About Deal or No Deal

Format

Deal or No Deal is played by one contestant at a time. Prior to each game, 26 dollar amounts ranging from $0.01 to $1,000,000 are distributed by a third-party among 26 briefcases, the values unknown by the host or the Banker. The cases are presented to the contestant by the Deal or No Deal models. The contestant selects one case which is then placed on a podium.

Through a series of rounds, the contestant is asked to select a number of the other cases still in play; each case is opened and the value revealed before it is taken out of play, and a large electronic board is used to track which dollar amounts still remain in the game. After completing the selection of cases for that round, the Banker, a figure lit only from behind in a skybox overlooking the stage, will call down to the host using a phone on the podium. The host will then tell the player of the Banker's "deal": a cash value that is typically around the average of the values of the cases remaining in play, in exchange for leaving the game. The host opens a plexiglass case on the podium containing a button; if the player accepts the deal, he or she hits the button to end the game, otherwise, he or she closes the case and declares "No Deal", requiring the player to continue into the next round.

Each round progressively removes fewer cases from the game; the first round begins with six cases to be removed, the second round with five, and subsequently until the final rounds requiring removing one case at a time. Should the player make it to the final round, with the selected case and one other case left in play, the player is given the opportunity to swap cases, value unseen, and they win whatever case they end up keeping at that point. If the player takes a deal prior to the final round, the host usually encourages the player to play through to the end to see what would have happened.

After the first or second round, family and friends of the contestant are usually introduced and are allowed to offer advice and encouragement to the contestant, including which case to pick next and whether to accept a deal or not. Often, special guest stars are present in the audience, typically related to the contestant's interests or background; for example Celine Dion appeared and supported a player who was a big fan, while another show featured Big Bird assisting a player who had a childhood fear of the character.

An hour-long show typically only features the play of one contestant, but for longer specials and other versions, contestants that do not finish their game continue into the next show. Several shows have been themed based on the contestant's background, a holiday, or other situation; for example, all the cases were replaced by trash cans when the contestant was a garbage man, and one episode was considered "Ladies' Night", as the regular models were replaced with male firefighters from the Los Angeles and San Diego Fire Departments. In some cases, the Banker will also offer an additional prize, including both valuable prizes such as vehicles or "dream packages" customized for the contestant as well as gag gifts such as a supply of cotton swabs or donuts, with the offer, and may require an additional stipulation for the deal; in one instance, an additional cash prize was attached to the deal if the contestant would cut off his beard (which he ultimately accepted).

Special Variations

The show has used several variations on the gameplay through the seasons.

There have been several variations in the distribution of cash values in the cases. During the first week of season two, the top value progressively increased from $1,000,000 to $6,000,000 for each game. Some games have doubled all the cash values in play. Another game featured the replacement of a cash value ($50,000) with a 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty truck (even though other versions may have a car as a regular prize). Certain holiday-themes shows have replaced the lowest value cases with low-value gifts, which also occurred in an '80s-themed game.

The third season featured two "Million Dollar Missions," in which, after a contestant failed to win the $1,000,000 prize, the next contestant had the highest remaining non-$1,000,000 case replaced with an additional $1,000,000 case, increasing the chances of winning the top prize. The first mission ended with eight $1,000,000 cases (i.e., all values $75,000 and higher were replaced), while the second mission ended with two games with thirteen $1,000,000 cases (all values $1,000 and higher replaced). Several contestants selected a case containing $1,000,000, but all of them sold their cases.

The show has used a "winner take all" tournament approach with two or more contestants. Each contestant plays a normal game, with the other contestants in a sound-isolation booth and unaware of the result. The player that ends their game with the most money won the sum of the money earned by all of the players. One normal game did use an isolation booth, during Kate Miller's game when she didn't want to be bothered by her husband.

For the May 2008 sweeps, the U.S. version of Deal will take a visit to three international versions whose sets all look exactly similar to that version-- South Africa, the Philippines, and Estonia. U.S. contestants will play the game according to their rules, plus Howie will be joined by their versions' hosts (Ed Jordan, Kris Aquino, and Alari Kivisaar, respectively). During the tour, Howie will show some landmarks and places commonly associated with that country that will be shown in commercial break bumpers. However, there is no word as to whether the U.S. version's board or the host country's board will be used. These versions can be seen on M-Net in South Africa, ABS-CBN in the Philippines, and TV3 in Estonia, respectively.

-Wikipedia