Final Jeopardy! wagering analysis:
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

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On tonight’s video, I go on not one, but two separate rants! We’re hitting Peak Curmudgeon on this Tuesday evening.

Neither is against the players, who were all very knowledgeable… if a bit lacking on the strategy front toward the end of Double Jeopardy!, when two Daily Doubles hid in the last three categories. Only Carter went on a hunt.

Ricky Young (2x)	Carter Spires	Joyce Lynch
13,000	13,600	11,800

Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:

THE 1960s

As Alex might say, this is “before my time,” so I have an excuse if I get it wrong.

First-order calculations

These scores are really tight, so I’m not going to worry about mind games.

Ricky		Carter		Joyce
13,000		13,600		11,800
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
10,600	11,800	12,400			9,400

Zero wagers

Score differences:
Carter and Ricky: 600
Carter and Joyce: 1,800
Ricky and Joyce: 1,200

Ricky		Carter		Joyce
13,000		13,600		11,800
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
10,600	11,800	12,400		3,600	9,400
1,200	1,200		600

Then we add a dollar to the minimum wagers, and subtract a dollar from the maximum wagers.

What actually happened

Ricky		Carter		Joyce
13,000		13,600		11,800
10,601		12,401		6,000
23,601		26,001		17,800
min	max	min	max	min	max
10,601	11,799	12,401		3,601	9,399
1,200	1,201		599

Good wagers all around! All three players took confidence in their own skills and all were rewarded with a correct response. As, I assume, did about 90% of the home viewing audience.

We say goodbye to a good champ in Ricky… how will Carter fare in his first title defense?

The Final Jeopardy! clue

THE 1960s

IN 1963 HE WROTE TO MLK SEEKING A UNITED FRONT OF “ALL NEGRO FACTIONS” AGAINST “A COMMON PROBLEM POSED BY A COMMON ENEMY”

[spoiler]Who was Malcolm X?[/spoiler]

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