Johnnie won £8100

Well BBW (Beat the Banker Week) has got off to a very good start, £7000 on Monday and £75,000 yesterday. Noel described the events of yesterday and made a mistake - he said that one of the numbers on the board at the end was £100,000 - well of course it wasn't. And the banker pointed out that technically it was a win for the banker as he had offered more than Kirsty eventually walked away with.

Today it was one of the real characters from the contestant pool, it was Johnnie's turn and he had a present for the banker, which was duly delivered. Johnnie then produced an old sepia photo of himself as a child with his brother (who died young) and sisters - was this an attempt to win sympathy from the banker? Not a good idea. Johnnie came across as a real gent, 'I'll do anything for peace'. Nancy was still fairly fresh in people's minds (certainly mine)- possibly a similar age - would Johnnie be forced to deal early because a small to medium amount of money was just
too important? Time would soon tell.

Round one: a quickie round, the first fast round one, John £750, Sandra £15,000, the crowd barely clapping, Pat opened £1, Fadil with £50, and finally for the round JT with £100. And the banker was fast too. The present turned out to be a minature bottle of claret, the banker described Johnnie as a contestant with class - the offer was £6600. This was £2500 higher than Kirsty was offered at this point yesterday.

Round two: Claire, no longer the new girl but a 'lovely lassie from Brookside' - £35,000, Johnnie a little quieter opted for Dave E, who delivered £5000. Johnnie had no system, just picking the numbers against birthdays as he remembered them. Gabrielle was asked to open the box but not until after the break, however before Noel could add that last bit she had removed the seal. As a result after the break Johnnie did not have an opportunity to change his mind, which was a pity as Gabrielle had £250,000. This did not affect Johnnie the way it might, he seemed to have expected it. The offer when it came was £2800.

Round three: £20000 from the lovely Helen, Linda next with £50,000 and Johnnie's face was starting to fall, could this be the beginning of the end? Dave W opened the 1p, sugaring the pill. The offer from the banker was slightly surprising considering what had just happened and the state of the board, it was £8100. Johnnie had a musical background so lots of puns about notes followed and then Johnnie asked for a poll of the contestants. Most said 'No Deal', but Cathy, who has clearly been eating happy pills, said 'it has to be considered', while Pat M just went off on one as usual. Johnnie then wanted to talk to his wife. They whispered most of it, but she essentially said 'I don't mind'. An excellent moment then followed when Noel went to a bunch of students, mostly girls, wearing Deal t-shirts. He asked them to stand, and then if they thought he should continue, to take their t-shirts off and swing them in the air - one of them actually did - unfortunately he wasn't that pretty.

Noel looked back to Johnnie, 'How lucky do you feel?'. The question was asked, he felt unlucky - 'Deal'. The board had six blues against six reds, this was one of the earliest deals the game had.

Another Saga moment, but there were only two of the power five still in play, and if they went he would be going downhill fast, so maybe this had less to do with age, and more to do with common sense. As Johnnie said, the boxes just didn't open for him.

Round four: Hilary, the new, new girl lifted £10, Pat M delivered £250 and then Julia opened £500, an all blue round. The banker would have offered £18,012. We need senior citizens to take risks.

Round five: £5 from Pete, Massimo produced £3000 and finally Cathy gave some relief - £75,000. Johnnie's face was turning beetroot. Embarrassment? The offer would now have been £13,000

Round six: £1000 from Richard, Noel commented on the quiet atmosphere in the studio, the audience beginning to suspect that the £100,000 might have been in his box. Maxine opened £10,000. He had to find the £100k in the next box - Gary opened 50p, Johnnie had walked away from a massive amount of money. The banker would have offered £37,000. Noel put Johnnie through the mill - 'it was a duff deal... Johnnie had lost his nerve' - punishing him for the early deal, maybe sending a message to the other contestants. Its not good television when they deal early. And the final nail in the coffin was that Johnnie did have £100,000 in his box.

What an anti-climax after yesterday.