Just a bit of fun??

So after it's been running for around seven years the Gambling Commission have suddenly decided that the game show Deal or No Deal may be breaking the law? The show does not have a gambling licence (which would also require it to be broadcast after the 9.00 p.m. watershed) and without one, the Commission suggest that it falls fouls of the law because it is a gambling game which contains no element of skill.  Well, is it?  Firstly, is it a gambling game?  The essence of gambling is that you wager a stake in the hope of winning more - in other words, you can win or you can lose.  But in Deal or No Deal the players do not have to put up any stake, and therefore stand to lose nothing.  The Commission's answer is that when at the start of the game, you chose a box, you are thereafter wagering with whatever is in that box, and therefore are in a win/lose situation.  If that is in fact a valid argument, I think the answer - although it may rather spoil the game - is to have a box with £0 in it.  But then, is there any skill in the game?  I would suggest that there is, or at the very least there is the potential for skill.  When the banker makes you an offer, you know which boxes have been opened, and what amounts are still available to be won, and can therefore use your skill to make an assessment of whether the banker's offer represents better value than continuing with the game.  But perhaps the real question is - the Gambling Commission having been around for some five years - why has it taken them so long to raise the issue?