Wagering practice – The curse of being second
The popular Babu Srinivasan will return in The Battle of the Decades. Here’s the situation he faced in his fourth regular game. What should each player do?
Second place is in a tough spot in a tight game. Assuming correct wagering, he’ll lose if it’s an easy clue (first should win) and lose if it’s a really hard clue (third should win). Second needs to bet big, get it right, and hope first misses. That’s a lot to ask sometimes.
Click here for the answer!
(Thanks to the J! Archive)
Answers to Monday’s scenario:
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- (1/10) Jason Keller took down a huge payday here. But Jack’s wager is suspiciously large, and maybe Andrea’s is, too. Let’s have a look, shall we?
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- (2/10) Let’s start from the beginning.
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- (3/10) Rule #1, first vs. second: Jason needs to wager at least 14,400 to cover a double-up by Jack.
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- (4/10) Rule #2, first vs. second: Jack can wager no more than 10,400 to stay above Jason on an incorrect response.
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- (5/10) Rule #3, first vs. second: Jack should wager at least 4,000 to cover Jason should the latter stand pat.
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- (6/10) Rule #1, second vs. third: If Andrea goes all-in, she’ll have 14,800. Jack can wager at most 3,600 to stay above her. BUT – this provides him with a secondary range of acceptable wagers.
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- (7/10) Rule #3, second vs. third: Jack can wager up to 11,000 to stay above a zero wager by Andrea. This is fine with his current max of 10,400 against Jason.
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- (8/10) Rule #3, first vs. third: Andrea will need to get it right and wager at least 600.
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- (9/10) With Jack’s “alternative” wager – at most 3,600 – perhaps Jason will be justified in wagering no more than 400 to stay above him.
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- (10/10) In the game, Jason wagered $100 too much; Andrea wagered appropriately, as she needed to get it right to have a chance; and Jack wagered far too much. It would have cost him the win had Jason missed.
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