Deal or No Deal

Getting its start in the Netherlands back in 2000, the US version of Deal or No Deal, with Howie Mandel as the host started in 2005. The game contests are quite simple. A player is asked to select a briefcase from one of 26 held by 26 lovely ladies. Each contains a dollar amount; varying from 1 cent to $1,000,000. After that, they open several cases to reveal their dollar amount; there’s no quiz, no test knowledge; the contests are just chance. Those are thus eliminated from play. Then “The Banker”, a mysterious person in a darkened room calls the host to offer a sum to buy the player’s case. This is where the phrase “Deal or no deal” comes in. If the player rejects the offer, they open more cases, and another offer follows.

 

The offer is a function of the dollar amounts left. If the player’s lucky, and eliminates a lot of low values, the offer goes higher, but never gets to a million. Finally, the player either takes the offer (and says: “Deal”) or opens their case to reveal what they’ve won. Some people have been pleasantly surprised at the deal they’ve made, others disappointed, and the same is true of those who’ve kept their case to the end.

 

There are currently over seventy versions of the game around the world, in countries as varied as Vietnam, Serbia, and Zimbabwe! The money amounts and number of cases also vary, but the basic concept of the game remains the same.

 

In the US version, two people have managed to walk away with the million dollar prize: Jessica Robinson (September of 2008) and Tomorrow Rodriguez (October of 2008). No celebrities have appeared as players, but people as varied as Donald Trump, Celine Dion and President George W. Bush have appeared for various reasons. The all-time top winner was Arno Woesthoff, playing in the original game in the Netherlands; that prize was ten million guilder (the local currency), which was worth $6.6 million dollars.

 

While there’s now an online games version, it’s merely for fun; no real prizes are awarded. Yet, it is the next step in the evolution of quiz games. The Money4Intellect website allows you to actually win money by test knowledge instead of mere chance. Once you sign up on the website, you can bet as little as $10, and then compete against other players in a series of general knowledge contests that quiz you. If a contestant answers questions correctly, some contests will yield prizes of as much as $1,000. The online game allows you to win money and get paid quickly, via PayPal.