Battle of the Decades preview: 2000s, game 13

Battle of the Decades – preliminary round
1980s					1990s					2000s
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
knockout rounds

To see what happened, click here.

It’s our first game this week with just one TOC champ, and he happens to be a friend of mine – although one opponent might have been my original Jeopardy! crush. (Move over, Amy.)

Tom Kavanaugh, 8-game champion from season 22
Larissa Kelly, 6-game champion, most regular earnings by a female, second in the 2009 TOC
Russ Schumacher, 4-game champion and winner of the 2004 TOC

---

Prediction:

This will be a close one but I’m going with the personal favorite, Russ. He trailed heading into Final in only two games: tight matches against Vinita Kailasanath and Robert Slaven (who I thought might get a bid to this tournament). He’s a knowledgeable player but conservative enough that he won’t go chasing bad clues, or throwing the game on the line with an aggressive Daily Double – something that might come back to haunt many players given the caliber of clues in this tournament.

---

Tom Kavanaugh

At one point, Tom had the third-longest streak in Jeopardy! history, amassing 8 wins after Ken Jennings had put up 74 and David Madden won 19. He lost to eventual 6-timer Kevin Marshall in his ninth game after misplaying a Penultimate Wager, and missed snagging a wild card in his TOC (won by Michael Falk).

Tom had locks in games 1, 5, and 6; he wagered to win by a dollar from the lead in games 2, 4, and 7.

Game 3 (01/02/06)

Joan	Jamie	Tom
13,200	8,600	6,000

Proper wager: 6,000
Actual wager: 5,999

Game 8 (01/09/06)

Marty	Tom	Carolyn
15,900	14,000	-2,300

Proper wager: 3,800 – 10,200
Actual wager: 10,000

Game 9 (01/10/06) – PENULTIMATE WAGER

Kevin	Tom	Constance
17,200	12,000	2,800

Proper wager: 3,400 and tank the question!
Actual wager: 5,201
Verdict: I discussed this situation back in October. Getting to 1/2 of Kevin’s total would have set up another clash of heavyweights after Tom’s correct Final response – although, who knows? Maybe Tom would have ended Kevin’s run at one game.

---

Larissa Kelly

In her six wins, Larissa racked up the highest total for a female player in regular games – even more than Stephanie Jass, who won seven. That’s mainly due to her Chu-like approach to wagering: tight and aggressive. In fact, she, like Tom, botched a Penultimate Wager opportunity in her final regular game because she went too big. She finished second to Dan Pawson in the 2009 TOC.

Larissa had locks in her first two games, and wagered to win (+extra) in games 3 and 6.

Game 4 (05/23/08)

Sara	Larissa	Will
20,600	18,800	12,000

Proper wager: 5,200 – 6,800
Alternate wager: 15,200 (maybe, at most?)
Actual wager: 18,797
Verdict: going way too hard when a smaller wager would suffice

Game 5 (05/26/08)

Heather	Larissa	John
17,000	16,800	9,600

Proper wager: 2,400 – 7,200
Actual wager: 16,800
Verdict: again, very aggressive

Game 7 (05/28/08) – PENULTIMATE WAGER

Pat	Larissa	Nan
12,800	9,800	5,600

Proper wager: 3,400
Actual wager: 8,000
Verdict: no need to take that big of a lead with such downside risk

TOC semifinal (03/19/09)

Larissa	Dave	Cora
18,000	14,400	5,400

Proper wager: 10,801
Actual wager: 12,000
Verdict: the extra bucks could hurt!

---

Russ Schumacher

Russ won my Tournament of Champions in 2004, pushing past my vanquisher, Arthur Gandolfi, in the finals. He wagered conservatively in his two appearances in second place. He has a special proclivity to Spam, thanks to his fifth and last regular Final Jeopardy! clue. He also keeps a blog.

Russ had locks in games 2 and 4, and wagered to win by a dollar from first in games 1, 3, and 5.

TOC semifinal (09/27/04)

Vinita*	Russ	Seth
11,200	9,300	3,400

Proper wager: 1,901 – 2,499
Alternate wager: 3,800 – 4,899
Actual wager: 2,499

UTOC Round 1 (03/18/05)

Robert	Russ	Bill
16,500	14,400	3,000

Proper wager: 4,200 – 8,399
Alternate wager: 2,101 – 4,199
Actual wager: 2,101
Verdict: putting himself at risk to an “unsafe” wager