Dave won £20,000

Here we are again. Part of the allure of DOND is getting an answer to the question 'How is Noel going to tackle today's show?'. Its always different and that really is largely down to Noel, he quickly identifies the drivers for the selected player, and then develops a recipe based on those ingredients - a master chef! How does he do it three times a day?

Dave (Cheeseman) the cheeky chappie, who keeps getting tongue-tied. He walked up to the front, he seemed genuinely sorry to have been picked, clearly he enjoyed the camaraderie of the group. Dave admitted to being a serious gambler with 30 years training - this is not a show for gamblers anonymous! Noel reckoned that Dave would cause the banker a problem because he didn't like people he couldn't read - but Dave could be read couldn't he?

Round one: £35,000, straight away from Steve - 'I still luv ya mate'. £10, £1, £250, despite the first box this was going well, and with £5000 to complete the round Dave was happy. For some reason Dave had a photo of himself trapped in stocks on a film set in Spain - 'a strange little noisy person', according to the banker,who offered him £3800. He asked his wife, he played with the amount, he pretended to think about it and then he confirmed 'No Deal'.

Round two: 'I'm just going to open the box' said JT giggling uncontrollably: £1000, 'the sooner we get this game over with the better' - said Noel, £750, and then the break. On the return there is always the possibility that the next box could be the quarter of a millon, and in this case Alison revealed exactly that amount. Dave recovered quickly.The banker offered £1000, which was more of a shock to Dave than losing the £250,000. 'He doesn't realise I have a serious side', said Dave, and I don't think he was joking, but no-one took him seriously. As contestants opened boxes for Dave there seemed to be the same look of benign tolerance on their faces, this middle-aged man was being treated like a naughty but 'luvable' schoolboy.

Round three: £15,000, £3000, 1p. Noel talked to the banker, his hand clearly visible as held the receiver. [Why did Noel have a heart drawn on his hand with a capital L in the middle of it?] The banker offered £8400, Dave acknowledged that this was £6000 more than he had seen in his bank account in the previous 35 years. He turned to his wife, who did not want to give advice, it seemed that everyone else did, the advice was 'No Deal', and so he went with that. Is this really the thinking of a serious gambler?

Round four: 50p, 'serious game now', said Dave, and then he started clowning again, jigging beside his chair while saying to the audience 'I am not the clown you think I am' . Its difficult to criticise from the sidelines, these people are under incredible stress, especially when they turn down 4 times more money than has ever been in their bank accounts. £50 in the next box. Lucy advised that he needed to take it seriously,'stop the joking about - the banker will not give you serious money if you keep mucking about'. Everyone loves Lucy! This was good advice from the woman who continues to be the most popular contestant according to the DONDUK Hit Parade. We had to wait until after the break to see if her words had sunk in, and apparently during the break his wife echoed Lucy's words.

At the beginning of the show Noel had turned the key and then stood back to watch as Dave played to the gallery - but Dave needed to be protected...from himself. Now he ressembled a rabbit caught in the headlights, pale, the grin missing, polite clapping echo-ing round the studio.

The final box of the round contained £500. The phone rany immediatey, a back-handed compliment from the banker - he reckoned he was the only man there who respected Dave - but maybe Dave was being patronised. The offer would tell us which way this was going. Surprisingly the banker was serious, the offer was £20,000.

Dave had tears in his eyes, his voice only just under control - he didn't need advice, this was too much money for Dave to turn down, he said 'Deal'. Was this really down to the amount, or because Dave felt brow-beaten into being 'sensible'?

Round five, 10p, £10,000, £500 - the offer would have been £41,000. Double infinity is still infinity - this was having no affect on Dave. I think he just wanted to be out of there, he had got his long-suffering wife some money, and if she put that in their bank account he could relax.

Round six: £5, £100, this left the board in virgin territory but then the last box of the round removed the £100k. The offer would have been £60,000 - again it didn't really matter.

Noel said 'Lets see how big an error of judgement it was?' as he opened Dave's box to reveal the £50,000 amount. However the reality is that Dave had NO judgement, he was like the ball-bearing in a pin machine. So it was fine that he was persuaded to accept £20,000, in fact it was a relief!

I am happy for Dave that he and his wife won, what was for them, a life-changing amount of money, but the banker gave Dave too much credibiity, there was no skill to this particular game - and so we wait until tomorrow in the hope of a more satisfying competition.