The Final Wager – 2014 TOC Finals #1

It’s the first half of perhaps the most highly anticipated TOC Final ever: Arthur Chu, Julia Collins, and Ben Ingram. How will the first game shake out?

Check out my preview.

Julia went aggressive on her Daily Doubles, and Arthur wagered the max as well.

Ben Ingram: 12,800
Arthur Chu: 25,600
Julia Collins: 18,200

The Final Jeopardy! category: 20th CENTURY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The combined total of 56,600 is the 20th highest since clue values were doubled in 2001. UPDATE: I ran the stats and determined that, of those, it was the third most competitive.

Day One strategy

Most players treat the Final Jeopardy! clue on the first day as a three-player Daily Double. Here, I expected all three to wager aggressively, as had been their MO for most of the tournament. There’s a risk of implosion, of course, but that comes with a potential for a huge gain on a solo get.

I expected Ben to wager everything, Arthur to aim for 15,000, and Julia to edge Ben out by 100 with a 7,500 wager. You can also see I was on the same brainwave with Julia for the response.

What actually happened

Ben takes a 10,000 lead into the second day, courtesy of his 12/12 record on Final Jeopardy! clues. As you may know, the totals from Day One are effectively halved in the second game, so for Arthur to hold the “lead” heading into Final tomorrow, he’ll need to be beating Arthur by more than 5,000.

Strangely, 10,000 is the same lead Alan Koolik held over Jeff Xie in the 2014 Teen Tournament, which went to a tiebreaker after Jeff led by 5,000 heading into Final on Day Two and both wagered everything.

And how about “Initials to Roman Numerals to Numbers II”? (groan)

We’ll fill the rest of this out tomorrow.

The Final Jeopardy! clue

20th CENTURY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

IN THIS YEAR, THERE WERE NO PRESIDENTS OR VPS RUNNING, BUT 3 OF THE 4 MEN ON THE 2 MAJOR PARTY BALLOTS WOULD BECOME PRESIDENT