Five million Euros, 26 identical sealed cases, and no questions except one: Record or No Record?
€5,000,000 is up for grabs tonight - the biggest cash prize in any current TV game show - on Miljoenenjacht, the show English-speaking countries know as Deal or No Deal.
But will the show even manage to create the biggest game show winner of 2006 so far?
Deal or No Deal) for those who do.'>
The first problem is that this isn't as clear-cut as it ought to be anyway. UK TV interior design guru Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and his partner (whose name escapes me) won £500,000 on a charity edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. However, they tried and failed for the million - the only players ever to do so - only to be given a reprieve as the question they faced was believed to be ambiguous. They gained another shot at the million, and almost inevitably didn't go for it. £500,000 is the equivalent of US$929,774.16 at current exchange rates. (I shall quote all prizes in US dollars for comparisons.)
The biggest win by a member of the public this year - to my knowledge, at least, and I think I'd know if there were any bigger - was by Yolanda Stopar on Temptation (for the uninitiated: Sale of the Century on acid) in Australia. She won AU$800,000 in cash, plus prizes worth AU$132,577; the total of AU$932,577 equates to US$719,997.68.
Now it gets more confusing. Game show prizes in both the UK and Australia are tax-free. But US game show prizes are taxed. The exact rate I'm not sure of, and it might vary by state; I've heard 40% a few times, I've heard 44% once.
Thorpe Schoenle's $468,000 win on the US Deal or No Deal just - just - edges Charles Dickson's £250,000 win on UK Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, which is the equivalent of US$464,649.47. Though of course, after tax, the Dickson win is significantly larger.
A bunch of US Deal or No Deal contestants follow, led by Cindy Pridgen ($407,000), Sheetal Sheety ($375,000) and Peter Montesanti ($357,000). There may be other winners around this area, but I can't be certain.
Anyway. What this all means in terms of breaking records tonight is thus:
We need a win of €566,000 to beat the 2006 record for a member of the public.
We need a win of €755,000 to beat the 2006 record in real terms.
Oh, and to beat the very least the record will be at the end of the year - the guaranteed million-pound jackpot on The Con.Test in the summer, we need a win of €1,457,000 or more. Which has happened before... once.
But will the show even manage to create the biggest game show winner of 2006 so far?
Deal or No Deal) for those who do.'>
The first problem is that this isn't as clear-cut as it ought to be anyway. UK TV interior design guru Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and his partner (whose name escapes me) won £500,000 on a charity edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. However, they tried and failed for the million - the only players ever to do so - only to be given a reprieve as the question they faced was believed to be ambiguous. They gained another shot at the million, and almost inevitably didn't go for it. £500,000 is the equivalent of US$929,774.16 at current exchange rates. (I shall quote all prizes in US dollars for comparisons.)
The biggest win by a member of the public this year - to my knowledge, at least, and I think I'd know if there were any bigger - was by Yolanda Stopar on Temptation (for the uninitiated: Sale of the Century on acid) in Australia. She won AU$800,000 in cash, plus prizes worth AU$132,577; the total of AU$932,577 equates to US$719,997.68.
Now it gets more confusing. Game show prizes in both the UK and Australia are tax-free. But US game show prizes are taxed. The exact rate I'm not sure of, and it might vary by state; I've heard 40% a few times, I've heard 44% once.
Thorpe Schoenle's $468,000 win on the US Deal or No Deal just - just - edges Charles Dickson's £250,000 win on UK Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, which is the equivalent of US$464,649.47. Though of course, after tax, the Dickson win is significantly larger.
A bunch of US Deal or No Deal contestants follow, led by Cindy Pridgen ($407,000), Sheetal Sheety ($375,000) and Peter Montesanti ($357,000). There may be other winners around this area, but I can't be certain.
Anyway. What this all means in terms of breaking records tonight is thus:
We need a win of €566,000 to beat the 2006 record for a member of the public.
We need a win of €755,000 to beat the 2006 record in real terms.
Oh, and to beat the very least the record will be at the end of the year - the guaranteed million-pound jackpot on The Con.Test in the summer, we need a win of €1,457,000 or more. Which has happened before... once.