Instead of suitcases, contestants pick coconuts.

Instead of pushing a red button and hugging Howie Mandel as the cash starts to flow, they grab a banana and shake hands with Seminole Casino Coconut Creek’s Gary Friedman.

“CooCoo for Coconuts,” the casino’s version of Deal or No Deal, is attracting a crowd.

Contestants pick one of 10 coconuts, which have values of $1, $5, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000, $3,000 and $20,000. Then, just like in Deal or No Deal, they try to drive up the banker’s price by discarding low values.

Originally, the casino considered embedding sheets of paper with the dollar figures in coconut bras that the models would then peel off. (They’d have clothing underneath, too.) But, fearing a Janet Jackson Super Bowl moment, the models now merely hold the coconuts at chest level and shake them.

Still, Friedman implores the models to “show us your coconuts” and the crowd hoots.
The promotion is at 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m. Thursdays.