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Tuesday brings us the first test of the media’s dream match-up, as Arthur Chu takes the stage.

He’ll be joined by 6-time champ Andrew Moore, who was scorching the competition at a similar rate until getting tripped up in his seventh game, and Rani Peffer, a 5-timer from exactly a year ago who comes in with the field-low total of regular winnings.

Click here to see what happened.

Let’s look at their more telling wagers.

Arthur Chu

11 wins, $297,200

Arthur was the biggest – and with the exception of Bill Tolany in a wager-to-tie situation, the only – proponent of wagering to tie for most of the first season of The Final Wager. And what a proponent he was, giving this blog a lot of publicity; also, if rumors are correct, the attention will force the Jeopardy! producers to eliminate ties starting November 24.

Arthur had locks in Games 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 (when he took home $58,200), 10, and 11. (Complete list on The Final Wager and J! Archive)

Game 1 (January 28, 2014)

Julie	Arthur	Cesar
18,600	20,000	9,000
18,400	17,200	9,000
200	37,200	0

Arthur showed his wagering hand in the first game, offering a strong champion a tie…

Game 2 (January 29, 2014)

Arthur	Erik	Carolyn
18,200	8,400	13,400
8,600	8,400	13,400
26,800	0	26,800

…which Carolyn Collins – no relation to Julia – noticed, and she cashed in. The rest is history.

Game 9 (February 28, 2014)

Arthur	Semret	Dawn
22,400	11,400	7,400
400	10,600	4,001
22,800	22,000	11,401

Pretty obvious example of why wagering to tie dominates adding the extra dollar: Arthur would have tied had he missed, because Semret – who himself would have tied had he gone all in, as he was supposed to – made a sub-optimal wager.

Game 12 (March 12, 2014)

Arthur	Julie	Diana
6,400	7,800	12,100
6,400	5,100	3,600
0	2,700	15,700

The proper wager to end his regular run.

Andrew Moore

6 wins, $137,803

Many people see Andrew as a dark horse to win this tournament; this includes several contestants I spoke to the day before filming began. A correct Final response in his seventh game would have added $42,801 to an already impressive total.

Andrew had locks in Games 3 and 4, and led and went for the extra dollar in Games 1, 2, and 5. (Complete list on J! Archive)

Game 6 (June 24, 2013)

Andrew	Britta	Joel
16,800	7,100	10,600
10,000	2,500	6,200
6,800	4,600	4,400

A somewhat dangerous decision here, operating on the assumption Joel and Britta will both wager rationally – that is to say, everything. (He was right, so can’t fault him too much.)

Game 7 (June 25, 2013)

Andrew	Padraic	John
26,400	21,400	5,200
16,401	10,000	5,199
9,999	11,400	1

Some big-time scores in a Shore’s Conjecture, Strong Form situation, and Andrew took control of his own destiny. (The proper Shore’s wager would have been 6,000; Padraic had a perfect Rule #3 continued wager, covering a “Colbyesque” play out of Andrew.)

Rani Peffer

5 wins, $68,701

Between her laid-back demeanor and her charming accent, Rani won over a lot of fans, including yours truly. Her winnings were meager compared with the rest of the field, yes, but she showed that she could be aggressive, a critical risk any underdog needs to take at some point or another. (Remember Roger Craig in the Battle of the Decades Finals?)

Rani had a lock in Game 3, and wagered for the lockout +$11 in Game 5. (Complete list on The Final Wager and J! Archive)

Game 1 (November 5, 2013)

Woody	Rani	Carole
10,600	7,200	5,600
3,801	7,111	1,601
6,799	14,311	3,999

Properly going for broke (almost).

Game 2 (November 6, 2013)

Rani	Kellie	Evan
9,600	6,600	7,200
4,801	6,600	7,200
14,401	13,200	14,400

Perhaps Rani should have withheld the dollar here in case Evan wagered zero; he had exactly 2/3 of her score, although his wager was more or less forced by the presence of Kellie.

Game 4 (November 8, 2013)

Rani	Amanda	Vimal
7,800	10,200	12,000
7,777	10,200	8,401
15,577	0	3,599

A bit too aggressive here, but it worked out in the end. (I suggested she wager between 2,400 and 3,000.)

Game 6 (November 26, 2013)

Rani	Mike	Janel
14,600	20,200	-1,800
14,599	9,010
1	29,210

In a mind-games scenario where covering a zero wager was not an option, Rani chose to go big – consistent with the rest of her wagering history.