# Game: Deal or No Deal Tourney **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819 "2010-02-13T04:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/1 "2010-02-13T04:36:56Z")
Since I have no mafia game currently to occupy me, I thought I would start this. I will take the first ten people stating they wish to play in this thread. The rules: 1. Eight rounds of Deal or No Deal that generally increase in value during the game will be played. 2. For each round, money will be assigned to cases and players will have case number 1 as “their” case. Cases will be opened randomly according to a schedule specified at the beginning of the round. After each set of cases are opened, I will make an offer. Players will PM me stating either “Deal” or “No Deal”. Players will be given a deadline to have their PMs submitted (which will be approximately 48 hours). If all players respond before the deadline, then the next round will start. If a player fails to PM their wishes, they will automatically take the deal. Continued inactivity may result in their removal from the game. 3. Once all players have made a deal or played down to their case (which may be switched with the one remaining), scores will be posted. 4. Scores will accumulate during the game. After the second round the field will be reduced to the top 8 players (and ties). After the fourth round the field will be reduced to the top 6 players (and ties). After the 6th round the field will be reduced to the top 2 players (and ties). The winner will be the player who has accumulated to most money after 8 rounds. So, essentially everyone is playing with the same case and the same board. You just will not know what everyone else has done until the round is over. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/2 "2010-02-13T05:18:36Z")
ok, assuming we have 24+ hours to respond, i’ll be able to do this ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/3 "2010-02-13T05:24:51Z")
I’m not sure if I understand the rules 100% but I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/4 "2010-02-13T12:59:15Z")
So far: 1. ToeJam 2. LarryBorgia 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Larry, feel free to ask about anything you don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/5 "2010-02-13T14:48:43Z")
k. I will play. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/6 "2010-02-13T15:13:09Z")
> [@MentalGuy](#): > > Larry, feel free to ask about anything you don’t understand. Thanks, I’ll see if I can figure it out once the game starts. If I’ve got a specific question I’ll ask. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/7 "2010-02-13T15:19:11Z")
1. ToeJam 2. LarryBorgia 3. MadTheSwine 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/8 "2010-02-13T15:22:40Z")
I said the rounds would generally increase in value. Here is what that means. The first two rounds will be played with 20 cases with a maximum value of $100,000. The third and fourth rounds will have the $200,000 and $300,000 cases added. The fifth and sixth rounds will have the $400,00 and $500,000 cases added. The last two rounds will be played with all 26 cases with a maximum value of $1,000,000. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/9 "2010-02-13T15:46:01Z")
Sign me up. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/10 "2010-02-13T16:27:48Z")
1. ToeJam 2. LarryBorgia 3. MadTheSwine 4. Mahaloth 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/11 "2010-02-13T16:46:49Z")
I’ll give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/12 "2010-02-13T17:36:43Z")
1. ToeJam 2. LarryBorgia 3. MadTheSwine 4. Mahaloth 5. Biotop 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Also, I did not mean to eliminate 4 people after the 6th round. That should say that after the 6th round, the field will be reduced to the top 4 players (and ties). ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/13 "2010-02-13T17:38:48Z")
I want to play!! ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/14 "2010-02-13T17:47:57Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I want to play!! I’ll play… Will you use a formula to make an offer or do you play no fair like the show and give crappy raises towards the end ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/15 "2010-02-13T18:48:20Z")
1. ToeJam 2. LarryBorgia 3. MadTheSwine 4. Mahaloth 5. Biotop 6. notfrommensa 7. Bootis 8. 9. 10. Since Bootis has asked about the offers, I will take this opportunity to explain how the rounds will work. [random.org](http://random.org) will be used to assign values to each case. Case 1 will be set aside for the players. [random.org](http://random.org) will be used again to decide what order the cases will be opened in. For the first 2 rounds we will start by opening 5 cases (then 4, then 3, then 2 , then 1 at a time). After a set of cases are open, I will make an offer. I will be the one deciding the amount of the offer. I will not use a specific formula, but the two main things I will look at are the mean and median of the remaining values. In many cases the median value is significantly less than the median. In these cases, my offer will generally be less than the mean, but there would be a greater than 50% chance that your case has a lower value in it. In other cases, I will decide what I think is an offer that would make for a true decision by the player. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/16 "2010-02-13T19:12:59Z")
So the offers will be made in this thread, but we respond by PM to say deal/no deal? ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/17 "2010-02-13T19:27:47Z")
That is correct Mahaloth. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/18 "2010-02-13T19:28:49Z")
And obviosly post 15 should say that “In many cases the median value is significantly less than the mean.” ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/19 "2010-02-14T04:10:51Z")
I will give this till tomorrow evening. If we don’t get 10 by then, I will go ahead and start the game with what we have. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819/20 "2010-02-14T04:57:27Z")
Wow, you’ve actually come up with a way to make Deal or No Deal interesting! That takes some doing. That said, though, I think I’ll sit out. I don’t need another thing to be worrying about in the immediate future. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-deal-or-no-deal-tourney/528819.md?page=2)