Thursday, 4pm, it DEAL TIME!

Noel says he has to do something about discipline in the wings after Joyce's game yesterday, involving Lynda. We see a replay of Lynda giving Joyce advice through the mic like she's from the ISS...seriously, just leave it, Noel. He takes the mike off...oh dear.


And roll the names... IT'S LUCA!

Third game of the year and another player gets chucked out. See the Banker hasn't changed that much.

Luca has box 20.

Noel says hello in an Italian accent . Luca lives in Leeds, originally Erba and says he came because of the food and the weather (how good is it in Leeds?). Noel says he likes Italian food and they make not bad supercars. Cue talks about how Luca got into racing.

Picture time, and Luca's first one is him at 3 with a trombone. He says that his parents didn't have time to look after him, but his uncle (who was in the army) did (Were they instrumental...OH DEAR). Second one is a family holiday to Sicily. Lindsay his wife is in the audience, and Luca says he couldn't find anything better!

Confirmations over, let the game begin!

(And sorry about the speed guys!)

Oh, leave the poor newbie alone, please!

What the hell is this rubbish?! A break at 21-BOX?!

BTW, Luca needs to be added to the thread title.

One box open and a break already?!!?!!??! Absolutely dreadful...

Round 1

Luca wants lots of noise from the pilgrims. Cue lots of noise

So, newbie Bronwyn is up first, and she skips straight to the box. Noel stops her, and the banker says it's the worst performance from a newbie ever. She gets thrown out

Noel lets Luca start his own game!

Stupid 1p banter, get on with it!!!

Box 18 - Newbie Bronwyn (opened by Luca) - £3,000
Banker lets Bronwyn back in as the whole thing was so good!

Box 6 - Trevor - Noel calls a break because of the time taken up And the break BEFORE the first offer was bad...

The Italian DoND, as several forum members will tell you, is notable for utterly reckless contestants.

Is Luca going to be the complete opposite and be the second 14-box Dealer?

Maybe Noel was trying to set a record there - first time a chosen player has opened the first box in their game... And first commercial break with only one box open so far.

Not that anyone actually wanted to see that happen...

If only he had picked the newbie later on, there wouldn't be any messing about most likely.

And we're back

Noel says we've only done 20% of the round so far.

Box 6 - Trevor -£10
Box 17 - Leo - £35,000

Luca says in Italy, 17 is unlucky just like 13 is in the UK.

Box 13 - Abi - 50p

More banter about Luca kissing himself, leading onto Dan and his tanning.

Box 8 - Jean - £250,000 No Male Quater Millionaire today.

Banker Time

A very silly opening round with karma hitting where it hurts in the last box...

What is this, a popular British game show, or a three-ring circus? Honestly, it's hard to tell sometimes.

The Banker thanks Jean and says he was relagated to part 2 by Bronwyn. Banker says that Luca is the first player to bring a picture of themselves with a horn. He doesn't know why it got applause

Banker's offer:

£3,000

Luca says NO DEAL

Apparently 17 is unlucky in Italy because the letters used for the Roman numerals (XVII) rearrange to VIXI, which is the Latin for "I have lived" and appears on gravestones!

By the sounds of this commentary, this was more enjoyable than the game.

NO! Don't start talking about fashion!

Interesting that we have an Italian in the chair when various forum members have taken a liking to the Italian DOND.

That version seems to have a lot of odd gimmicks, so perhaps it's suitable that today's had its share of those already.

Round 2

Box 9 - Dan - £50,000 Groans there, rightly so...

Lots of noise, though, as Luca wished.

Box 2 - Myles - £50

Noel says that Luca has an Italian style about him, and says that he is a fashion icon, as people often want his look. He decides to change his look to a long, red-haired wig to emulate one of the pilgrims.

Box 21 - Mike - £1

Banker Time.

More messing about which there isn't any need for.

If Luca wins big, he's a hero.
If not, he's a dumbaz (pronounced doom-buzz), the Italian word for loser or idiot.