Golden Balls
Encyclopedia
Golden Balls was a British daytime game show
on the ITV
network, presented by Jasper Carrott
. It was filmed at the BBC Television Centre
. From 25 February 2008 to 13 February 2009, the show was sponsored by ITV Bingo (powered by Party Gaming) (STV Bingo in Scotland); and from 2 November to 18 December 2009, the show was sponsored by Carpet Right. Golden Balls Ltd licensed their name to Endemol for the game show and merchandise.
machine. Inside it, are 100 golden balls, containing cash values, ranging from £10 to £75,000 (in the unaired pilot, the highest valued ball was £200,000 and £100,000 was also present). Twelve of these balls are randomly drawn from the machine and four "Killer" balls are added by Amanda Grant, the "Balls Assistant". These sixteen balls are split equally and randomly among four contestants, who place two balls on their front row and two on their back row. The balls on the front row are visible to all contestants, with the balls on the back row being secret to their owner.
The contestants in turn announce the contents of the balls on their back row. They can either tell the truth or lie about them. After each contestant has done this, they discuss who they think is lying and try to establish who has the worst set of balls, either in terms of having the lowest amount of money or the most Killer balls.
The contestants then secretly vote for which of them they would like to leave the game. In the case of a tie, the contestants must try to reach a consensus in open discussion. If this does not occur, who is eliminated is decided at random. This is decided by giving each contestant involved in the tie another golden ball, one being a Killer ball and the others empty. The contestant who had the Killer ball is eliminated. At the end of the round, each contestant reveals the contents of the balls on their back row and the eliminated contestant's balls are "binned", namely they are out of the game for good.
As with Round 1, the contestants reveal the contents of the balls on their front row and must announce what is in the balls on their back row, again, able to lie. The contestants then discuss the veracity of the others' claims and vote another player off in the same fashion as in Round 1.
The table below shows how much of the jackpot is gained by each contestant with the different combinations of choices:
This is similar to the prisoner's dilemma
, a well-studied problem in game theory
. A key difference is that the players can communicate – in the theoretical prisoner's dilemma the prisoners cannot communicate, in Golden Balls the players sit face to face. The dilemma is that the Nash equilibrium
for the prisoner's dilemma – that is the stable, rational solution – is that both players should defect, but this results in a much worse outcome than if both of the contestants were to cooperate. The "Split or Steal" game element was also used on Shafted
, a previous Endemol production, and in the U.S. game show network game Friend or Foe?
.
's Richard & Judy
and The Weakest Link on BBC Two
also took a dent from the show's success. Series 2 went on to average 2.1 million viewers in early 2008. As of Summer 2009, the show's popularity fell and attracted around 1.2m which lead to the show's demise on 18 December 2009.
) has analyzed the decisions of the final contestants and found, among others, the following (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1592456):
Adrian Raine
has criticised the show, arguing that it "encourages deceitfulness", and that many of its contestants are celebrated for displaying "characteristics of psychopathy
".
From series 4 until the end of its run, there were multiple formats for the viewer's competition, including the one used in series 3. In addition, the prize per day ranged from £2,000 to £4,000.
and Wii
platforms.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network, presented by Jasper Carrott
Jasper Carrott
Jasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...
. It was filmed at the BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
. From 25 February 2008 to 13 February 2009, the show was sponsored by ITV Bingo (powered by Party Gaming) (STV Bingo in Scotland); and from 2 November to 18 December 2009, the show was sponsored by Carpet Right. Golden Balls Ltd licensed their name to Endemol for the game show and merchandise.
Round 1
At the back of the studio is the "Golden Bank", a giant contraption like a lotteryLottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
machine. Inside it, are 100 golden balls, containing cash values, ranging from £10 to £75,000 (in the unaired pilot, the highest valued ball was £200,000 and £100,000 was also present). Twelve of these balls are randomly drawn from the machine and four "Killer" balls are added by Amanda Grant, the "Balls Assistant". These sixteen balls are split equally and randomly among four contestants, who place two balls on their front row and two on their back row. The balls on the front row are visible to all contestants, with the balls on the back row being secret to their owner.
The contestants in turn announce the contents of the balls on their back row. They can either tell the truth or lie about them. After each contestant has done this, they discuss who they think is lying and try to establish who has the worst set of balls, either in terms of having the lowest amount of money or the most Killer balls.
The contestants then secretly vote for which of them they would like to leave the game. In the case of a tie, the contestants must try to reach a consensus in open discussion. If this does not occur, who is eliminated is decided at random. This is decided by giving each contestant involved in the tie another golden ball, one being a Killer ball and the others empty. The contestant who had the Killer ball is eliminated. At the end of the round, each contestant reveals the contents of the balls on their back row and the eliminated contestant's balls are "binned", namely they are out of the game for good.
Round 2
The three remaining contestants' balls are put back into the ball machine, along with two more cash balls chosen at random from the Golden Bank, as well as one more Killer ball, leaving fifteen balls in play. These fifteen balls are split among the remaining three contestants randomly and equally, with two balls on their front row and three on their back row.As with Round 1, the contestants reveal the contents of the balls on their front row and must announce what is in the balls on their back row, again, able to lie. The contestants then discuss the veracity of the others' claims and vote another player off in the same fashion as in Round 1.
Bin or Win
The two remaining contestants' balls are again put back into the ball machine and one more Killer ball is added, leaving eleven balls in play. The two contestants sit at a desk with the eleven balls between them. In turn, starting with the contestant who brought the most money into the final, the contestants pick a ball to "bin" (eliminate from the game) and pick a ball to "win" (add to the jackpot). If a Killer ball is picked to be won, then the accumulative value of the jackpot is divided by 10. For example, if the jackpot stands at £10,000 and a Killer ball is chosen to go into the Golden Five, the jackpot is reduced to £1,000. This process is repeated five times.Split or Steal
After five balls have been won, the contestants have to choose one last decision to make over the final jackpot total. They are each presented with two final golden balls. One has "Split" printed inside it and the other has "Steal" printed inside it.- If both contestants choose the Split ball, the jackpot is split equally between them.
- If one contestant chooses the Split ball and the other chooses the Steal ball, the Stealer gets all the money and the Splitter leaves with nothing.
- If both contestants choose the Steal ball, they both leave with nothing.
The table below shows how much of the jackpot is gained by each contestant with the different combinations of choices:
| Result | Split | Steal | ||
| Split | 50% | 50% | 100% | 0% |
| Steal | 0% | 100% | 0% | 0% |
This is similar to the prisoner's dilemma
Prisoner's dilemma
The prisoner’s dilemma is a canonical example of a game, analyzed in game theory that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W...
, a well-studied problem in game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
. A key difference is that the players can communicate – in the theoretical prisoner's dilemma the prisoners cannot communicate, in Golden Balls the players sit face to face. The dilemma is that the Nash equilibrium
Nash equilibrium
In game theory, Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a game involving two or more players, in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only his own strategy unilaterally...
for the prisoner's dilemma – that is the stable, rational solution – is that both players should defect, but this results in a much worse outcome than if both of the contestants were to cooperate. The "Split or Steal" game element was also used on Shafted
Shafted
Shafted was a British quiz show on ITV, presented by Robert Kilroy-Silk, based on game theory.- Format :The quiz begins with six players. In the first round each must declare how much money they would like. This is important as a lot of money is needed to bet on questions during the show...
, a previous Endemol production, and in the U.S. game show network game Friend or Foe?
Friend or Foe?
Friend or Foe? is an American game show based on knowledge and trust which aired on Game Show Network. Three teams of two strangers attempted to persuade their partner into sharing their accumulated winnings rather than stealing it for themselves....
.
Popularity
The first show opened with 1.6 million viewers and continued to climb to a steady 2 million viewers. In the same 17:00 timeslot, eight of the first eleven episodes beat Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
and The Weakest Link on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
also took a dent from the show's success. Series 2 went on to average 2.1 million viewers in early 2008. As of Summer 2009, the show's popularity fell and attracted around 1.2m which lead to the show's demise on 18 December 2009.
Scientific research
Golden Balls has attracted attention from social scientists as a natural experiment on cooperation. A team of economists (including Richard ThalerRichard Thaler
Richard H. Thaler is an American economist and the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business...
) has analyzed the decisions of the final contestants and found, among others, the following (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1592456):
- 1. Individual players on average choose "split" (or "cooperate") 53 percent of the time.
- 2. Contestants' propensity to cooperate is surprisingly high for amounts that would normally be considered consequential but look tiny in their current context, what the authors label a “big peanuts” phenomenon.
- 3. Contestants are less likely to cooperate if their opponent has tried to vote them off the show in the first two rounds of the game, which is in line with the notion that people have an intrinsic preference for reciprocity.
- 4. There is little evidence that contestants’ propensity to cooperate depends positively on the likelihood that their opponent will cooperate (i.e., they find little evidence for conditional cooperation).
- 5. Young males are less cooperative than young females, but this gender effect reverses for older contestants since men become increasingly more cooperative as their age increases.
Criticism
British psychologistPsychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
Adrian Raine
Adrian Raine
Adrian Raine is a British psychologist. He currently holds the chair of Richard Perry University Professor of Criminology & Psychiatry in the Department of Criminology of the School of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Psychiatry of the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...
has criticised the show, arguing that it "encourages deceitfulness", and that many of its contestants are celebrated for displaying "characteristics of psychopathy
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
".
Viewer's competition
For series 3, a viewer's game was introduced. Four golden balls appear on the screen at the first two commercial breaks. One contains £3,000, the other three are Killer balls. They are shuffled and you have to find the cash ball.From series 4 until the end of its run, there were multiple formats for the viewer's competition, including the one used in series 3. In addition, the prize per day ranged from £2,000 to £4,000.
Records
- The biggest amount won in the first series was £61,060 on 6 August 2007 when contestant Helen stole all the cash from her opponent Sam, having taken through a £164,500 potential jackpot.
- The highest potential jackpot was £168,100 on 11 February 2008, as two of the eleven balls contained the top two amounts (£70,000 and £75,000). The actual jackpot, £93,250, was stolen by contestant Klara.
- The lowest potential jackpot was £5,000 on 29 May 2008, astonishingly low considering only two of the eleven balls were Killer balls. The eventual jackpot was £768, which was stolen by both contestants, hence not given away at all.
- The largest jackpot was featured in the second series on 14 March 2008 (on Jasper Carrott's 63rd birthday). The accumulated jackpot was £100,150 and the entire jackpot was stolen by contestant Sarah, making her the biggest winner on the show. All four contestants in the game (Chloe, Stephen, Sarah and Darren) were returning contestants from previous games who all split where their opponent stole.
- The largest split/split win was £43,950 (from a jackpot of £87,900) on 21 March 2008, the last episode of the second series.
- The largest jackpot ever to be wasted due to a steal/steal outcome was £92,330 on 5 November 2008. This is also the third highest jackpot ever, but as both contestants, Mark and Martin, stole, they each left with nothing.
- The smallest non-zero win was £1.83, won by both contestants, Adam and Chris, on 2 February 2009, as they both split the jackpot of £3.65.
- The lowest overall jackpot was £2.85 (stolen by Hannah on 14 May 2009). This narrowly beat the previous lowest jackpot, which stood at £3.
- Only on one occasion has the final jackpot equaled the potential jackpot at the start of Bin or Win. This was achieved on 9 July 2007 when the top five balls, which added up to make a £50,500 jackpot, were selected to Win. The chances of achieving the maximum potential jackpot from the final eleven balls available are 1 in 462. Contestant Michael stole the entire jackpot from his opponent Clare, making him the second highest winner of the first series.
- Only on one occasion have all the top five balls been selected to Bin at the start and to the end of Bin or Win. The jackpot turned out to be £31.50, split by Maria and Michelle, who then went home with £15.75 each on 10 July 2007.
Video Game
The Video Game has been released on the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
platforms.
The Board Game and Card Game
A board game has been released. A card game was also released by the same company as the board game. This was available exclusively to Amazon, but has since been discontinued.Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | Recorded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 June 2007 | 10 August 2007 | 40 | March 2007 - April 2007 | |
| 2 | 2 January 2008 | 21 March 2008 | 58 | 18 September 2007 - 16 November 2007 | 60 episodes were commissioned. |
| 3 | 21 April 2008 | 4 July 2008 | 51 | 11 March 2008 - 2 May 2008 | The 2 hold-over episodes from series 2 plus 49 from series 3. |
| 4 | 27 October 2008 | 12 December 2008 | 35 | 27 August 2008 - 17 September 2008 | |
| 5 | 5 January 2009 | 13 February 2009 | 30 | 27 October 2008 - 12 December 2008 | |
| 6 | 27 April 2009 | 18 December 2009 | 74 | 16 February 2009 - 24 April 2009 | Series 6 took breaks from 18 May - 24 July, 31 August and 7 September - 30 October. |
External links
- Golden Balls Official Endemol UK Site
- Scientific paper on Golden Balls at SSRN.com
- Golden Balls at crashthatch.com
- Golden Balls Mobile Game Official Gameloft UK Site
- "Golden Balls Game Online" - Review of where to play Golden Balls Online