game played in Deal or No Deal (Singapore) thus far. She was also one of the most annoying contestants of Deal or No Deal, infamous for her disco dance moves, despite being a woman of elderly age. She labels herself as the "Disco Diva".
Episode 8: Vanessa Lopes picked #10. She was initially unlucky to strike off most of the values on the right of the money tree except for the $250,000, which was still in play during the round that she opted to deal. She dealt at $23,000, though she could have got $50,100 if she had played on for one more round. Nevertheless, it was still a good deal, as her own briefcase only contained $500.
Episode 9: Vive Ganandan came to the show hoping to accumulate enough money for his dowry. He picked case #7 but found his luck bad when he knocked off the three largest amounts in the first six choices before the first offer. His highest offer was $3,800 at round 4 but he rejected that offer and his luck continued to slide. Interestingly, his friends' and his aunt's choices were often much better than his. He went all the way, rejecting the banker's last offer of $450 and won the $1,000 in his own case.
Episode 10: Mr Clement Lim picked case #1. His luck was rather good, initially, keeping the top two amounts in play. However, his Star Wars luck left him and the offer tumbled after it peaked at $15,200. He decided to play all the way once the offer fell to $100 in round 7 after opening the last large amount. He won $250, from his original case.
Season 2.
Season 2 of the Singapore version premiered on 21 November 2007. The first 2 episodes were celebrity specials, featuring David Gan, international hairstylist and Fiona Xie, MediaCorp TV actress, respectively. They played for a chosen charity organisation.
In the first episode on 21 November 2007, David Gan closed the final deal and won S$101,000 for the ACCA Hospice Care, his charity organisation, making this the biggest win by any contestant of the Singapore edition, ever. His case (#6) contained S$50,000 while the remaining case contained S$150,000.
In the second episode on 22 November 2007, Fiona Xie played for Balestier Rainbow Centre. She rejected all the nine banker's offers and won S$250 in her case (#3). She then announced that she would make a personal donation of S$5,000 to the charity organisation, while her three friends that she brought with her donated an additional S$150 (S$50 each). In addition, the producers of the show decided to increase the winning amount to S$25,000, and as a result, a total of S$30,150 was raised for charity during the episode.
Episode 3 (28 November 2007): Contestant Devi picked case #11. Her rounds went smoothly, keeping the big amounts in play. Her friends and son convinced her to open case #7, but she chose to open other cases instead. She accepted an offer of $45,000 to end the game, though she would have gotten an offer of $72,000 if she had gone on for another round. Had she declined the $72,000 offer, she would have opened #7, which contained the $250,000, which would have caused the offer to drop to $1,400. It was a good deal though, as her case only contained $100. The next contestant was Heidianty. She picked case #13 to begin the game. After opening the first six cases, she rejected the banker's first offer of $3,800. Time ran out during the second round, so her game would continue in the next episode.
There were also two special Christmas episodes where the highest case value was doubled to S$500,000 while the S$15,000 amount was temporarily removed for the 26 December and 27 December 2007 episodes. The contestants of the two Christmas episodes rejected all nine bank offers and won only S$20 and S$150 respectively.
Episode 13 (2 January 2008): Tennis brought with him his two hamsters. He started by picking case #7. Initially his luck was good in the first few rounds. After turning down the banker's offer of $21,200, he opened the $250,000 in case #22, causing the offer to drop to $2,800. He declined the offer and his luck continued to slide. He rejected all offers and won $25 in his case. The next contestant was Paul Costello. He picked #3 to start the game. When Adrian asked him to try and open small amounts, he said he'll open the $1 and Adrian told him he'll kiss him if he did. He rejected the first offer of $4,100 and time ran out before opening the fifth case in the second round.
On the 16 January 2008 and 17 January 2008 episodes of Deal or No Deal, there were 26 hunks (male models) representing the briefcases, instead of the regular 26 babes. The contestants for both episodes were females and the contestant was introduced before the cases appeared on stage. They won S$88,000 and S$7,500 respectively.
Episode 19 (23 January 2008): Joel picked case #20. His rounds were pretty smooth, even though he opened some big amounts early. His luck slid when he opened all the large amounts later in the game, which caused the banker's offer to go down. He decided to play on and rejected the final offer of $1,200 and it was revealed that his case contained $2,500. He was followed by Sheryl, who chose case #6 and put her dog's collar on the case. She rejected the banker's first offer and opened the $250,000 in the second round. Time ran out before she opened the fifth and final case in the second round.
Episode 20 (24 January 2008): Sheryl returned to finish her game. She accepted the banker's offer of $23,000 with $150,000 as the highest amount remaining. Her case contained only $1,500. The next contestant was PE teacher Shah, whose students called him Mr. Shahlala. He hoped to win enough money to buy himself two bikes. He picked #16. He opened the $250,000 early and the bank offer frequently fluctuated as he opened the big amounts. In the final round, he dealt at $4,900 with $25 and $10,000 left despite his friends wanting him to say no deal. His case contained only $25. He was the only contestant to accept an offer of less than $10,000 in the Singapore version.
For the last two episodes of the second season on 30 January 2008 and 31 January 2008, being a week before the Lunar New Year, the highest case value was increased to S$688,888 and the second highest case was S$500,000 while the S$15,000 and the S$150,000 amounts were temporarily removed for the two episodes. Ironically, the contestants of each episode rejected all the nine Banker's offers and won only S$10 and S$20 respectively after eliminating the top prize early in the game.
$250,000 winners.
No contestant won the top prize of $250,000 in the Singapore version. However, three contestants chose the briefcase containing the $250,000, but ended up selling their case to the Banker before learning that their case contained the $250,000. All three instances of the top prize case being selected by the contestant occurred in the second season.