The Final Wager – Fri 12 Dec 2014

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It’s official: we’ll break the record for longest streak without a 5-time champion.

That record is 85 games; if Ryan puts a stop to it, the current streak will end at 86. Julia Collins, whose loss put these wheels into motion, must have put a spell on the champ’s podium.

Ryan is in better shape than he was yesterday, but both Michael and Emily have chances.

Ryan Pensyl: 17,900
Emily Moody: 7,600
Michael Oliphant: 12,200

The Final Jeopardy! category: LITERARY TRAVEL

One other thing: as I pointed out yesterday, we’ve had just one correct response in twelve Final attempts this week.

First-order calculations

Second doubles up

To cover an all-in wager by Michael, Ryan will need to wager 6,500.

An incorrect response with that wager will leave Ryan with 11,400.

To stay above that total, Michael can wager up to 800.

Emily must respond correctly to have a shot, so all-in is the way to go.

Third doubles up

A successful doubling will put Emily at 15,200.

To cover this, Michael should wager at least 3,000. That’ll put him out of contention against Ryan, though, so he might as well bet everything.

Ryan could cap his wager at 2,700, but that’s likely a bad move.

And that’s all she wrote. We add a dollar to the minimum wagers, and subtract a dollar from the maximum wagers.

What actually happened

Ryan gets a “weekend” of rest; we’ll see him again on Monday as he goes for his third victory. The last to hit that win-total was another Ryan.

Enjoy yours!

The Final Jeopardy! clue

LITERARY TRAVEL

THE ROMANTIC BALCONY SEEN HERE IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THIS ITALIAN CITY

[I could find a photo but it probably won’t help]

[spoiler]What is Verona?[/spoiler]

 

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