Deal or No Deal!

[Chris D]

I just watched this show for the first time tonight. Wow, very exciting! I've got to wonder if it gets old after watching a few episodes, but I'm suddenly instantly hooked. I think Howie Mandel does a good job of hosting and keeping things interesting.

And hey, if Howie ever wants to bring me on, and give me $1,000,000.00, it's fine by me!

[Azeke]

Thanks for the headsup Chris, I guess I'll TIVO it and check it out. I've always enjoyed Howie Mandel.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Shane Martin]

One interesting thing is that Howie has a phobia that doesn't allow him to shake hands with people so when people get on the show they are allowed to hug but that's it.

It's a cool show with a nice twist.

[aud19]

I've watched it a bit when nothing else was on....it's entertaining enough I suppose... Nice to see people win money.

Seems kind of purpose made for the A.D.D. generation though :lol:

[Chris D]

One interesting thing is that Howie has a phobia that doesn't allow him to shake hands with people so when people get on the show they are allowed to hug but that's it.

Huh... didn't know that. Interesting. If his phobia was germ-based or something, you would think that he would have a problem hugging too. Wonder what the deeper story is there?

[Azeke]

Yes, I heard that last week for the first time, that Howie suffers from that OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder). I certainly wasn't aware of it.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[ahcryky]

I like the show, would be fun to be on it........ I think Howie does a good job, sort of weird to see him toned down though..... As for the germ OCD thing, I have a friend that has the OCD, and with him he has to wash his hands all the time, so with Howie it might be simular where it's skin contact on the hand and not as much giving someone a hug..........

[aphexist]

I watched this show for a while yesterday. It bothers me that there is no skill or knowledge required whatsoever. It should be called "Greed." The episode I watched turned the contestant's family and spouse into a band of howling apes as they goaded him from the sidelines. It's even less exciting than watching someone play video poker because there is nothing risked. Oh, and the it reminded me of that overstimulating gameshow in "Requiem for a Dream."

Sorry to rant...

[Chris D]

No, that's a good point. I've noticed too, that there's really no skill in it either. The offer from the bank isn't based on some mathematical formula or anything, not based on odds for the person's next selection. It's just a chunk of money to entice the person not to open their case.

Still, I find the show interesting to watch. Those that do get greedy and just keep going, tempting chance, have found more than once that their offers drop by several HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars. Yikes.

[aud19]

I'm pretty sure a math formula is EXACTLY what the "banker" uses. Calculates percentages based on cases left, amounts left etc.

[Chris D]

Well, FWIW, there's a "Banker's Blog" on NBC's Deal or No Deal website, where the author claims that there is no set calculation method. He says he just watches the person playing, and tries to figure out how greedy they are and how much money it will take to tempt them.

As I've been watching the show, I've tried to notice how the bank values might correspond to the prices left. I've seen a couple times that one of the high 6-figure prices gets eliminated, but the offer actually goes UP. Stuff like that.

[P-Dub]

I did some quick calculations one time, and it isn't based on the expected payout. Each case has an equal chance of being the one, so it should be total remaining amounts times case/total cases. That should give you the expected payout. The banker dosen't offer anywhere near close to that amount the time I was watching.

Oh, and I don't really like the show. I watched it once or twice but that's about it. "Oh that's a lot of money, what should I do?" Oh commercial. Let's have the lovely ... open up that case, be good to me.

[ahcryky]

Howie Mandel was on the Ellen show today and said that the banker has set amounts depending on what is left on the board........ so arcording to the host it is all calculated.

[Chris D]

Sure, if there's only values of $1 - $100 left, they're not going to offer $5,000 from the bank. That'd be silly--it's not like they don't LOOK at the board. Nobody's saying the offer is completely random. But the offer doesn't seem to follow a certain mathematical calculation. Nor does it appear to duplicate a set criteria of remaining prize values, i.e. if values $A, $D, $F, and $P are left, we're going to make an offer of $XXX every time.

I wish I could offer an exact example with specific numbers. But I remember one offer from the last two episodes, where a contestant had values left of $1, $200K, $300K, $400K, and $500K. If the calculation followed an exact mathematical mean, it would be 1 + 200,000 + 300,000 + 400,000 + 500,000 / 5 = $280,000.20 If the calculation was going on the basis that the contestant had a 4 in 5 chance (80%) of his case holding $200,000 or more, a 3 in 5 chance (60%) of holding $300,000 or more, and tried a mathematical calculation trying to take these factors more in account, you would expect an offer of perhaps $330,000. But the actual bank offer was $199,000, well below all of these.

I think this was the cowboy from Texas. He declined, and opened I think the $400,000 case. You'd expect the offer to drop, but not plunge. It went down to $109,000, way below any form of a mathematical average, which he then accepted as a deal. To make it interesting, Howie asked him which case he'd open next, and the one he chose had $300,000 in it. However, Howie then said that the offer that would have come in based on that case would have gone UP to $200,000 or something. That makes no sense in ANY mathematical calculation, that an offer would go UP if you eliminate a price that's above the previous offer.

[aud19]

Well one of the big dollar amounts was now eliminated so of course the offer went down... it all seems pretty straight forward to me..... :scratchhead:

[peterS]

its good tv to have them keep going