Two-day comebacks from third place
Addendum: I also looked at second-place comebacks from huge deficits.
After last night’s game, Alex made his typical comment designed to lift the spirits of the third-place player: that the tournament is often won by someone storming back from a huge deficit.
Out of the 77 multi-game events in the J! Archive, the player in last place after Day One has won just eight times. In fact, one player came back from a deficit of 25,000(!).
Mounting a comeback is no easy feat. After all, not only do you have to amass a large score on the second game, you have to do so while probably feeling like you’ve been punched in the stomach.
Here’s a full list of all of the comebacks, ranked in descending order of deficit. A more thorough assessment of Alex’s trope will come at a future time.
Meryl Federman, 2007 Teen Tournament
Trailed Greg Peterson by 25,000 (needed to lead by 12,500 on Day Two)
Trailed Kyle Neblett by 18,000 (needed to lead by 9,000 on Day Two)
| Greg Peterson | Kyle Neblett | Meryl Federman | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 19,400 | 12,200 | 4,400 |
| D1 Final Wager | 5,600 | 5,800 | 4,400 |
| D1 Total | 25,000 | 18,000 | 0 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 6,800 | 9,200 | 22,000 |
| D2 Final Wager | 6,800 | 9,200 | 16,601 |
| D2 Total | 13,600 | 18,400 | 38,601 |
| Grand Total | 38,600 | 36,400 | 38,601 |
Leonard Cooper, 2013 Teen Tournament
Trailed Nilai Sarda by 16,000 (needed to lead by 8,000 on Day Two)
Trailed Barrett Block by 14,600 (needed to lead by 7,300 on Day Two)
| Nilai Sarda | Barrett Block | Leonard Cooper | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 16,400 | 8,800 | 10,000 |
| D1 Final Wager | 2,600 | 8,800 | 7,000 |
| D1 Total | 19,000 | 17,600 | 3,000 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 14,400 | 9,000 | 37,000 |
| D2 Final Wager | 7,000 | 9,000 | 0 |
| D2 Total | 7,400 | 18,000 | 37,000 |
| Grand Total | 26,400 | 35,600 | 40,000 |
Mark Lowenthal, 1988 TOC
Trailed Sandra Gore by 8,000 (needed to lead by 4,000 on Day Two)
Trailed Bruce Naegeli by 7,800 (needed to lead by 3,900 on Day Two)
| Bruce Naegeli | Sandra Gore | Mark Lowenthal | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 6,400 | 10,500 | 6,800 |
| D1 Final Wager | 6,400 | 2,500 | 1,800 |
| D1 Total | 12,800 | 13,000 | 5,000 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 5,600 | 5,000 | 10,900 |
| D2 Final Wager | 399 | 5,000 | 8,101 |
| D2 Total | 5,999 | 0 | 19,001 |
| Grand Total | 18,799 | 13,000 | 24,001 |
Papa Chakravarthy, 2006 Teen Tournament
Trailed Matt Klein by 7,800 (needed to lead by 3,900 on Day Two)
Trailed Andrew Kreitz by 2,500 (needed to lead by 1,250 on Day Two)
| Andrew Kreitz | Papa Chakravarthy | Matt Klein | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 8,400 | 5,500 | 19,000 |
| D1 Final Wager | 1,900 | 1,500 | 7,200 |
| D1 Total | 6,500 | 4,000 | 11,800 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 4,600 | 23,000 | 8,400 |
| D2 Final Wager | 4,599 | 1,601 | 8,400 |
| D2 Total | 9,199 | 24,601 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 15,699 | 28,601 | 11,800 |
Bob Verini, 1987 TOC
Trailed Dave Traini by 3,800 (needed to lead by 1,900 on Day Two)
Trailed Eugene Finerman by 3,000 (needed to lead by 1,500 on Day Two)
| Dave Traini | Eugene Finerman | Bob Verini | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 4,600 | 3,400 | 5,900 |
| D1 Final Wager | 3,000 | 3,400 | 2,100 |
| D1 Total | 7,600 | 6,800 | 3,800 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 4,200 | 2,400 | 11,000 |
| D2 Final Wager | 4,200 | 2,400 | 1,201 |
| D2 Total | 8,400 | 4,800 | 12,201 |
| Grand Total | 16,000 | 11,600 | 16,001 |
Dave Abbott, 1999 TOC
Trailed J.J. Todor by 1,900 (needed to lead by 950 on Day Two)
Trailed Juliet Wiley by 300 (needed to lead by 150 on Day Two)
| Juliet Wiley | J.J. Todor | Dave Abbott | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 4,400 | 6,000 | 5,600 |
| D1 Final Wager | 3,000 | 3,000 | 1,500 |
| D1 Total | 7,400 | 9,000 | 7,100 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 4,100 | 5,800 | 7,200 |
| D2 Final Wager | 4,000 | 5,800 | 7,200 |
| D2 Total | 100 | 11,600 | 14,400 |
| Grand Total | 7,500 | 20,600 | 21,500 |
Brad Rutter, 2005 UTOC semifinals
Trailed John Cuthbertson by 3,500 (needed to lead by 1,750 on Day Two)
Tied with Chris Miller
| Brad Rutter | Chris Miller | John Cuthbertson | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 14,200 | 7,200 | 8,000 |
| D1 Final Wager | 4,200 | 2,800 | 5,500 |
| D1 Total | 10,000 | 10,000 | 13,500 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 26,600 | 5,200 | 7,800 |
| D2 Final Wager | 0 | 5,000 | 6,101 |
| D2 Total | 26,600 | 200 | 1,699 |
| Grand Total | 36,600 | 10,200 | 15,199 |
Jim Coury, 2013 College Championship
Trailed Trevor Walker by 2,400 (needed to lead by 1,200 on Day Two)
Trailed Kristen Jolley by 1,400 (needed to lead by 700 on Day Two)
| Jim Coury | Trevor Walker | Kristen Jolley | |
| D1 Pre-Final | 17,200 | 11,800 | 13,000 |
| D1 Final Wager | 8,600 | 800 | 3,000 |
| D1 Total | 8,600 | 11,000 | 10,000 |
| D2 Pre-Final | 14,200 | 8,200 | 8,600 |
| D2 Final Wager | 11,789 | 3,601 | 4,199 |
| D2 Total | 25,989 | 4,599 | 4,401 |
| Grand Total | 34,589 | 15,599 | 14,401 |
If only Nilai had gotten that FJ right. Coulda won it.
You’re right, Greg! I noticed that well over 2 years.
Interesting. In three of the nine comebacks, the third place player had the lead going into FJ on Day 1.