Daily analysis, Wednesday, July 30 – Teen Tournament SF #3
| 2014 Teen Tournament | |||||||||
| Overview | Teens in the TOC | Joe Taglic interview | |||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Two great semifinals so far. Will the third fit the bill as well?
For the most part, yes – particularly from Sam, who was bold where he needed to be. However, I can’t wrap my head around why no one hunted for the Daily Doubles when both were in play and only two categories remained.
Alan Koolik: 19,600
Sam Lerner: 10,000
Kat Deabill: 10,400
The Final Jeopardy! category: GREAT MOMENTS IN 19th CENTURY SCIENCE
Very straightforward, since both Sam and Kat have less than 2/3 of Alan’s score.
Basic strategy – first vs. second
Alan should wager 1,201.
Kat and Sam should wager everything.
The Antepenultimate Wager
With two clues left, Kat selected the Daily Double under the 1,600 clue. All that remained was the 2,000 in the same category.
The scores were:
Alan: 17,600
Sam: 10,000
Kat: 13,000
In the video, I’ll explain why Kat’s 2,600 wager wasn’t that great – it sets her up to be, barring a miss and a rebound from Alan on the final DJ! clue, no better than tied for first. In that case, she might not be able to win outright if Alan gets it right.
I would have preferred 2,601 up to 2,999, or if she thinks Alan can’t nab the last clue, between 4,601 and 5,400 (although if she’s wrong and Alan gets the last clue, she’ll be mathematically eliminated with this range). There’s no really good wager here, unfortunately.
DISCLAIMER: In my College Championship semifinal, I made a bad late DD wager. I got the last DD with two other clues (1,600 and 2,000) on the board, and was leading by 5,200. I wagered 1,600 – had I gotten it wrong, and had second nailed the last two clues, we would have gone into Final tied.
I still maintain that right after the wager comes out of my mouth you can see my realization of the error.
What actually happened
Nice work by all three here. Alan moves on to the two-day total point affair against Jeff Xie and Cooper Lair. I’m expecting biiiiiiiig money!
The Final Jeopardy! clue for July 30, 2014 (GREAT MOMENTS IN 19th CENTURY SCIENCE):
MATTHIAS SCHLEIDEN FOUND PLANTS ARE MADE UP OF THESE; AT DINNER HE TOLD THEODOR SCHWANN WHO SAID, HEY, SO ARE ANIMALS
[spoiler]What are cells?[/spoiler]