On Wednesday, Oct. 24, Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity held their fourth bi-annual Deal or No Deal event.
Dodds Theater filled up once again, as students got competitive to win the big prizes. As the host, LAU vice president Tristian Rosario, started calling out the numbers of the chosen raffle ticket, the crowd’s anxiety grew. Guests cheered “508,” the first three numbers of all the raffle tickets, and then grew silent waiting for the next number to be called to see if they still had any hope.
Sixteen ladies from various sororities and organizations on campus in black dresses lined the stage with their “cases” of various prizes, representing the Deal or No Deal models. If you were the chosen one, you went on stage to choose a bag, and then went through a series of elimination rounds to narrow it down to two bags.
Throughout the elimination, various prizes were revealed and, based on their value, the banker bartered gift cards of various amounts for you to opt for instead of continuing the game.
The game kicked off strong, with the lucky winner of a UNH scarf and gloves, freshman Christian Tabares. “So close, but still so far,” Tabares said. Tabares played until the end, and when he was left with two bags (the one he had initially chosen, and the bag left from elimination), he chose to stay with his chosen bag instead of exchange it. He ended up eliminating the 51-inch flat screen TV.
It only took two more contestants until the 51-inch flat screen TV was given away to sophomore Athena Rosario. “I had no idea I was going to win anything,” said Rosario. “I’m so excited, my heart is racing.”
It wasn’t an easy win, though. The crowd’s intensity increased as Rosario was left with two bags, and she had not eliminated the TV yet. The decision to stay with her bag might have been the most stressful one she ever had to make, but she wanted to be the first one to switch. She must have been feeling lucky because it worked out in her favor. “I feel like I’m going to be watching a lot of TV now,” Rosario said.
The crowd was disappointed, but the prize winning continued, and more small and large prizes were both won and raffled away at the end. Even free hugs were raffled off because, like Tabares said, “I need some love,” and so does everyone else.
Participants were given a single ticket upon entering the theater, but could purchase more raffle tickets for a dollar. Throughout the game, LAU was posting live tweets to Twitter.
Brayan Rivas, President of the Kappa Chapter, said, “I just want to do something fun that people look forward to coming out to.”
