On April 26, contestant LaKeesa Bright, who had initially picked case 17, accepted a deal for $215,000. This turned out to be a bad deal, since her case contained $1,000,000, the top prize on the show. For the US version of the show, this is the first time a contestant had the top prize in his or her case.
She had a great board with 4 cases left: $400, $1,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000. She said No Deal to a bank offer of $300,000+ and elected to continue the game. The next case she opened was $500,000. With her board of $400, $1,000 and $1,000,000, the offer of $215,000 was accepted.
This situation is a great example of why it will be a long time before we see anyone walk away with the show’s top prize. The contestant not only has to pick the correct case (1-26 chance) but he or she also has to go the entire length of the game. If LaKeesha had not knocked out the 500K, she would have continued until she did knock it out. Saying No Deal when you have 2 big amounts left is logical, since the player can rely on the fact that if a big case is opened, the bank offer will stay somewhat reasonable since there’s one other big amount left. But, if $1,000,000 and $400 are the 2 biggest amounts left, it’s a lot harder to justify continuing.
The bottom line: We will only see someone open their own case (i.e. play to the end) with the million still in play is if they have another big amount (100K or higher) left. That way, if the 50-50 chance doesn’t go the right way, the player will still have a nice amount to walk away with.