Battle of the Decades: finals, game two
| Battle of the Decades – knockout rounds | |||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| preliminary round | |||||||||
In a two-day final match, scores from Day One are closer than they appear.
As I explain this video, scores from the first game are effectively halved, since you can’t wager anything from it in the second game.
Therefore, Roger – whose -800 is, mercifully for him, augmented to zero – needs to be beating Brad by just 5,001 and Ken by just 3,501 heading into Final to have control of his own destiny.
I’ve still got my money on Brad, but one clue could (and almost certainly will) change the complexion of the match instantly.
In the past, our players have behaved predictably: wagering to take control of their own destiny when the situation called for it.
I can’t wait to see what happens!
Brad Rutter
Tournament of Champions (11/02/14)
| Player | Brad | Rick | Tad |
| Day One | 2,500 | 3,000 | 1,300 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 9,300 | 8,300 | 6,800 |
| Day Two wager | 7,801 | 3,601 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 19,601 | 7,699 | 8,100 |
Million Dollar Masters (05/14/02)
Brad almost had it locked up.
| Player | Brad | Eric | Bob V* |
| Day One | 11,800 | 0 | 6,800 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 13,600 | 12,800 | 400 |
| Day Two wager | 201 | 12,800 | 400 |
| Grand Total | 25,601 | 25,600 | 7,600 |
UTOC semifinals (05/20/05)
Brad had it locked up.
| Player | Brad | Chris | John |
| Day One | 10,000 | 10,000 | 13,500 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 26,600 | 7,800 | 5,200 |
| Day Two wager | 0 | 6,101 | 5,000 |
| Grand Total | 36,600 | 11,699 | 13,700 |
Ken Jennings (and Brad)
UTOC finals (05/24/05)
Brad had it locked up, but Ken had to take care of Jerome for second.
| Player | Brad | Ken | Jerome* |
| Day One | 38,400 | 26,000 | 19,600 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 23,600 | 9,400 | 8,300 |
| Day Two wager | 0 | 801 | 7,300 |
| Grand Total | 62,000 | 34,599 | 20,600 |
IBM Challenge (02/16/11)
Ken could wager up to 1,399 to stay above Brad. (Not sure how a tie for second would have been broken, since there were different amounts for second and third.)
| Player | Ken | Brad | Watson |
| Day One | 4,800 | 10,400 | 35,734 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 18,200 | 5,600 | 23,440 |
| Day Two wager | 1,000 | 5,600 | 17,973 |
| Grand Total | 24,000 | 21,600 | 77,147 |
Roger Craig
Tournament of Champions (11/15/11)
Roger couldn’t have lost even if he wagered everything.
| Player | Roger | Tom N* | Buddy |
| Day One | 50,000 | 18,800 | 6,000 |
| Day Two pre-Final | 15,600 | 14,600 | 4,600 |
| Day Two wager | 14,400 | 14,600 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 51,200 | 18,800 | 10,600 |