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Would you take a guaranteed $199,000 or turn it down for a shot at more?
That was the choice contestant Mike Levy ’01 faced recently on the NBC game show Deal or No Deal. Previously, he had elected to continue playing rather than accept an offer of $161,000 to stop. Following the advice of his mother and fiance, Levy rolled the dice again, turning down the $199,000 with briefcases containing $400, $500, $10,000, $500, and $750,000 remaining.
His decision was vindicated as Levy continued, but the show’s banker then phoned in an offer of $274,000 to quit. With his fiance advising him to settle and his mother saying “No deal,”? Levy followed the former’s advice and accepted the offer.
The briefcase he would have won contained $750,000.
“I’m not disappointed,” he said on the broadcast. “We’re very happy. $274,000 is a lot of money. We’re looking forward to spending the money wisely.”
The episode was taped in the Phillipines. A video summary is available on the game show’s web site.
Levy is a former defensive end and captain on Lafayette’s Division I-AA football team.