Miljoenenjacht

Miljoenenjacht
Created by	John de Mol
Starring	Linda de Mol
Country of origin	Netherlands
Original language	Dutch
Production
Running time	75 minutes
Original release
Network	TROS, Nederland 2
Release	2001 – present

For the Belgian version, also called Miljoenenjacht, see Miljoenenjacht (Belgium).

Miljoenenjacht (English: Hunt For Millions; IPA: [mɪɫjunənjɑxt]), officially Postcode Loterij Miljoenenjacht, is a Dutch game show, the format of which has been exported to multiple countries, where it is mostly named Deal or No Deal. The programme is directly sponsored by the Postcode Loterij, who have naming rights. A contestant and at-home viewer has a chance to win €5,000,000 (approx. $7,890,000 or £3,960,000) or as little as €0.01.

Airings

The show was originally broadcast by TROS on Nederland 2 from its start in 2001. Since 2005 it was on the now defunkt Dutch television channel Talpa. The game is hosted by Linda de Mol. Miljoenenjacht airs in groups of six episodes.

• RTL 5 is also airing a shorter (and more familiar) version of the show, Deal or No Deal. Hosted by Beau van Erven Dorens, it involves 20 boxes and a top prize of €250,000.

Quiz Rounds

Settings

Five hundred audience members are seated in an arena-style set. The audience is divided into two sections of 250 each, one red, one blue. Each section is then divided into five sections of 50. The five red blocks are numbered 1 to 5, and the blue blocks are numbered 6 to 10. These blocks of 50 are further divided into two blocks of 25, with the top 25 labelled 'A', and the bottom 25 'B'. Linda de Mol, the host, enters the studio through vault doors, and begins this quiz round section.

Preliminary Rounds

In the first round, Linda asks the contestants a multiple choice question with three possible answers, which they have ten seconds to answer using their keypads. Each right answer gains their team of 250 (red or blue) a point, with a wrong answer being worth nothing. Points are announced after each question, and the team with the most points after three questions advances to round two. The other team of 250 is out of the game.

In round two, the five blocks of fifty compete against each other in the same fashion as above, with the winning group proceeding.

Finally, round three sees the two blocks of twenty five battle each other, with the winning half continuing to the next round.

Round 4

Three different variations of Round 4 have existed during the show's current run.

Variation used until 2005

The 25 audience members in the winning block, along with one random audience member from the remaining 475 contestants, are placed on podiums in the middle of the set. Ten questions are given to the 26 players - the first three have two possible answers, the next three questions have three, and the final four questions have four. All players key in their answers. If a player answers correctly, they receive one point for each contestant who answered incorrectly. All players who choose a wrong answer receive nothing. The two highest scorers at the end of the round move on to the final quiz round, Round 5.

Variation used in 2005 and 2006

Starting in 2005, the five best players from the winning block plus one randomly selected audience member take their place at one of six podiums. Linda gives the players a series of clues one at a time that pertain to a certain person, place, or object. If a player buzzes in and is incorrect, they will leave the game. If a player buzzes in and is correct, however, that person must select an opponent to eliminate from the game by pressing one of five buttons on their podium. However, the player who is about to be eliminated still has a chance to win some money. If they feel they have been chosen to be eliminated, they can press their buzzer. The first person that does chooses a coloured suitcase. These contain amounts from €1,000 to €22,000. Whatever is in the case is what that player wins, however, they must then leave the game. If no-one chooses to take the bribe, the player who was selected to be eliminated leaves without any money. The game continues until two remain.

Variation used from 2006 onwards

The five best players from the winning block plus one randomly selected audience member take their place at one of six podiums. Linda asks the players questions. The answers to these questions are always numbers. The players type in their answer. The one whose answer is furthest away from the correct answer gets eliminated. However, like in the variation used in 2005 and 2006, the player who is about to be eliminated still has a chance to win some money. Before Linda reveals the answer, they are given a chance to press their buzzer and bail out of the game. This person can then choose between four coloured suitcases (red, blue, green, orange). The four suitcases together contain €40.000. Whatever is in the case is what that player wins, however, they must then leave the game. If no-one chooses to take the bribe, the player whose answer was furthest away leaves without any money. The game continues until two remain.

Round 5

The two remaining contestants face each other at a single showdown-style podium, with two buzzers and a neon bulb in the centre. A mystery suitcase, which is spinning, is placed on the set's stairs. The contents can be given to one of the players if they eliminate themselves from the game, therefore giving the other player a chance to win from €0.01 to €5,000,000. Its contents can include trips, cars, and a variety of other prizes. If no-one chooses to take the contents of the suitcase, which they will not know until it is open, Linda asks one more multiple-choice question (with three possible answers). If a player buzzes in and answers correct, that player wins the game and moves on to the bonus round. If a player buzzes in and answers incorrect, the other player may answer with one of the two remaining choices. If both are wrong, the player who buzzed in first proceeds, and the other is eliminated.

During the first 2008 series, however, the mysterious suitcase was no longer the prize one of the two players left could take. Starting from 0, the amount of money awarded to a player who eliminates themselves rises up to a certain amount, chosen beforehand, after which the players cannot eliminate themselves freely anymore. If a player buzzes before the money rise has ended, the player will receive the amount of money it had risen to up to that point. If no player eliminates themselves, the contestants will receive a calculation, which they will have to answer correctly to proceed to the final round. If an incorrect answer is given, the other contestant will proceed to the final round.

Final Round

For the format of Deal or No Deal in general, see Deal or No Deal.

Twenty-six ladies, with identical outfits and hair (wigs are used) enter the studio from the vault doors. Linda and the winning contestant make their way to the stage, where the winner chooses one of the briefcases, numbered from 1 to 26, to become theirs. They also state their postcode for use later in the show. After the selection, the players have a brief talk with the show's independent adjudicator. Linda and the qualified contestant then make their way to the middle of the stage (where the quiz portion had earlier taken place, but with the podiums moved). The other contestants from the winning section in round 3, plus the randomly selected person for round 4 (or without this person if it had been the winning contestant in round 5), are each given a different suitcase from the 25 remaining ones. They are seated in a special section on set in the order of their case numbers. The winning player chooses cases to be opened, however if they open a case, they will no longer be able to win that amount of money (unless they accept it in a deal, see below). Each round calls for the contestant to eliminate a set number of cases:

6 cases are removed in the first round, each round removing one less case, and after 6 rounds of offers, the cases are opened one at a time.

€0.01
€0.20
€0.50
€1
€5
€10
€20
€50
€100
€500
€1,000
€2,500
€5,000

€10,000
€25,000
€50,000
€75,000
€100,000
€200,000
€300,000
€400,000
€500,000
€750,000
€1,000,000
€2,500,000
€5,000,000

The player selects a case, and the eliminated player holding it guesses which value from the remaining ones on board it contains. If they are correct, the player wins €1,000 for each unopened case, so if the first selected panel member guesses correctly, they win €26,000. After the selected number of cases for the round are opened, an alarm sounds, and a bank offer is placed on the screen using an on-screen graphic. The offer corresponds with what round it is, what is left on the board, the luck and emotions of the player, how many cases are left on the set, and probability of removing a giant amount. The longer the large values remain on the board, the higher the offer will be. The player in this bonus round has a friend sitting on the set (much like the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? companion seat) to help with the decision. Once seeing the offer and considering it, the player either says "Deal", in which case the player sells their briefcase for the bank offer, or "No Deal", in which case the player opens the next round's amount of cases, before the next offer. Play continues until the player says "Deal" or until all cases are opened, and in this situation, the player leaves with their briefcase's contents. A random at-home viewer will also be given the same amount of money as the contestant's win.

The Random Remote of Doom

An item of the show known by fans as the 'Random Remote of Doom' has almost become a trademark of the show. Sometimes, Linda has the remote in her hand, which seemingly appears from nowhere. She presses one of its buttons, a red light flashes on it, and someone from the audience will be selected randomly. It can be used for a variety of things, including finding the sixth player for Round 4, and picking someone to win a cash prize.

Extreme prizes (theoretically and factual)

Each show Miljoenenjacht can, theoretically, give away more than three times the jackpot of the case game, €5,000,000. This happens when:

• The in-studio player has the opportunity to win €5,000,000 in the case game.
• A random at-home viewer, who plays in the Postcode Loterij, and has selected the same "number" as the briefcase chosen by the end game player, is given an amount equal to what the in-studio player wins, which could also be €5,000,000.
• When a player selects their briefcase in the final round, that person states their postcode. The following week, whatever the in-studio player wins, that person's postcode dwellers win a portion of the top prize too. When all values are given away to each person in the postcode, it totals up to €5,000,000.
• If all the briefcase holders correctly guess the amounts in their briefcases (see Final Round section), a further €350,000 will be given away.
• In round four, if all of the four contestants chosen to be eliminated take the bribe, a further amount of money will be given away.

When all these amounts are summed, the total is €15,350,000 plus the money from the 'bribes', which is more than three times the top prize of €5,000,000.

Extreme winners:

• The show's biggest winner is Arno Woesthoff. He won ƒ10,000,000 (€4,537,802) in the episode of September 2, 2001. In a previous episode of Miljoenenjacht he had already won ƒ1,000,000 (€453,780), to a grand total of ƒ11,000,000 (€4,990,000). With that, he holds the record of Dutch quiz show winnings.
• The show's second to biggest winner is Helma. She won €1,495,000 (US$2,147,723 or £1,211,700) with the amounts of €1,000, €75,000, €2,500,000 and €5,000,000 remaining on the board. As per normal, she continued picking cases after she dealt, to see how much she would have won had she carried on. She removed the €5,000,000 on her next pick, thus ending up having a 'perfect' game. Her briefcase turned out to only have had €1,000. This was reportedly one of the biggest wins in worldwide traditional game show history.
• The show's smallest winner is a man from Venlo who won €10.
• The show's biggest loss of a deal occurred on June 1, 2008; with five cases left, the contestant accepted €1,050,000 for his case (3), which turned out to have the top prize in it. The remaining case held €1, while the other three (in order of revealing) were €200,000, €500 and €1,000,000.

Bettting strategies

• Deal or No Deal odds and probabilities for the likelihood of keeping the biggest value in play.

External links

• Official Website
• Postcode Loterij "Miljoenenjacht" Website
• Watch "Miljoenenjacht" live (when its next season airs)
• View archived episodes of "Miljoenenjacht" when they are available
• View endings of episodes of the most recent "Miljoenenjacht" series