Daily analysis, Thursday, June 12

Three months ago today, Arthur Chu lost his twelfth game. Tonight, Darren O’Connor looks to become the first multi-day male champ since then.

Video should be up by 12:30 a.m. EDT.

After another solid game by all three contestants, Darren is in control of his own destiny — but just barely.

Darren O’Connor: 16,000
Katie Frank: 15,200
Joe Keehnast: 9,000

The Final Jeopardy! category: CURRENT TELEVISION

This is a fun one to deconstruct. Let’s get right into it.

Basic strategy – first vs. second

Darren should wager 14,400 to cover Katie.

Katie should cap her wager at 13,600.

Joe should wager no more than 7,400.

Basic strategy – second vs. third

Katie should wager at least 2,800 to take the reins against Joe.

If she’s wrong, she’ll have 12,400, so Joe should wager at least 3,400.

Basic strategy – Rule #3

Katie and Joe are separated by 6,200; Katie should cap her wager there (so as not to lose to a zero wager by Joe), and Joe should wager at least this amount.

Katie’s minimum already covers both Rule #3 wagers against Darren; Joe should augment his minimum to 7,000, although I’m less concerned about this, since the likelihood of Darren wagering zero is nil. (Still, the math demands Joe’s higher wager!)

Mind games

Darren might wager 5,400 to cover Katie’s maximum 6,200 wager. It’s not that compelling, though, since Rule #3 wagers aren’t as strong as Rule #1 or Rule #2 wagers.

Katie, if she’s afraid of this, might wager up to 13,600, but I’d cap it at 9,600 just in case Joe wagers that minimal 3,400 amount.

What actually happened

Very strong wagering by Joe; Darren loses despite getting the correct response, something that ranks among the top fears of many contestants.

The Final Jeopardy! clue for June 12, 2014 (CURRENT TELEVISION):

GEORGE ROMERO DECLINED TO DIRECT A FEW EPISODES OF THIS SERIES, CALLING IT “BASICALLY…JUST A SOAP OPERA”

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