DEAL OR NO DEAL

One of the country’s most sought after and premiere hosts,

Luis Manzano takes on Kapamilya Deal or No Deal after three

successful seasons hosted by Queen of All Media Kris Aquino.

Among the things to watch out for is the new Banker who

 would offer tempting deals to the studio player. New briefcase

 girls, now called 24K girls, will also do the iconic ‘rampa’

and hold the amounts that will change the course of the game.

A whopping P2 million jackpot prize is still at stake if the contestant chose

 the winning briefcase.

The smallest prize has always been ₱1 (about 2¢ (US), €0.01, 1p, and ¥2), but

the grand prize has always varied, from ₱2,000,000 (about US$47,000,

€31,000, £21,000, and ¥5,000,000), to ₱4,000,000 (about US$94,000, €62,000,

£42,000, and ¥10,000,000) for a short period, to ₱3,000,000 for the second

season, and back to P2,000,000 for the third season. The game show's tagline is

 "Ang Kapalaran mo, Desisyon Mo" which in turn translates in English as

"Your Fate, [is] Your Decision." At the time of its premiere, this was the first

 weekday primetime game show in the Philippines since the so-called

primetime game show craze died down in late 2002, with Pilipinas, Game KNB?,

 the last remaining show among the weekday primetime game shows,

 reformatted into a daytime one after a relatively brief hiatus (although it had

 a primetime spinoff called Pasko Na, Game KNB? for three weeks on

 December 2005 to January 2006).

Gameplay

The Philippine version is very similar to the U.S. version of Deal or No Deal (including the logo),

except for the sounds and musical scoring which were adapted from the Dutch version.

Before the game proper begins, a third party randomly places the possible amount of prize

 in the briefcases, which are distributed to 26 identically dressed models called the 26K

who reveal the contents during the game. No one, including the host, knows what amounts

are in the cases. Each contestant receives a new, randomly assigned set of cases. The prizes

 range in amounts from PHP1 to PHP2,000,000. See listing below.

After picking a case, the contestant then selects six of the remaining 25 cases, revealed

 one at a time. This is followed by a "phone call" by "The Banker", a mysterious figure whose

 face is not shown (at times a silhouette can be seen). He purportedly sits in a skybox

(situated between the two audience sections) and makes an offer, via telephone to the

host (his voice is never heard) to buy the contestant's case based on the mean of the

cash amounts still in play, and also based on the player's psychology. This amount is usually

 lower than the mean. In more recent episodes, the banker "punishes" a player of opening a

 large amount by offering a very small amount, despite the number of larger amounts still

left in play. The player is then asked by Kris the title question: "Deal or No Deal?"

Should the contestant refuse the offer (by stating "No Deal!"), they must choose five of the

 remaining cases to eliminate from consideration. The Banker makes another offer, and the

 game continues as before. The Banker's offer may be higher or lower than the previous offer

(if a top prize is eliminated, generally the offer decreases; conversely, if lower amounts are

eliminated the offer increases significantly).

The contestant is shown a button to press in case the contestant takes the banker's offer.

 The player can just push the button to take the offer, even without saying "Deal." On the other

 hand, the contestant can simply close the button's cover to imply "No Deal" without actually

saying the phrase.

Subsequent rounds have the contestant withdrawing five, four, three, then two cases from

 play, with Banker's offer appearing in between rounds; should the contestant continue to

decline The Banker's offer after the two cases were picked, he/she then eliminates one

case at a time (with an intervening offer from The Banker) until two cases are left. If the

player rejects the final offer, they receive whatever cash amount is contained inside the

 case that they originally chose.

Each contestant has several supporters (usually three or four), who sit in a special section

just off stage during his/her game. As the field of briefcases dwindles, one or more of the

supporters are asked to consult with the contestant and help him/her make a decision.

These exchanges have become emotional, particularly when very high and very small

amounts remained and The Banker offers a large cash buyout. The contestant's supporters

 are typically revealed after the second Bank deal and before the third round; although if a

contestant is doing well, the host will let the game run its course for some time, often

consulting the supporters when the tide begins to turn.

If in case the contestant decides to accept the offer of the Banker at the end of any round,

the host will let him go on ("No Deal" instead of "Deal" assumed at that point) until the end

 (at the end of every subsequent round, the amount offered by the Banker is revealed to him

and "No Deal" is assumed) to determine if he made the correct decision.

In the fourth season (2012), due to the reduced number of briefcases from 26 to 24, the

number of briefcases opened in each round is also modified, starting from five in the first

round, three in each of the next three rounds, two in each the next three rounds, and one in

 each the final two rounds. Gameplay otherwise remains the same, with the exception of a

routine option to swap briefcases in the end. The offer to swap briefcases was only given

 one time during Aquino's tenure.

Contestants, who joined through text messaging, are selected and screened with a series

of interviews and tests, including a psychological one, before they appear on the show.