Goldenballs player praised for his incredible psychology to ensure he won thousands of pounds in iconic 'split or steal'

The 'split or steal' segment of ITV's Golden Balls had to be one of the most intense situations in any game show, but one man has been praised for his 'brilliant psychology' which made sure he didn't walk away with nothing.

I promise, even watching it will set your palms sweating:

It's been more than a decade since Golden Balls came to an end, but here we are today, still reminiscing about it.

The show delivered some of the most shocking and iconic moments British television has ever seen thanks to its 'split or steal' segment, which required contestants to decide whether to split the money they'd gained in the show, or steal it all for themselves.

The only catch was, if they both chose steal they walked away with nothing.

ITV/TikTok/@mediaturbulence

One particular episode saw contestants Nick and Ibrahim faced with the decision of splitting or stealing £13,600, with host Jasper Carrott pushing the pair to make a decision.

It's not unusual for the contestants to try and convince the other to split the money, only to then steal it all for themselves - but Nick had a different play.

In a clip from the show that's been viewed more than 1.8 million times, the contestant outright told Ibrahim he was going to steal all of the money.

"I want you to trust me, 100 percent I'm going to pick the steal ball," Nick said.

The player insisted he'd split the money with Ibrahim after the show - something he absolutely would not have been obliged to do - but he left absolutely no doubt in Ibrahim's mind that he was going to take all of the money for himself.

"I'm not going to pick split," Nick continued.

Ibrahim was obviously baffled by this decision, but picking steal himself would only guarantee that neither of them got any money. If he picked split, he'd at least be in with a chance of getting half of the money after the show.

When pushed for a decision, he went for split. And in a real mic-drop moment, so did Nick.

ITV/TikTok/@mediaturbulence

By convincing his fellow contestant that picking split would be his only hope of getting money, Nick ensured that he wouldn't be alone in choosing the split ball.

Needless to say, his tactics have blown people's minds.

'Brilliant piece of psychology', one viewer wrote after watching the clip, while another agreed, writing: 'This is one of the smartest bits of psychology'.

While Ibrahim definitely wasn't impressed with the stress he had to go through to get to the split ball, at least he had the reward of £6,800 at the end of it!