Deal Or No Deal Hints

Deal Or No Deal is of course the briefcase picking probability games based upon the hit TV game show. The Facebook Deal Or No Deal game was developed by iWin games (notable for a host of other hits like Family Feud and Candy Crush, etc.). The production and animation is pretty decent and the game is definitely entertaining.

You can play single mode or tournament mode. With single mode, you try and collect prizes for extra points. In tournament mode, you can win tokens (for more playing) if you come in 1st or 2nd out of three. Tournament is the most social aspect of the game because you play against three random challengers. I will be focusing on Tournament play for a few very good reasons. But some of the tips could apply to the single game as well.

So how can I possibly offer hints, strategies, and tips on a game that takes as much skill as picking the right lotto numbers?

The answer may or may not surprize you, but it’s actually quite easy. Would you be amazed if I told you I routinely wind 8-9 out of 10 Tournament plays? Clearly if I were relying on probability alone, I should have 33% win rate. So here’s the main reason why I can defeat the odds in Deal or No Deal (tournament game): I don’t play the briefcases as much as I play my opponents. And that’s the key. Ultimately you are still randomly guessing briefcases. However each round you play reveals a lot of information not only odds-wise from the playing board, but also from the choices and decisions my opponents make.

First thing to understand is just how Deal or No Deal works in Tournament mode. Here’s the rundown. You’re in a room with 2 other players. Each player plays their own game that is not directly visible to the other players. With each selection round, you may choose Deal or to No Deal. You have up to 3 deals that you must make before the final 2 briefcases. If you wait too long and select No Deal for the first few rounds, the computer will make you take the deal until you use up your three deals before the last briefcase round. In the initial rounds of the game you have the most flexibility in deciding what to do. The strategy part comes in observing what your opponents choose to do from their game play in real time. While you won’t see their playing boards, you will see their banker offer and whether they choose to use up one of their 3 deals by accepting it or not. This is key information that can help you guess what their playing board may be like and help you to decide how risky you want to play …. or not.

So here’s a list of some of my favourite tips and strategies to win the Tournament:

Rarely do any players make a deal on Round 1 and you should not be an exception to that.
I usually do not take my first deal until the banker offers me over $80,000. And even then my ideal first deal should be close to or exceed $100,000
Adapt your play. If your opponent takes a $50,000 first deal and your other opponent takes a $90,000 first deal, you have to think that they’ve “locked in” that money so you can’t be too risky if you already cleared a lot of heavy numbers off the board. If you can come into that scenario with a first deal in the $80k or higher range, I’d advise you to take it.
The more money you bank, the more pressure you are putting on your opponents to lock in their own money to keep up. Remember, just as you can see their bankroll, they can see yours.
If your opponents are getting crazy high offers and rejecting them to keep playing, don’t get nervous. Take comfort that they are taking incredible risks and usually at the next round or two they’ll get a significant reduction in the size of bank offers without having locked in the earlier offers allow you to coast to the win.
Watch your players bank offers after each round and note if they are getting exponentially higher. You always want to keep pace with both your opponents locked-in bankroll AND the size of the offers they are getting.
Never take unnecessary risks. For example, if your offer is over $100k and you haven’t made a deal yet… TAKE IT. Also, if you have say 10 remaining briefcases, but are all $50,000 or less except the Million Dollar case, you need to cautious and realize that any moment your game is over if you end up picking the big money case and only have chump-change cases left. That may be a good time to watch your opponents bankroll and adjust your game accordingly.
At the last round, watch the opponent offers and mentally calculate who much they would need to match or exceed your bank roll. It usually makes more sense to take the final deal rather than risking your game on the final briefcase if your choice is a wide range (ie. $100,000 or $10 means you don’t want to risk choosing the $10 case unless you need over $50,000 to win. In that case you have to go for it!).
In terms of which tournament to play, if the point is to rack up tokens for continuous free game play, the 250 token entry fee is my game of choice. Choosing the higher level could result in being out of tokens faster if you have a bad luck streak.
For briefcase picking, I usually pick #1 to reveal first. If it’s $100k or larger, I then choose 2 (if it’s less I jump to 3). I continue the odd or even pattern until the streak breaks.
I seem to find luck in diagonals. For example, if #1 is a low number, I pick #6 and then #12 and then #18. If any those are high numbers, I go back to the number than was low and choose an opposite diagonal. Let’s #1 and #6 is low, but #12 is high (defined as over $100,000), then I would do opposite diagonals from #6 (ie. so that would have me choose #3 and #9). I follow the same logic across the board. If I’m really stuck, I’ll pick a random number and start from that point with diagonals (if it’s low).
Finally, remember as you near the end of the game, watch the bankroll and remaining suitcase values of your opponents. Adjust your game accordingly. You don’t need to win big, you just need to win more than the other players to win the tourney.